The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) is a national non-profit children's media production and policy hub. The ACTF helps develop children's television policy; distributes and pays for Australian children's television series; supports new children's media; and develops screen resources for the education sector. The ACTF provides funding and support to independent Australian producers and writers of children's programs.

History

The founding director of the Australian Children's Television Foundation,

Patricia Edgar Patricia May Edgar AM is an Australian author, television producer, educator and media scholar best known as the founding director of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. Early life She was born in Mildura, Victoria, and moved ...

, was the driving force behind its establishment. As the chair of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal's Children's Program Committee for five years, enforcing children's program standards and the children's drama quota Edgar argued that quality programs would not be made without a not-for-profit production company creating exemplary programs
Patricia Edgar's
arguments caught the attention of the Victorian Minister for the Arts

Norman Lacy Norman Henry Lacy (born 25 October 1941) is a former Australian politician, who was a Victorian Government Minister from May 1979 to April 1982 who grew up in Richmond, Victoria and three times represented his state at national under age basket ...

, who invited her to work with him. They agreed to join forces to promote the proposal for the establishment of an organisation to achieve their shared objectives. Lacy then used his ministerial membership of the Australian Education Council and the Australian Arts Ministers' Conference to initiate the establishment of the Australian Children's Television Foundation. He appointed Edgar to the Arts Ministry staff to steer the project, provided office space and establishment funding, and won the support of NSW Education Minister Paul Landa with whom he co-chaired the early steering committee meetings.Edgar, Patricia. ''Bloodbath: A Memoir of Australian Television'', Melbourne University Press, 2006 In early 1981, Lacy addressed the Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts arguing for the strategic and national importance of a Commonwealth commitment to recurrent funding for the fledgling Foundation. The Senate Standing committee report ''Children and Television Revisited'' recommended the establishment of an independent children's television production unit, which was the impetus for the foundation of the ACTF, to be funded by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

with contributions from state and territory governments.Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committees -The First 20 Years 1970 - 1990

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

, 30 May 2003. Lacy's political advocacy and practical support coupled with Edgar's intellectual capacity and lobbying skills eventually won through, but before the ACTF could be established Lacy lost his Parliamentary seat at the election held in 1982. Patricia Edgar then turned her attention to funding support from the Commonwealth Government with the support of Dame Beryl Beaurepaire who was President of the Liberal Party. Ultimately, the ACTF was established with Commonwealth Government support collectively matched by all the state governments except

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

with Edgar as the inaugural Director.Spaull, Andrew. ''ibid'' She served in this role for 20 years, effectively kickstarting the Australian children's television production industry. Her programs include ''

Winners Winners Merchants International L.P is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies. It offers brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, fine jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. Products are at a 20-60 ...

, Kaboodle, Touch the Sun,

Round the Twist ''Round the Twist'' is an Australian children's comedy television series based on stories by author Paul Jennings that follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family. The series was created and produced by Patricia Edgar, and develope ...

, Lift Off, The Genie From Downunder, Sky Trackers,

Crash Zone ''Crash Zone'' is an Australian children's science fiction television series which aired on the Seven Network from 13 February 1999 to 25 August 2001. It was produced by Australian Children's Television Foundation, in association with the Disn ...

, L'il Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers, Yolngu Boy, Noah and Saskia'' and the ground breaking ''

Kahootz Kahootz is an education multimedia construction toolset created by the Australian Children's Television Foundation. Using this program, one can make 3D animations using the pre-made objects and backgrounds. It was used by many schools to teach not ...

.'' Her programs won more than 100 national and international awards including four AFI Awards, two Logies, an International Emmy Award, the Prix Jeunesse, a Japan Prize, a Banff Rockie Award, a Grand Jury Prize at the New York Festival. Production value exceeded $100 million. After Edgar stepped down to produce Noah and Saskia for the ABC and the BBC, Jenny Buckland was appointed CEO in July 2002. Major productions that the ACTF was involved with between 2002 and 2008 included ''Holly's Heroes'', ''

Mortified ''Mortified'' is an Australian children's television series, co-produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation and Enjoy Entertainment for the Nine Network Australia. The series premiered on 30 June 2006 and ended on 9 May 2007 wi ...

