Streaming services such as Netflix, Stan, Apple and Amazon could soon be required to pay into a fund for Australian productions or to make shows in Australia as part of the federal government’s plans to assist the struggling entertainment industry.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, flagged last week that the government was developing an assistance package for the sprawling entertainment and arts sector, which has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance – the union covering actors, production workers and journalists – many industry workers were ineligible for jobkeeper because they were employed on short contracts for different productions or were freelancers.

A union survey of 1,000 members found that one in five were ineligible for either jobkeeper or jobseeker, which has assets and spouse income tests.

The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said the government was turning its attention to more targeted measures for heavily affected sectors, including arts, entertainment and film.

The aim was to get the arts sector back to work once the shutdown ended, he said.

Among the immediate measures being sought by industry is government support for insurance for the film and television industry so they can get productions off the ground. Many are facing extra costs and longer shoot times due to social distancing rules and the possibility of disruption if a crew member contracts the coronavirus.

While series like Home and Away have multiple plots which can accommodate absences of some characters, feature films with high-profile actors would struggle if they were forced to halt due to Covid-19.

This is making it difficult to get the insurance necessary to restart local productions.

Australia’s film promotion arm, Ausfilm, has also made a pitch for more funding for the location incentive fund, a $140m fund that assists in luring foreign productions to Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported it was seeking a top-up and a more generous incentives to lure more foreign productions, such as the two Marvel movies being shot in Fox Studios.

But the biggest issue will be how to encourage Australian production.

Screen Producers Australia’s CEO, Mathew Deaner, said bringing international players to Australia was important, but making that the focus of assistance risked turning Australia into a service hub, rather than encouraging local creativity and productions.

“Our ambition should be to pivot this into local IP and local exports,” he said. “We need to think about opportunities to take the lead in local production.”

The government temporarily suspended the Australian drama quota and the children’s television quota for the commercial television industry during the pandemic. This is one of the cornerstones that drives local television production.

But just before Covid-19 struck, two government agencies – the Australian Communications and Media Authority and Screen Australia – released an options paper on alternatives to quotas. These ranged from the status quo to deregulation of the industry.

But the option that appears to have captured most attention is the third option, which involves all platforms being subject to local content rules, including the streaming services, such as Apple, Netflix and Stan, which currently have no Australian content obligations. Stan has invested in local production.

The move by the government to expand the obligations to streaming services comes as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has recommended that Google and Facebook be required to compensate media companies for content they publish.

Other countries have either mandated or encouraged companies such as Netflix and Apple TV to make programs in their territories and in their languages.

The move to include the streaming services is broadly supported by the commercial television networks, which are likely to face huge financial pressures on their advertising revenues in the post Covid-19 economy.

Some participants in the roundtables with the minister said he seemed interested in the Canadian approach, which has set up a public-private partnership to fund Canadian programs that foster Canadian cultural values.

The proposal contains a number of variations, including an option that all providers of video services could be permitted to negotiate a bespoke agreement with the ACMA on their Australian content, rather than facing a one-size-fits-all requirement. The alternative would be to contribute to a fund.

Submissions to the review close this week and Fletcher has said he considers the current problems of the sector make it more important to reform the Australian content rules. 

A spokesman for the minister told the Guardian: “There was a very impressive group of participants and it was refreshing to hear people from many different parts of the sector speak frankly about the options, and elements of the current model which are out of date.”