It is with great sadness that the Guild writes of the recent passing of writer, director, author, industry advocate, and a long-time active Victorian AWG member, Mark Poole. Mark filled many Guild roles over some four decades, including Victorian Committee member; Victorian Chair; Victorian rep on the then Management Committee; Victorian Vice-President on the NEC; and…
Continue readingWednesday 15 July 2026 – The Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) and Authorship Collecting Society Australia Aotearoa (ACSAA) welcome today’s speech from Prime Minister Albanese re-affirming the Government’s position that Australia’s creators, and the laws that support us, are a key part of our nation’s future. A new Office of AI and Australian Standards can build on the…
Continue readingFriday 3 July 2026 – The Australian Writers’ Guild is aware of a number of generative artificial intelligence (AI) script coverage services claiming to offer fast feedback and analysis of scripts for a fee. These services do not employ script assessors. Seeking feedback on a script is a necessary and valuable part of the writing process….
Continue readingEight outstanding scripts by 14 writers have been selected from over 200 entries in the 2026 John Hinde Award. In the Unproduced category, two television pilots and two feature films have been shortlisted, while in Produced, episodes of NCIS: Sydney and Zip and the Tiny Sprouts compete with feature film Cooee and short film Self Love. The winners will be announced at an industry event in…
Continue readingTwelve exciting new projects by 14 emerging writers have been shortlisted for the Australian Writers’ Guild’s 2026 Emerging Writers’ Awards. Included on the shortlist are two stage plays, multiple television pilots, feature films and a short film from some of Australia’s best up-and-coming writing talent, selected from over 500 entries. The winning writers in both categories will be announced at…
Continue readingAs part of the AWG’s ongoing work on Artificial Intelligence (AI), we’re looking into how much of our members’ work may have been used to train AI data sets. To assist us in this work, we encourage members to take a look at this tool published by The Atlantic, and search the LibGen data set to see if your works appear…
Continue readingWednesday 22 April: The Australian Writers’ Guild is pleased to announce the 15 screenwriters who have been selected to participate in First Break NSW, a unique professional development program designed to give talented, aspiring screenwriters a leg up in the industry through practical training in note-taking and script coordinating. Delivered with support from Screen NSW, the three-day…
Continue reading10 April 2026 – Writers who are engaged by production companies to write scripts are entitled to superannuation under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (Cth) (the Act). Section 12(3) of the Act states that if a person works under a contract that is “wholly or principally for the labour of the person” then that person is an employee of the other…
Continue reading8 April 2026 – The Australian Writers’ Guild is preparing its submission to the federal government’s development of a new National Cultural Policy to shape the future direction of the creative and cultural industries. To help us consolidate our position, we invite members to contribute thoughts on how to improve our nation’s arts, entertainment and cultural sector. The policy will continue to be structured around the…
Continue reading24 March 2026 – The Australian Writers’ Guild’s First Break program, delivered in partnership with Screen NSW, is an opportunity for aspiring NSW screenwriters to build skills as note-takers and script coordinators. Applications for the next round of First Break NSW are now open with 15 places on offer via competitive application. Working as a note-taker and/or script…
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