Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA)
The Australian union representing performers, journalists, and entertainment industry workers across film, television, theatre, and media, covering actors under Equity and crew under its film and television divisions.
Overview
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) is the Australian union representing workers across film, television, theatre, radio, journalism, and the entertainment industry broadly. Formed in 1992 through the merger of multiple entertainment and media unions, the MEAA operates as an umbrella organization covering performers (through its Equity branch), journalists (through its Media branch), and entertainment crew (through its Entertainment branch). With approximately 16,000 members, the MEAA is the primary labor organization for the Australian entertainment industry.
The MEAA's Equity branch covers Australian actors and performers working in film, television, theatre, opera, dance, and other performance disciplines -- performing the role that SAG-AFTRA performs in the US and Equity performs in the UK. The union negotiates the Equity Codified Agreement for television and the Equity Feature Film Agreement for theatrical productions, establishing minimum rates, working conditions, and residual structures for covered performers.
Equity Branch and Performer Coverage
MEAA Equity represents professional performers across all recorded and live performance media in Australia and New Zealand. The branch negotiates agreements with broadcasters (ABC, Seven, Nine, Ten, Foxtel) and independent producers establishing minimum rates for principal performers, background performers, voice-over artists, and stunt performers.
Australia's film and television production industry has grown substantially since the introduction of the Australian Screen Production Incentive (including the Location Offset, Producer Offset, and PDV Offset), attracting significant international production to Australia alongside a robust domestic production sector. MEAA Equity's coverage extends to international productions shooting in Australia that engage Australian performers.
Crew Coverage
The MEAA's Entertainment branch covers below-the-line crew working in film, television, and live entertainment. This includes camera operators, lighting technicians, grips, sound recordists, and other technical crew roles. In the film production context, the MEAA crew coverage is broadly equivalent to IATSE in the US, though the Australian production industry's smaller scale means that union density and enforcement look somewhat different in practice.
The distinction between MEAA-covered crew and MEAA-covered performers is important for Australian production budgeting. Both communities operate under MEAA's umbrella but under distinct agreements with different rate structures and working conditions.
What Filmmakers Should Know
For international productions shooting in Australia, MEAA's agreements govern Australian cast and crew on productions that engage them. The Australian Location Offset and Producer Offset incentives are substantial and attract significant international production to Australia. Compliance with MEAA minimum terms is expected on these productions and is a practical requirement for productions accessing Australian production incentive programs.
For Australian filmmakers, MEAA membership provides minimum rate protection, health and welfare entitlements, legal support, and the professional community of the Australian entertainment industry.
See Also
For the Australian directors guild operating alongside MEAA, see Australian Directors Guild (ADG) in this directory. For the Australian screenwriters association, see Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) in this directory.
