Seeing ourselves: reflections on diversity in Australian TV drama

Screen Australia has released the most significant study of diversity on Australian screens since television began in 1956, entitled Seeing Ourselves: Reflections on Diversity in TV Drama.   The study analysed all 199 dramas (fiction excluding animation) that aired between 2011 and 2015 inclusive, finding 18% of main characters in the period were from non-Anglo Celtic backgrounds, compared to 32% of the population. A notable exception to this trend is Indigenous representation, making a dramatic turnaround in screen presence.     Only 4% of main characters had an identified disability compared to an estimated 18% of Australians, whilst 5% of main characters were identified as LGBTQI, yet this group is estimated to be up to 11% of the population