'', ''Double Trouble''(with

CAAMA The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is an organisation founded in 1980 to expose Aboriginal music and culture to the rest of Australia. It started with 8KIN-FM, the first Aboriginal radio station in the country. Based in ...

) and two series of '' Lockie Leonard''. ''Mortified'' won more national and international awards than any other children's program in FFC history. All those series were commissioned by commercial broadcasters, as a result of the quotas. The ABC was only commissioning very small amounts of children's drama during those years and most of its shows, other than its in-house productions such as '' Play School'' and ''

Behind The News ''Behind the News'' (frequently abbreviated as ''BtN'') is a long-running news program broadcast on Australia's ABC TV made in Adelaide and aimed at school-aged children (8–13 years of age). ''BtN'' is aimed at upper primary and lower second ...

'', were imported. In 2006 the ACTF publicly highlighted the opportunity afforded by the switch to

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...

to provide a much better media service for Australian children, calling for the establishment of a dedicated digital public channel for children. Ultimately the ACTF joined forces with the ABC to champion this idea, which received support from the Howard government during the 2007 Australian election campaign. The

Rudd government Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) * Rudd government (2013) {{Dab ... * Rudd gov ...

gave the ABC funding which saw it establish its children's destinations on

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

(for pre-schoolers) and

ABC3 ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

(for school-aged children) in 2009. ABC3 attracted new entrants and original programming ideas. New programs commissioned by the ABC and supported by the ACTF from 2009 include ''My Place'' 1 & 2, three series of ''Dance Academy'', several series of ''

Nowhere Boys ''Nowhere Boys'' is an Australian teen drama television series created by Tony Ayres. It was first broadcast on ABC3 (which is now officially named ABCME) on 7 November 2013. The first two series follow the adventures of four mismatched teenag ...

'', three series of ''Bushwhacked'', and more. The history of Australian children's television and the ACTF are inextricably linked, with the ACTF playing a pivotal role in supporting distinctively Australian programs, and advocating for the support mechanisms required to produce those programs.

ACTF Chairman and Board

The ACTF continues to receive funding from the Commonwealth and all States and Territories (Queensland is now included). Each State and Territory Government has the right to nominate a member of the board, and the Commonwealth Government may nominate three members. Those ACTF Board members may elect up to three independent board members. There is a long and distinguished list of people who have been on the board over its 35-year history, but the most extraordinary contribution of all is that of

Janet Holmes à Court Janet Holmes à Court, AC, HonFAHA, HonFAIB (born Janet Lee Ranford on 29 November 1943 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian businesswoman and one of Australia's wealthiest women. She is the Chairperson of one of Australia's largest ...

. Janet joined the board as a representative for Western Australia in 1983. She was elected chairman of the board in 1990 and has been re-elected every year since. She is now an independently elected member of the board. The headquarters of the ACTF are on Smith Street in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

Awards

Productions

Notable television series developed or assisted by the ACTF include: *

Dance Academy ''Dance Academy'' is an Australian teen-oriented television drama produced by Werner Film Productions in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ZDF. Series one premiered on 31 May 2010, and series two began airing on 12 ...

* The Genie From Down Under * Li'l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers * Worst Year of My Life Again * Lockie Leonard * Double Trouble * Mal.com * Noah & Saskia * My Place * Lift Off *

Johnson and Friends ''Johnson and Friends'' is an Australian live action/puppet children’s television program that originally aired on ABC from 3 September 1990 to 10 July 1997. It was produced by Film Australia and was created by Ron Saunders, John Patterson ...

* Spellbinder (followed by its sequel series Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord) * Touch The Sun *

* Yolngu Boy *

You're Skitting Me In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

Bushwhacked! ''Bushwhacked!'' is an Australian children's adventure television series which first aired on ABC3 on 6 October 2012. ''Bushwacked!'' follows hosts on weird and sometimes deadly wildlife missions around Australia. Hosts * Kayne Tremills 2012&nd ...

