AGY-1722 | Theatres and Films Commission

Full description

The Theatres and Films Commission was constituted under the Theatres, Public Halls and Cinematographs Films (Amendment) Act, 1938 (Act No.35, 1938) which was proclaimed on 1 February 1939. (1) The Theatre and Films Commission replaced the former Films Advisory Committee. (2)

The Commission consisted of three members appointed by the Government who were given the function of administering the Act. (3)

Their responsibilities included
* the prescription of a standard form of contract for the hiring of films;
* the making of recommendations about the minimum proportion Australian and British quota films to be acquired by distributors.

The Commissioners had the right to "conduct an inquiry into any matter, dispute or question relating to films or to any particular film, or to the production, distribution or exhibition of films. (4)

For the period of its operation the Commission was under the control of the Colonial Secretary (later the Chief Secretary) and later the Minister for Services. (5)

New administrative arrangements in mid-1982 effectively abolished the Theatres and Films Commission. (6)

A press release on 18 May 1982 stated the Premier's Department would now be responsible for administering the Theatres, Public Halls and Cinematographs Act, 1937. (7)

In December 1982 the Report of the Inquiry into the Distribution and Exhibition of Australian Films in New South Wales was submitted and made recommendations, including that the complete records of the Commission of inquiry should be forwarded to the New South Wales Archives Authority. (8)

It was not until the Cinematograph Films (Further Suspension) Act, 1985 No 31—Proclamation, that the Commission was formally abolished. (9)

Endnotes
1. NSW Government Gazette No.16, 31 January 1939, p.557.
2. Theatres, Public Halls and Cinematograph Films (Amendment) Act 1938 (Act No.35, 1938) s.5(2)(b) amending the Cinematograph Films (Australian Quota) Act 1935 (Act No.41, 1935) s.3.
3. Concise Guide to the NSW State archives, p.66.
4. loc. cit.
5. loc. cit.
6. loc. cit.
7. Minutes of the Theatres and Films Commission, 3 June 1982 (SR Ref: 6/5613).
8. "Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Distribution and Exhibition of Australian", Filmnews, 1 March 1984, p.15, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article213879343 (accessed 18 April 2023).
9. Concise Guide, p.66; NSW Government Gazette No.77, 11 July 1997, p.5409 Cinematographic Films (Further Suspension) Act 1985 No 31—Proclamation (1997 No 308).