After running into flak over the qualification of feature films, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts has overhauled the criteria for the country's main awards.
The academy has ditched the two-stage process of films qualifying either by a traditional cinema release or being pre-selected by a jury.
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Under the new and more open criteria, features can qualify with only a one-week cinema release – down from two – which can be overseas for the first time.
Films are also eligible if they screen at major festivals either in this country or overseas. But they then need either a release on video on demand (including iTunes, BigPond Movies and Google Play), a streaming service (including Netflix and Stan) or a paid screening in at least two Australian capital cities.
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The new criteria means an Australian film getting a video-on-demand or streaming release, such as Netflix's coming Martin Freeman zombie pic Cargo, will need either festival or cinema screenings to qualify.
The Academy believes this will lead to "greater inclusivity for those films that choose non-traditional release models".
The changes will introduce a more liberal qualifying system than for the Oscars. The new criteria are expected to result in more eligible films for academy voters to watch – up to 35 this year.
Last year, AACTA announced 24 features were eligible – including eventual best film winner Hacksaw Ridge, along with The Daughter, Goldstone, Girl Asleep and Tanna – from 38 entries.
Two weeks later, after industry feedback, the academy added four more films from the jury pre-selection process – Backtrack, Broke, Downriver and Teenage Kicks – "to reflect the record volume of entries received".
But after women filmmakers stormed the awards red carpet dressed as sausages to protest against the lack of female representation, Crushed director Megan Riakos questioned the transparency and fairness of the jury system.
AACTA chief executive Damian Trewhellasays the academy has revised the eligibility policy after working extensively with industry guilds, advocacy groups and other industry bodies.
"The landscape of the film industry is constantly changing, with more and more Australian films having non-traditional releases in an increasingly harder theatrical environment," he says.
"One of the key changes to the feature film eligibility policy this year not only recognises the increasingly global nature of the industry but also acknowledges and embraces the significant role Australian and international film festivals have in the discovery and fostering of local screen productions.
"We believe the new feature film eligibility policy achieves a more inclusive approach to the determination of the feature films in competition and opens the pathway for a broader diversity of films and filmmakers."
The academy is also introducing a new award for best online video or series, with the nominees and winners to be determined by a panel of jurors with experience in online production and commissioning.
Trewhella says "a wealth of Australian content" had been made specifically for online viewing in recent years, including Bondi Hipsters, The Katering Show and Aunty Donna: 1999.