The film and television sector has reacted angrily to the Turnbull government's decision to quietly extend the terms of two members by three months, saying the move shows blatant disregard for the industry. 
Screen Australia, the key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, was just weeks away from being run during the election campaign by a chairman, Nicholas Moore, and only one board member, Al Clark.
The three-month extension of the terms for board members Rosemary Blight and Matthew Liebmann this week averted a period in which Screen Australia would have been "unconstitutional".
Liebmann's term expired on   April 28 and Rosemary Blight's term was to end on   June 30, leaving Moore and Clark to preside over important decisions about policy as well as film and television funding.
Former Screen Australia deputy chairman and now president of Film Victoria, Ian Robertson, criticised the government's failure to act sooner.
"It's disappointing, of grave concern and it's a failure of governance," he said.
Coincidentally, Moore banked an $18 million salary for his work heading Macquarie Bank on the same day as the move by Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.
The Screen Australia Act states the agency ceases to function legally if the number of members falls below five for a period of not more than six months.
Joan Peters' term also expired   February 24, meaning a new government will need to appoint at least two new board members as a matter of urgency in   July or   August after the presumed   July 2 federal election.
As it is, the agency is acting outside the boundaries of its act, which requires a chair, no fewer than three board members and a deputy chair. It has been without a deputy chair since   February 24 when Deanne Weir resigned the role.
The board will be managed by a board of three from   July 28 yet the act states a board meeting quorum is a "majority of members."The screen sector united last week to pre-empt the lack of any regulatory or funding initiatives in the   May federal budget with a call to "future-proof" the industry from the "challenges of changing technology, copyright law and open world markets."