(followed by its sequel series Bushwhacked! Bugs) *Flea-bitten! * Holly's Heroes * Kaboodle *

Worst Best Friends ''Worst Best Friends'' is an Australian children's television series first screened on Network Ten in 2002. The series is based on the children's books by Max Dann: ''Adventures with My Worst Best Friend'', ''Going Bananas'' and ''Dusting in Lo ...

Legacy of the Silver Shadow ''Legacy of the Silver Shadow'' is an Australian children's television series that first aired on the Ten Network in 2002. The thirteen-part series follows the story of four children who help a dead superhero. ''Legacy of the Silver Shadow'' ...

* Sky Trackers * The InBESTigators * Little Lunch * The Flamin' Thongs *Wakkaville *WAC: World Animal Championships *Top Enders * The Gift *

The Dukes of Broxstonia The Dukes Of Bröxstônia is an Australian short animated television series created by Suren Perera and Stu Connolly, aired on ABC3 for kid´s broadcast aired over 3 seasons. The show also airs on Disney XD in the United States and on Cartoon N ...

*Seen But Not Heard *

Ready for This ''Ready for This'' is an Australian teen-oriented television drama series that premiered on ABC3 on 5 October 2015. It follows five Indigenous teenagers who venture across the country to Sydney to pursue their dreams. Cast *Majeda Beatty as Ava ...

(followed by its movie Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows) * Little J & Big Cuz *

Hardball Hardball, in English, more specifically American English, generally refers to baseball (as opposed to its variant softball), especially when played very competitively. Metaphorically, it refers to uncompromising and ruthless methods or dealings, ...

*First Day (followed by its TV series of the same name) *

Escape from Jupiter ''Escape from Jupiter'' is an Australian children's science fiction drama which aired from 26 November 1994 to 11 March 1995 on ABC. Concerning a small group of children on Jupiter's moon Io, the series ran for 13 episodes. When one of Io's ...

(followed by its sequel series

Return to Jupiter ''Return to Jupiter'' was an Australian television series, a 13-part follow-up to ''Escape from Jupiter''. It aired in Australia from 23 March to 15 June 1997. Plot After their escape from Io, Michael, Kumiko, Gerard and Anna, last seen in ''E ...

) *Dancing Down Under * C/o The Bartons *Balloon Barnyard * Mustangs FC *Wacky World Beaters *Songs of Innocence *MY:24 *Desdemoda *Black Knight White Witch *Casa De Evil *Itty Bitty Ditties * Laser Beak Man *Mega Bites *Monster Chef *My Strange Pet * The Girl From Tomorrow (followed by its sequel series The Girl from Tomorrow Part II: Tomorrow's End) * Horace in Slow Motion * I Got a Rocket * The Valley Between *The Greatest Tune On Earth *Hoopla Doopla * Lah-Lah's Adventures * Waabiny Time * Animalia * Australian Rules *

Backyard Science ''Backyard Science'' is an Australian educational children's television show based on the Dorling Kindersley book of the same name that aired from 2003 until 2007. The series was originally commissioned by Super RTL and TVOntario, and had 78 ep ...

(followed by its sequel series WOW! That's Amazing) *A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year Old Girl *The Funny Ones * My Brother Jack * Deadly * Dogstar *Boxwars *Handball Heroes *Language of Belonging * Paper Planes *The Big Wish * The Unlisted *DisRupted *Summer's Day *

The PM's Daughter ''The PM's Daughter'' is a ten-part Australian political comedy drama television series aimed at children and teenagers. It premiered on ABC Me on 1 January 2022. Plot The series follows Cat Parkes Pérez, a teen activist whose life is thrown i ...

*Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors? *

Thalu ''Thalu'' is an Australian children's fantasy television series which was screened 2020 on ABC Me. The ten-part series focuses on a group of indigenous children who undertake a journey to save their country from the threat of a mysterious dust cl ...

*Red Dirt Riders * Kangaroo Beach *

References

External links

* {{Authority control Television production companies of Australia Non-profit organisations based in Victoria (Australia) Organizations established in 1982 Children's television 1982 establishments in Australia Foundations based in Australia Television organizations