Who is the Equality in Audio pact for?

The Equality in Audio Pact is for companies, organisations and individuals who commission, create or host radio and podcast content.

1 . Pay interns / No longer use unpaid interns.

We want to make sure that nobody of any level is working for free in this industry. Formal internships and non-study related work experience are usually one of the first ways a person enters the audio industry. Using unpaid labour to help run your business not only restricts who is able to work within audio but it also can be viewed as exploitative. Audio should be open to people of all abilities, all ages, from all classes, and ethnic backgrounds. Unpaid work must stop.

2.  Hire LGBTQIA+, black people, people of colour and other minorities on projects not only related to their identity.

This action includes but is not limited to the specific minorities listed above. There is a big problem within the industry of not viewing people who are minorities as full rounded human beings. For example, hiring a producer with a visible disability to make a show about disabilities but then overlooking them for shows related to their other interests and/or expertise. You can have a disability but you can also love the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

If all companies action this point it would mean there are more minorities of all abilities, ages and backgrounds in the industry. Production companies need to diversify who is hired across every aspect of their business. This action can be taken from the point of your next hire and/or next production crew hiring.

3. If you are a company that releases gender pay gap reports, release your race pay gap data at the same time.

Some companies when releasing their gender pay gap reports release an ethnicity pay report separately and this second report is not given the same attention. In order for the audio industry to improve, we need to be very clear with what it currently looks like. You can’t address a problem if it is never openly acknowledged.

4. No longer participate in panels that are not representative of the cities, towns, and industries they take place in.

There must no longer be all white panels. If you are holding a panel in Cornwall, Canberra or Cleveland, the city should be represented and also the industry that you are talking about. There are no cities AND industries that are 100% white, so neither should your panels. We need to stop conveying the message that only white voices have the knowledge and authority.

5. Be transparent about who works for your company, as well as their role, position and permanency.

“One in eight of the working age population are from an ethnic minority background, yet only one in ten are in the workplace and only one in 16 top management positions are held by an ethnic minority person"*. We need to see what the industry looks like. We need to see who is on your commissioning teams, we need to see who you’ve hired in positions of authority and we need to see every level of who works in this industry in order to identify the problem.