The channel is required to make a certain percentage of Australian content, and without the need to worry about advertising, subscriber numbers and merchandising revenue, it has become a haven of local creativity.
I think Australia also struggles to find global audiences, as in some ways the world is still recovering from Australian craze global audiences had in the 90's (Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Hunter, Mad Max, etc). So finding a new audience with children is perfect.