The Australian Visual Software Distributors Association (AVSDA) was formed in 1983 to represent the interests of owners of copyright in, and distributors of, videos in Australia. The video market is now using the DVD format. In 2007, AVSDA members moved over 95.4 million titles worth over $1.347 billion in wholesale sales.

The Association speaks and acts on behalf of its members on issues that affect the industry as a whole such as censorship, film piracy, technology challenges, copyright and enforcement.

AVSDA lobbies government stakeholders, responds to government enquiries by submissions, seeks amendments to legislation, and when appropriate works with other copyright industries to affect change. AVSDA also commissions industry research from time to time to gauge Australian consumer attitudes to our industry - an industry which is currently going through a period of constant change led by changes in technology. AVSDA is focusing at present on three broad areas in dealing with the Federal Government: 1) Ongoing changes and amendments to the Copyright Act such as the upcoming Format Shifting Review; 2) Classification Act changes to bring the system into the 21st century, and 3) enforcement improvements, especially designed to protect emerging digital distribution models.

AVSDA currently has 16 members who range from all the major international film distribution companies through to wholly-owned Australian companies such as Roadshow Entertainment, Madman Entertainment and Anchor Bay Home Entertainment.

AVSDA liaises closely with the Office of Film and Literature Classification to ensure a smooth working relationship between it and our members and to help resolve any issues that arise. AVSDA looks forward to the outcome of the Government's reviews into the self-assessment of additional materials on DVDs and removing the restrictions on advertising for our industry. Both of these reviews AVSDA has been lobbying for over the past two years.

Simon Bush is the Chief Executive of AVSDA. Prior to joining AVSDA, Mr Bush worked as Government Relations and Communications Director for Accenture Australia / NZ. He has an Honours Degree in Political Science from the Australian National University and has also studied at the University of California, San Diego.

AVSDA is also proud to support the Starlight Children's Foundation.