A report issued this week by the lobby group ‘Archive Forum’ has called for ScreenSound Australia to become a separate statutory authority to protect its autonomy.

The report, titled ‘Cinderella Betrayed,’ takes the view that if the planned AFC/Screensound merger goes ahead it will “mean the death of one of Australia’s great institutions and seriously put our audiovisual heritage at risk.”

The Australian Film Commission is planning to integrate the archive into its operations as a result of a government decision in last year’s budget.

Archive Forum says the two bodies are too dissimilar to work together successfully. The report says ScreenSound is a collector and conserver, while the AFC is a film-maker and funder.

ACT Senator Kate Lundy, who is against the planned amalgamation told radioinfo:

“I have finally had the opportunity to meet with the Australian Film Commission after initially requesting the meeting five weeks ago at the height of the dispute. It has taken this long for the Arts Minister to approve this meeting. I intend to further pursue these issues at the Senate Estimates in February.”

Lundy requested that the AFC meet with staff or their union if requested to ensure that they are provided with every opportunity to discuss the proposals put forward by the AFC and she says the AFC indicated that they would agree to any request for additional consultation.

She also asked that “stakeholder consultation” should include public meetings “ensuring that interested members of the community are provided with an opportunity to have their say. Currently individuals must be ‘invited’ to stakeholder consultations by the AFC.” The AFC agreed to consider this proposal.