Equity's Advocates for Inclusion to meet: 19 August

All welcome at the Advocates for Inclusion Forum meeting, 19 August 2015, 7pm at the St Columba Centre, Ponsonby, Auckland. Please RSVP here.

Advocates for Inclusion: Who Are We?

1. Advocates for Inclusion (AFI) is a sub-committee of New Zealand Equity, established in 2014 to operate under the endorsement of the Board of Equity to promote, advocate and realize the principles of diverse casting and specifically address issues of fairness and inclusiveness within our industry.

2. AFI will recommend policies, advocate support structures and aim to work with industry stakeholders to lay the groundwork that will establish an inclusive industry that provides equal employment opportunities and equal treatment in the workplace for performers from all communities.

3. AFI will strive to direct the industry away from any tendencies to be exclusive, idealized, and discriminatory and develop a more realistic representation on New Zealand’s screens, stages and performance spaces.

4. AFI considers diverse casting to include the casting of:

• Culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse performers
• Performers with disabilities
• Performers of any gender, sexual preference and/or age
• Performers from any community who feel marginalized.

5. AFI will welcome ideas and information from performers in our community and is ambitious about creating and inspiring open conversations and spreading awareness. We believe that this will lead to the achievement of positive progress within our prospective performance industries.

6. AFI will serve as a conduit for grievances and celebrations from specific communities within the performance industry. We will highlight issues that we believe need attention for the purposes of rallying together to create change, or uniting as one to applaud progress and accomplishments.