Recent advice published by the ATO and Creative Workplaces reinforces that writers who are engaged by production companies to write scripts are entitled to superannuationunder the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (Cth) (the Act).
The ATO states that if you have been paid to provide a service that is required for a performance to occur, including plays or entertainment, then you are considered to be an employee for superannuation purposes. Examples provided by the ATO include “commissioned script writers” and “dramaturgs.”
You can find out more about the ATO’s advice on super for sportspeople, performers, film makers and related activities HERE.
Creative Workplaces have recently published a guide on who gets super, reenforcing that super is paid for services connected to a performance, or for work on films, recordings and broadcasts.
Their advice confirms that those services “include services like script writing if the work is directly connected to a production, performance, or broadcast.”
You can find out more about Creative Workplaces advice HERE.
AWG members who have questions about the above information or their entitlement to superannuation can contact AWG’s industrial team. As a member of AWG, you are entitled to unlimited in-house industrial advice.
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