Last week, the Senate Standing Committee convened an inquiry into legislation which will change the Australian Screen Production Incentives. These incentives play a critical role in the documentary industry - providing crucial support to filmmakers to create and tell Australian stories. The proposed changes have the potential to decimate the documentary sector. By raising the eligible budget threshold for support to $1 million and capping support for archive and overseas shoots, we could stand to lose one-third of Australian feature documentaries.

Feature documentaries hold a unique place in our cultural, media and historical landscape.

They go beyond the news headlines - giving us the whole complex, nuanced and diverse story. Documentaries like Gayby Baby, Firestarter and Embrace allow us to walk in another's shoes, to see what is happening in our society, put a face to social issues and capture our cultural narrative. They bring us to different worlds; scaling Everest with Sherpa, visiting underwater worlds in Blue and going into the mind of a musician through Mystify: Michael Hutchence. When our politicians debate this legislation, what they are deliberating on is the future of our national voice.

This is a turning point. These documentaries, which offer employment and provide professional pathways within the industry, also provide great social outcomes. They support the not-for-profit sector, enabling organisations to raise awareness and funding. The documentary Backtrack Boys has leveraged several million dollars in support for disadvantaged kids in the bush. We rarely see these stories on our broadcasters, in an era of wall-to-wall reality TV.

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The documentary sector is not asking for any extra support. The current guidelines are working to support Australian documentaries, at a very low cost to the government. Feature documentaries received an average of $9 million in support from Screen Australia through the Producer Offset over the past five years - only 7 per cent of the $620 million which was provided across the film industry. The cost of supporting feature documentary is negligible, while the loss to the industry and to our national story would be significant. We are asking for the current guidelines to remain the same, so Australian stories can continue to be made, told and seen.

At the Documentary Australia Foundation, we see the passion and grit of documentary filmmakers. We see them make their films over many years, on small budgets, often not paying themselves as they strive to make sure these stories are told. We also see the real impact these documentaries have - on the people involved and on the people who see them.

As a documentary filmmaker myself, I have seen this first-hand. When I made Ka-Ching! Pokie Nation in 2015, I wanted to challenge the narrative around poker machine addiction. I thought the film would be a powerful tool for activists and campaigners. What I didn't realise was how it would empower people who had lived this story, who felt seen and understood. That film went on to be seen by over 1 million people. But it's greatest impact on me came from an email I received from someone who told me it had helped them stop gambling. Instead of going to play the pokies, he'd watch the DVD.

We find ourselves in a symbolic place - where the future of documentary storytelling in Australia could be decided by what is essentially tax law. This is an age-old question: what is the value of art? In the case of documentary, its value is clear. It is a historical record. It is our national story. It must be saved.