Creative Workplaces Foundations
Fair, safe and respectful creative work — a practical framework for creative businesses and organisations
Take the journey
Making your workplace fair, safe and respectful doesn’t happen in one go — it’s a journey.
Do I have to do this? No, but job descriptions (also called position descriptions) are a useful reference point for you and your employee. They can help make sure you’re on the same page about what the job is and prevent problems and misunderstandings later on.
Do I have to do this? It’s ok to employ people based on word-of-mouth or because you know them — but decisions that are not open and transparent can be vulnerable to bias and may not always be in the best interests of your creative business or organisation.
Do I have to do this? Yes. Your decisions about job candidates and their job applications must be free from unlawful discrimination.
Learn more about workplace discrimination
Do I have to do this? Equity and inclusion raise standards by widening the talent pool and ensuring the best candidates rise to the top. Inclusive recruitment is about ensuring that merit is truly recognised, valued, and rewarded, without bias getting in the way.
The Creative Equity Toolkit has lots of resources to help you build inclusive recruitment practices
Do I have to do this? It is very likely that an employee who will (or even might) work with children or young people will need a valid Working With Children Check or equivalent.
There are also other screening actions that we strongly recommend. Screening (checking) workers is an important action for preventing harm and abuse of children and young people.
Learn more about screening (checking) people working with children
Do I have to do this? Yes. It is illegal to hire a non-citizen of Australia to work without a valid visa.
Learn more about checking a person’s right to work
Explore related
Essentials for employment relationships
When employment relationships are clear and lawful, employees are more likely to understand their rights, receive their correct entitlements and participate meaningfully in their work. Getting your obligations right supports a fair, safe and sustainable creative workplace.
Engaging an employee
Practical, step-by-step guidance to help creative organisations and businesses engage an employee.
Starting a new employee
Practical, step-by-step guidance to help creative organisations and businesses start a new employee.
We acknowledge the many Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and honour their Elders past and present.
We respect their deep enduring connection to their lands, waterways, and surrounding clan groups since time immemorial. We cherish the richness of First Nations peoples’ artistic and cultural expressions. We are privileged to gather on this Country and to share knowledge, culture and art, now and with future generations.