New app invites industry to track diversity

Media staff, crew members, cast and contractors are now being invited to participate in a confidential survey to help the screen industry track, boost and foster diversity.

The Everyone Project is a web app for voluntary participation of on and off-screen personnel, managed by the The Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network (SDIN) and Screen Industry Innovation (Sii). It invites people to self-identify on a set of characteristics around the diversity of the talent and crews working in their current projects.

SDIN is a network of broadcasters, screen funding agencies, business associations, guilds and industry-aligned education and training organisations which includes all Free to Air Networks and Foxtel.

Australia’s diversity is one of its great strengths, with rich multicultural, disability and LGBTQIA+ communities, so reflecting those communities and their stories on our screens is important. The Everyone Project will establish the diversity across Australia’s screen sector, both in front of and behind the cameras, and provide understanding of what a diverse workforce looks like to those driving productions in Australia.

Members are now inviting staff, contractors and crew members and cast to participate in a voluntary and confidential survey of on-screen and off-screen contributors to productions funded by SDIN members. The initiative will benchmark the production industry for diversity against the broader population and over time.

The platform also acts as a tool for organisations to better understand the diversity of their workforce, membership, crews and cast and to measure the impact of their efforts to make this more diverse and inclusive.

The platform aims to be easy and engaging whilst prioritising personal privacy, security, respectfulness and inclusion.

SDIN’s  Co-Chairs Benjamin Law and Jo Dillon said: “For a long time, the Australian screen industries have agreed fostering diversity – behind and in front of the camera – is paramount. However, we can only improve something by measuring it first. We urge and encourage all of our members and those who work on their projects to get on board with The Everyone Project. This is a landmark opportunity for our industry to truly engage with the question of diversity and ensure their workforces are representative of the broader Australian community.”

SDIN members subscribe to the platform and then invite the audio-visual productions they fund, both in-house and external to their organisation, to register a production on the platform. The platform has been designed to make the process of registering a project as simple as possible. For most productions, this should only take a few minutes. Significant input from industry has shaped the design.

The Project is committed to consent and privacy and the platform has applied best practice privacy by design principles from conception and has opted in to be bound by the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act (Cth).

A number of SDIN members have been implementing and embedding diversity initiatives into their organisations. One example of this is TalentCamp (https://www.aftrs.edu.au/courses/initiatives/talent-camp/), a nationwide skills development program for creatives from diverse backgrounds, designed to provide opportunities for emerging storytellers to create new content and be employment ready for the screen sector.

Other organisations implementing and embedding diversity initiatives include Digital Originals (Screen Australia and SBS), RIDE (Screen QLD and SBS), Diversity Talent Escalator (SBS and various screen funding agencies), Targeted Diversity Attachments, Film Lab: New Voices and Centralised (South Australian Film Corporation), Screen Diversity Showcase (MEAA in partnership with ADG/ AWG – funded by Screen Australia), Screenability (Screen NSW), Developing the Developer (Screen Australia), Regional Storyteller Scholarship (ABC) and The MediaRING Fellowship (MediaRING, Screen QLD), Screen Development Internships (Film Victoria).

About The Everyone Project
The Everyone Project has been developed by Sii, a benefit corporation established by long time screen industry executives Adam Smith and Alex Hannell, with the support of the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), an Australian Commonwealth government statutory authority.