About the AWG
About the AWG
May 20, 2003, 10:00am

At the AWG we promote and protect the interest and standing of writers who originate or adapt written material for performance. We assist members in their negotiations by making use of their collective bargaining power, and assist them in the development of their craft.

On behalf of our members we negotiate standard agreements with producers of the various performance media. These agreements set out the minimum rates and conditions for writers. We have standard contracts in the area of series and serials, and in commercial and subsidised Theatre. We also have a comprehensive range of model rates and agreements in film which are accepted as industry standards.

The AWG works for Australian writers no matter where their work is shown. In 1996 we established the Australian Writers' Guild Authorship Collecting Society (AWGACS), membership of which is open to all full AWG members. AWGACS collects certain payments for Australian works aired in Europe.

The AWG also gives writers an active political voice by lobbying government on such issues as copyright protection and the provision of adequate support for film and theatre funding bodies and the ABC and protecting Australian content.

The AWG is a democratic organisation run by its members, who each year elect a National Executive Council and State Branch Committees.

The Australian Writers' Guild receives assistance from the Literature Fund of the Australia Council, the State Arts Ministries in New South Wales and Western Australia, the Australian Film Commission, the Film Finance Corporation, The South Australian Film Corporation, Pacific Film and Television, Screenwest and the NSW Film and Television office.

The Guild is a member of the International Affiliation of Writers' Guilds, comprimising: The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, The Writers' Guilds of America (East and West), Writers' Guild of Canada, Societe des Auteurs, Recherchistes, Documentalistes et Compositeurs (Quebec) and the New Zealand Writers' Guild

© Copyright 2002 by Australian Writers' Guild