Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has introduced a new e-learning course designed to reduce instances of harassment, discrimination, and bullying in the screen industry.
Funded with support from Screen NSW and Screen Australia, Respectful Workplaces breaks down negative perceptions and barriers based on an individual’s culture or sexual orientation, while outlining personal obligations relating to sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, and bystander laws.
The materials are customised to the screen industry, with scenarios constructed under the guidance of an industry reference group containing representatives from production companies, screen agencies, and broadcasters.
In early 2023, a supporting database will be launched to track who has completed the training, creating an industry accreditation system to be used with further e-learning courses.
It comes 18 months after SPA and Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) released updated screen industry safety guidelines, featuring information on relatively new protocols, such as the MEAA Intimacy Guidelines for Stage and Screen, which were released in 2020.
In the time since, cultural practices in certain areas of the sector have come under fire, with the A Wider Lens report released this year by the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) indicating that bullying and discrimination on the job and in hiring are reportedly commonplace within Australian camera departments, while sexual harassment is ‘routine’.
The report suggested the industry “urgently” needed a targeted, high-profile industry campaign to educate people about bullying, harassment, and discrimination at work, and that compliance with the Australian Screen Industry Code of Practice on discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying should be a mandatory, rather than voluntary, condition of membership for SPA.
SPA CEO Matthew Deaner said the organisation wanted everyone in the industry to understand the value of diversity and inclusion, as well as how it directly benefitted productions.
“Delivering a tailored, uniform and accessible training platform across the complexity of a gig-based sector solves a major challenge for everyone given that cast and crew are onboarded at different times and often work for multiple employers across a year,” he said.
“The provision and receipt of the same regular and ongoing training about what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behaviour sets a clear expectation and a common benchmark for everybody making it easier for employers as well as employees and contractors alike.
“This is the first and key foundation for what SPA anticipates will be a range of important e-learning modules that will be provided for the industry.”
Enrolments for the Respectful Workplaces e-learning course are now open, with SPA members able to enrol an unlimited number of their employees and agents, including crew, cast, and volunteers, free of charge.
Non-SPA Members working on a SPA Member production interested in completing the training are encouraged to speak with their supervisor about enrolment.
More information about the course can be found here.