Television matters because it is so much a part of contemporary daily life, and television drama matters in particular because of its capacity to create emotional connections, insight and identity. It reflects our sense of who we are as a society, and who we might be.

Screen Australia is seeking to establish benchmarks for current levels of diversity in Australian TV drama through analysis of the main characters in five years’ worth of programs. The study also draws on a series of surveys and face-to-face consultations to explore the challenges and opportunities involved in making TV drama more broadly representative of Australian society.

Diversity, by definition, is about multiplicity and means different things in different contexts and to different people. The ultimate aim is that all of the many and varied voices in the Australian community have the opportunity to be represented though screen content, regardless of things such as gender, age group or where they live.

The research focuses on three aspects of diversity: cultural background, disability and sexual orientation/gender identity.