MEAA TVC Standard Contract 2024 explained: what producers need to know

If you produce TVCs in Australia, the MEAA TVC Standard Contract 2024 is the document sitting under almost every performer deal you sign. It's the union standard-form contract for on-camera talent — negotiated by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) — and it's the thing casting agents, performers' agents and post-production lawyers reference when a question comes up. This guide walks through what the contract actually covers, what it doesn't, and how it interacts with the CGA Recommended Guideline 24 September 2024 — the other document you're quoting on every budget.

What MEAA is, and what the TVC 2024 contract does

MEAA is the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance — the industrial union representing performers, journalists, crew and allied creative workers in Australia. The MEAA TVC Standard Contract 2024 is the standard-form contract it maintains for engaging a principal performer on a television commercial. It sets the performer's base day fee, the usage terms, rollover, the meal-break rule, minimum turnaround between shoot days, and the framework for night loading and overtime.

The contract applies from the first call of shoot day one through to the end of the licensed usage period. It is a contract — not a piece of legislation — but because it is the union's standard form, it is what most performers' agents will execute against. Producers who try to depart materially from it tend to hit friction quickly.

Base pay and the principal performer fee

The MEAA TVC 2024 sets the base day rate for a principal performer — the named, speaking, identifiable lead on your commercial. The contract's base is the floor; you can negotiate up, not down. That base is separate from the CGA tier ladder (more on that below), which governs featured extras, extras and walk-ons.

The MEAA TVC Standard Contract 2024 sets the principal performer base day rate. The CGA Recommended Guideline 24 September 2024 sits on top with a tier-by-tier dollar ladder for featured extras, extras and walk-ons, plus a $1,500 adult Featured Extra floor and a 10-hour day + $150/hr flat overtime rule (CGA 24 September 2024).

Usage periods and rollover

The contract's usage framework is where the money really lives. Base pay covers the shoot day. A separate usage fee covers the licensed broadcast period — typically 12 months from first air. If the client wants to keep running the spot beyond that window, the usage rolls over and another usage fee falls due.

Rollover is not automatic in a silent way — it has to be tracked, the performer (or the performer's agent) has to be notified, and the rollover fee is payable at the point of renewal. Producers who forget about rollover and keep a spot running quietly are the ones who get calls from performers' agents 14 months in. Build the usage window into your media plan from day one.

The meal-break rule

The MEAA TVC 2024 meal-break rule requires a meal break to be provided within a specified window measured from call. If the break isn't provided inside that window — because the camera department ran long, or the DOP wanted to finish the scene, or craft wasn't ready — a meal penalty accrues. The penalty continues to accrue in increments until the break is taken.

The meal penalty is per-performer, per-increment, and it stacks on top of base pay. On a busy day with a large cast it's genuinely material. This is one of the four things the overtime calculator resolves from your call sheet times — you give it call, meal start, meal end, wrap and next-day call, and it tells you whether a meal penalty has triggered.

Minimum turnaround and night loading

The contract sets a minimum turnaround — a minimum number of hours between wrap and the next day's call. Breach that minimum and a turnaround-breach penalty applies. This is the rule that catches out producers running a late night followed by an early location call.

Night loading is the mechanism for compensating the performer for work performed after a specified evening hour. MEAA TVC 2024 provides the framework; the CGA 24 September 2024 provides the flat dollar figures the industry typically uses in practice.

How MEAA TVC 2024 interacts with the CGA

This is the part producers new to TVC often miss: MEAA TVC 2024 and the CGA Recommended Guideline 24 September 2024 are two separate documents, and Australian TVC work applies them simultaneously. MEAA sets the contract structure and the principal base. CGA sits on top with the tier-by-tier dollar ladder — featured extras at $1,500 adult floor, extras, walk-ons — plus the industry-standard 10-hour day and $150/hr flat overtime rule (CGA 24 September 2024).

You reference both because they do different jobs. If you want the full comparison, read CGA vs MEAA: which applies to your TVC. If you want to build a performer fee from tier + usage + super, open the performer calculator. If you want to model a long shoot day with meal windows and a tight turnaround, the overtime calculator does all four calculations in one pass.

What to do with all of this on a live budget

On a working TVC budget, MEAA TVC 2024 gives you the structure and the principal base. CGA gives you the tier dollars and the overtime numbers. Super sits on top at 12% for FY25-26. Agency commission is billed gross-up on top of the performer's fee. Workers comp applies. Build each piece separately and the numbers hold up in a rate negotiation.

Cite the source cell for every figure you put on a budget line. When a performer's agent questions a number, you want to be able to point to MEAA TVC 2024 or CGA 24 September 2024 and move on.