Streaming quotas a fight for culture, Bryan Brown says

I mean Australian stories, not stories filmed in Australia with American accents - that's a cultural death."

The federal government has promised to lock in tougher rules for streamers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ with legislation expected later in 2023.

The long-time advocate for the local industry said a 20 per cent content reinvestment quota is needed for the future of Australian film and television.

"If our ability to present ourselves on film is taken away, we will become unsure of ourselves, in awe of others and less as a people," he said.

The streaming companies argue they should be able to determine their own levels of investment in Australian content, with the Heartbreak High reboot a recent hit for Netflix and documentaries such as Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW on Disney+.

Brown became an international success in the early 1980s with the critically acclaimed film Breaker Morant and television series A Town Like Alice.

He described a career of "strange but wonderful happenings" - marrying Hollywood star Rachel Ward, throwing bottles with Tom Cruise, singing with Paul McCartney and even sharing a bath with Sigourney Weaver.

The actor, producer and author revealed his career started while working at financial firm AMP.

While training to become an actuary, Brown auditioned for the company's drama club in the hope of meeting some girls.

On local stages all he had seen was Australians performing English and American plays in accents, so in 1972 he moved to England to become a professional actor.

Returning home two years later, the theatre scene had changed dramatically with local playwrights such as David Williamson telling authentic Australian stories.

"It was as though the shackles had come off and we were set free," he said.

He made his first feature film, Love Letters from Teralba Road, in the 1970s, a period that produced classics such as The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, My Brilliant Career, Picnic at Hanging Rock and Mad Max.

A string of hits followed including The Thorn Birds, Gorillas in the Mist, FX, Newsfront, The Shiralee, Cocktail and Two Hands.

Brown said financing filmmaking had become far more complicated with offset schemes squeezing the capacity to produce local stories.

In 2007 he starred alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Baz Luhrman's Australia, and more recent credits include Red Dog, Sweet Country and Palm Beach.

Brown has won an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination and numerous Australian acting awards during a career spanning 40 years.