Pay secrecy clauses have allowed employers to exploit and underpay game industry workers for too long. Thanks to the hard work of union members, pay secrecy was made illegal in Australia in December 2022. There are some caveats and conditions to take into account as the law is in its…
News
Games and tech workers secure groundbreaking new overtime and penalty rate changes
Many Australian game workers are employed under the Professional Employees Award, which historically has not included access to overtime payments or penalty rates. As has been repeatedly noted in our industry surveys, this situation regularly results in our members working long hours for no extra pay. Thanks to the work…
Game Workers Australia Community Officer Election Results (February 2022)
The GWA Community Officer Elections have now closed and the results tallied. Convenor Maize Wallin & Tim Colwill have been jointly elected to the role of Convenor YES: 100% – NO: 0% Administrator No nominations received. Position vacant. Community Organisers Mitch McCausland has been elected as a Community Organiser YES:…
Game Workers Australia Community Officer Elections Open
Game Workers Australia (GWA) is now calling for nominations for community officer roles within our organisation. Like always, these are volunteer roles and open to anyone who wishes to devote their spare time campaigning and organising to build a better games industry here in Australia. Nominations are open to community…
GWU Australia and Professionals Australia partner to launch new union in 2022
Since launching in 2018, GWU Australia has been supporting and empowering workers to build a better games industry, together. As part of our efforts, we have been connecting our members with Australia’s union movement – and we have also been negotiating to bring the union movement to Australia’s games industry….
GWU Australia Condemns Censorship of Journalists at IGN and GameInformer
Game Workers Unite Australia stands in solidarity with writers at IGN and GameInformer who discovered this week that their articles on how readers could provide support to Palestinian civilians affected by Israel’s ongoing violent colonial settler campaign had been removed. As reported by VICE, writers at both outlets have received…
GWU Australia Welcomes 30% Tax Rebate News
Game Workers Unite Australia welcomes today’s announcement of a 30% tax rebate for video game development in Australia. This is an enormous achievement and we acknowledge the huge efforts put in by the IGEA to lobby the Federal Government on this issue. While the concrete details about the Digital Games…
GWU Aus Releases Examples of Freelancer Rate Responses
GWU Australia has been surveying freelance game developers in Australia as part of our project to set sustainable rates in our industry. Today we are releasing some very preliminary examples of the sort of rates that freelancers across the country have told us they are charging. One of the biggest…
Ending Abuse in the Games Industry
This last week, the games industry has again been rocked by stories of people with power preying upon their colleagues, employees and fans. It is a harrowing moment but also important that we reckon with these revelations. GWU Australia condemns the perpetrators of these abuses. We have only one thing…
GWU Australia Launches New Project To Help Freelance Game Developers
One of the big challenges facing game workers in Australia is that if you’re freelancing or contracting your skills out, it can be hard to know what to charge. With no set industry rates, you just don’t know where you fit in the puzzle. Game Workers Unite Australia is starting…