Let me ask you a question. Can you name five full-time, salaried film critics working in Australian media right now? Not freelancers who also write about television, theatre, and books to pay rent. Not bloggers with day jobs. Five people whose sole professional occupation is reviewing and writing about film.

I’ll wait.

The answer, if you’re being honest, is probably one or two at most. And that’s a problem for Australian cinema.

The State of Things

Australian film criticism has been in decline for at least fifteen years, accelerating with each round of media industry layoffs. The major newspapers have cut dedicated film critics or merged the role into general arts coverage. The ABC’s film criticism output has diminished. Magazines like FilmInk have survived through sheer determination but operate on thin margins.

What’s left is largely freelance and online. Screen Hub does essential work. Limelight and other niche publications contribute. Individual critics write for international outlets or run their own websites. Podcasts have filled some of the gap. But the ecosystem that once supported a robust culture of Australian film criticism has fragmented.

Why It Matters

Some people would say this doesn’t matter. Audiences can find reviews on Letterboxd or Rotten Tomatoes. Everyone’s a critic now. Who needs professional reviewers when you can read what regular people think?

Here’s why it matters. Professional criticism does something different from audience reviews. A good film critic contextualises a film within the broader landscape of cinema, identifies what’s artistically significant about it, and makes an argument for why it deserves attention. That’s not the same as a star rating on a review aggregator.

For Australian films specifically, professional criticism plays a crucial role in building profile. A well-argued, thoughtfully written review of an Australian film in a respected publication can drive awareness and ticket sales in a way that a Letterboxd log entry can’t. Critics who understand the local industry can write about Australian films with a depth and specificity that general-interest reviewers lack.

The Cycle of Decline

There’s a vicious cycle at work. As media outlets cut film critics, there’s less professional coverage of Australian films. Less coverage means less awareness among potential audiences. Lower awareness contributes to lower box office performance. Lower box office numbers are then cited as evidence that Australian films don’t have an audience, which reduces the business case for covering them.

Meanwhile, the films keep getting made, often to high standards, and disappear without the critical attention that might have helped them find viewers. It’s wasteful and it’s avoidable.

What Critics Actually Do

I’ve been a film journalist for fifteen years, and the part of the job that matters most isn’t writing reviews. It’s the ecosystem work. Building relationships with filmmakers so they trust you to engage honestly with their work. Attending festivals and writing about films that won’t get coverage anywhere else. Following the industry closely enough to provide informed commentary on funding decisions, policy changes, and distribution trends.

That kind of sustained engagement requires time, resources, and institutional support. Freelance rates for Australian arts writing have been stagnant for a decade, and in real terms they’ve declined. You can’t build a healthy critical culture on underpaid freelance work.

Possible Solutions

I don’t have a complete answer, but I have some ideas. Screen Australia and the state agencies could establish a dedicated fund for film criticism, similar to the way some European countries support cultural journalism. It wouldn’t need to be enormous, just enough to sustain a handful of full-time critics and support investigative arts journalism.

Publications could invest in building a critical identity rather than treating film reviews as generic content. The outlets that have maintained quality film criticism, like FilmInk, do so because they understand that their readers come specifically for informed, opinionated writing.

Festivals could do more to support criticism by providing travel and accommodation bursaries for critics from smaller outlets, expanding their media programs, and treating critical coverage as an essential part of their ecosystem rather than an afterthought.

The Optimistic View

Despite everything, I’m not entirely pessimistic. Some of the best writing about Australian cinema is happening now, much of it in unconventional spaces. Substacks, podcasts, and independent websites are producing thoughtful, ambitious criticism that stands up against anything published in traditional media.

The challenge is sustainability. How do you support that work financially so the people doing it can continue? That question doesn’t have an easy answer, but it’s one the industry needs to confront.

Good criticism makes films better. It makes audiences more engaged. And it builds the kind of cultural conversation around cinema that turns casual moviegoers into committed advocates for Australian film. We can’t afford to let it disappear.