Key Takeaways from the Australian Screen Industry Code of Practice:

Importance of Australian Screen Industry Code of Practice.

Sexual harassment has been in the screen industries of the global world for many years and in Australia too.

During the discussion that was conducted, we realized that many employees in the industry have no idea of what constitutes sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Also, the fear of where and how to report such incidents keeps the victims from asking for help.

To address this issue, Screen Australia introduced a Code Of Conduct to simplify legal responsibilities and make them easy to understand.

It doesn’t end here. Sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying are matters that the Screen Industry Code of Practice covers to address the problems that may rise in making a safe and healthy industry for everyone.

So, what is in the Australian screen industry code of practice?

The code of practice for the screen industry encompasses all guidelines that take a proactive approach to ensuring that environments surrounding the screen industry are not only safe but also professional.

This code aims to bring to light issues of discrimination, sexual harassment, and bullying while setting clear limits for employers and workers.

Under this code, the employers must:

Committing a safe workplace environment.

Policies in the workplace: Policies that must be created and implemented for a respectful and secure workplace must be followed in order to prevent bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

Create awareness: A simplified version of these policies should be seen around the workplace (in the form of posters.) to actively promote and communicate these policies.

Properly handling complaints: A proper system should be in place to collect and investigate complaints effectively.

Key Takeaways:

The following are some important lessons learned from the Australian Screen Code of Practice:

Right to protect against workplace discrimination, bullying, and sexual harassment.

One major element in ensuring safety and professionalism in Australian screen industry practice involves a thorough background check by gaining a national criminal history record.

This step is crucial for maintaining trust and compliance within the industry, particularly when hiring staff for sensitive roles.

A workplace should be a safe place without any threats to one’s integrity.

Now, why is only this code promoted more than any other in the Australian screen code of practice?

It’s because this is the most effective and acknowledged code of practice for employers in the Australian Screen of Practice.

The development of this code is the result of the joint efforts of Screen Producers Australia (SPA) the representatives of the employers in the screen industry and Media Entertainment and Arts Intelligence (MEAA). The employees’ party representatives.

The code of practice has been created to help employers create and apply the policies and procedures that will ensure continuity in the entire Australian Screen Industry.

Compliance with the code of practice: The SPA members are not required to comply with the voluntary Industry Code of Practice.

Furthermore, the SPA (Screen Producer Australia), knows that the streaming platforms partnered with the screen agencies may require the producers to comply with the Code of Practice.

Hence SPA strongly directs that all of its members comply with this practice.

The whole juice of the situation is that no matter the scale of work, employers will be and should be held accountable for any kind of harassment, (sexual or verbal), discrimination, bullying, or threats directed at them or related to their status of employment.

To create policies for your company you can use the templates created by SPA and MEAA. While you do get a template from both bodies the producers will be required to adapt and change them according to their set of responsibilities.

Some of these are notable:

Creating a complaint form.

Workplace sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying policies.

Handling complaints and investigation systems.

Beyond the visible code

Code of Conduct explanation.

What happens if the Code is Ignored?

Producers who fail to comply with the code of conduct under the contract’s obligations will be at risk of inability for any more funding from Screen Australia under the terms and conditions.

Ignoring the Screen Code of Conduct is considered a content or script breach of agreement with Screen Australia. There is also a probability of committing civil or criminal offenses.

But what if there’s a minor unintentional accident?

If the producer does everything in their power to adhere to the Code but still there happens to be a mishap, it could be forgiven only if it’s dealt with quickly with sensitivity to the situation.

Under the terms of the financing agreement, Screen Australia can look into or ask for evidence that the key elements of the Code of Conduct are being applied during production.

The Legal Interference:

It is a legal obligation for all producers and employers to ensure a safe environment making sure there’s no harm to their workers.

Potential criminal conduct should be taken seriously by the employers, such that if a case of sexual harassment or any indecent exposure is reported to them, then a police investigation should be called.

To ensure the truth and safety of the workplace.

The Australian Screen Code of Conduct is set in place to support the industry’s long-term goals and vision as discussed in the Western Australian Screen Industry Strategy.

The long Term Vision of the Screen Australia:

It’s no wonder that Screen Australia is a world-renowned industry with outstanding creations and creative stories to present to the world. That is why the government and industry are working together to create highly skilled jobs and more investments as well as viewing it as an activity to create a more diverse economy and include other cultures.

Over the next ten years, Western Australia has been aiming to significantly raise the value of the state’s film industry.

By sharing these goals:

Improve Qualified Western Australian Expenditure (QWAE), the screen industry’s yearly quantified economic contribution, across all platforms and media.

Enhancing Western Australian content, talent, and stories on television by:

increasing the number of hours of screen material produced each year in Western Australia.

Future creators unite here

increasing the number of full-time WA game developers by 2034 to more accurately represent our share of the population.

improving the amount of material produced by various community creatives, including First Nations creatives.

By 2034, raise the amount of QWAE in the screen business as a direct result of incentives for production attraction, post-production digital and visual effects (PDV) incentives, and a new screen production facility.

Conclusion:

Screen Australia’s 10-year goal of making the best Australian Entertainment industry involves having a safe space for the people working behind the screens, by making producers and employers responsible for ensuring that there is no sexual harassment, bullying, or discrimination of any kind against any of the employees.

Focusing on the elimination of all kinds of sexual harassment or assault.

And if something does end up happening, there should be a proper system in place to submit these complaints and investigate them, even if police interference is required it should be done.

Suppose producers or employers fail to adhere to Australia’s Screen Code of Conduct in their productions. In that case, they will have breached their contract with Screen Australia’s financing organization and will be ineligible for future government expenditures.