This is the first book-length study of Australia’s rich history of LGBTQ+ film and television, covering histories, production, screen representation and audience identities.
Despite a long-standing international field of queer media studies, Australian scholarship has only recently emerged. Screen diversity in Australia is important to cultural policy, education and social harmony. This book presents new scholarship on the role and significance of gender- and sexually-diverse characters, themes and narratives on Australian screens, as Australian film and television has a very rich history of representing LGBTQ+, gender- and sexually-diverse characters, stories and themes.
The chapters in this book cover a broad range of areas to provide a comprehensive overview of LGBTQ+ film and television in Australia,
including: the history and formation of LGBTQ+ screen representation in such film and TV series as Dad and Dave Come To Town, Lovers and Luggers, Cop Shop, Division 4, and Homicide; production perspectives and challenges, including insights from screen writers and actors; the significance of LGBTQ+ film festivals as part of Australian cultural heritage; analyses of key Australian queer film and TV series to draw out themes that foreground their ‘Australianness’, including The Set, Victims, and Boys in the Band, among others; and perspectives on audience and culture, including the utility and value of LGBTQ+ screen representation to identity, belonging and social change.
By:
Rob Cover (RMIT University Australia),
Whitney Monaghan (Monash University,
Australia),
Stuart Richards (University of South Australia),
Scott McKinnon (University of Wollongong,
Australia),
Tinonee Pym (RMIT University,
Australia)
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 228mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 440g
ISBN: 9798765128435
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 16 April 2026
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Introduction: The Renaissance in Australia Queer Screen (Studies) Part 1: Histories and Formations 1. The Politics of Early Film Representation 2. Australian Queer Television 3. Framing Politics: Filmgoing and Activism Part 2: Australian Queer Film Production 4. Screen Stakeholders: Motivation, Value and Perceived Impact of LGBTQ+ Screen Media 5. The Queer Film Festival 6. New Generations of Production Part 3: Reading the Australian Queer Text 7. Reading The Set: Sexploitation or Homophobic Relic? 8. Queer Identity: ‘Special Issue’ Versus ‘Just Happens to be Queer’ Storytelling 9. Australian Queer Screen Criticism 10. Young People, Trans and Gender-diverse Coming-of-age on Screen Part 4: Audience, Identity, and Culture 11. Historical Reception Practices, Policing and Community Change 12. Audience Practices in Contexts of Space and Time 13. Young Audiences, Mental Health and Identity 14. Queer Screens and Social Change Index
Rob Cover is Professor of Digital Communication and Director of the Digital Ethnography Research Centre at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Whitney Monaghan is Lecturer in Communications and Media Studies at Monash University, Australia. Stuart Richards is Senior Lecturer in Screen Studies at the University of South Australia. Scott McKinnon is Assistant Director at the National Library of Australia and Honorary Research Fellow at La Trobe University, Australia. Tinonee Pym is Research Associate at Adelaide University, South Australia.
Reviews for Australian Queer Screens: Diversity and Social Change in Film and TV
Australian Queer Screens challenges the notion that many hold that LGBTIQ+ representations were not visible throughout Australia’s rich screen history. This book is the long overdue compendium of the queer history of Australian screens. It charts these developments through their history and formations, production contexts, reading practices, and audience and culture. It is a book where the authors declare ‘Queerness has always existed on Australian screens’ and then show the diverse ways this statement is true. Australian Queer Screens is essential reading for those who want to understand just how queer Australian screen media was, is, and could be in the future. * Damien O'Meara, Lecturer, RMIT University, Australia *
