AWG Farewells Group CEO Jacqueline Elaine

12 July, 2021

The highly esteemed Australian Writers’ Guild Group CEO, Jacqueline Elaine, is resigning due to a health condition.

Having battled illness for some months, Ms Elaine has stepped back from helming both the AWG and the Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society to focus on regaining her health. 

The President of the AWG, Shane Brennan, said that both the National Executive Council and the board of AWGACS fully support Ms Elaine and wish her a speedy and full recovery.

Mr Brennan said that since taking the helm of the AWG in 2006, Ms Elaine has transformed the Guild into the powerhouse and highly regarded organisation it is today. 

‘With her passion and dedication to the writers’ cause, Jacqueline has been tireless in the never-ending quest to protect and promote the interests of writers, both for screen and stage,’ Mr Brennan said.

He said her imprint on the Writers’ Guild has been profound and would be long lasting.

‘There is little doubt she leaves the Guild a stronger, more vibrant and more relevant organisation than when she first joined it,’ he said.

AWGACS Chair Jan Sardi said that as Group CEO, Ms Elaine’s responsibilities went far beyond managing the day-to-day operation of the Guild and overseeing both AWGACS and the independent not-for-profit, Scripted Ink.

‘Jacqueline’s achievements for the membership are wide-ranging and too numerous to list, but include the negotiation of many funding initiatives with various state and federal bodies, the ongoing fight to improve contracts and terms for writers with producers, networks and broadcasters and the recent lobbying successes in Canberra with the Make It Australian campaign,’ Mr Sardi said.

‘The Guild is now in the strongest position it has ever been in; that’s why we owe her an enormous debt of gratitude for her outstanding service, her tireless dedication, her single-minded determination and her fierce defence of writers’ rights,’ he said. 

A search for her replacement is underway.

Shane Brennan 

President, Australian Writers’ Guild 

Those wishing to apply can find the Executive Director advertisement and role description on ArtsHub here and Seek here.  

If you would like to get in touch with Jacqueline, please email [email protected] and she will be happy to give you Jacqueline’s details.