Sunday is the expensive day. The Award pays all time worked on a Sunday at 200% (cl. 69.1), and a late meal rises from 150% on a weekday to 175% on Saturday, 200% on Sunday and 250% on a public holiday. Overtime at $150 an hour and the $500 night loading are the same on any day.
The day fee
The CGA Recommended Guideline (24 September 2024) has no weekend or public holiday loading, and the MEAA TVC Standard Contract 2024 publishes none. The floor under every fee is the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2020, and the Award does change on a Sunday: all time worked is paid at 200% (cl. 69.1). It has no Saturday loading for performers.
Most on-camera fees are well above that floor. Ten Sunday hours at the Award performer rate come to 10 × $54.50 × 200% = $1,090, under a $1,500 featured extra fee. Background extras are the ones to check. Eight Sunday hours at the Award extra rate of $44.94 come to $719.04, more than most crowd quotes of $350 to $500 a day. See what extras are paid.
An agent can also ask for a premium to book a performer on a Sunday or a public holiday. If they do, it's a figure in the booking, agreed before the call sheet goes out.
Late meals
Meal breaks come from the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2020, which the MEAA contract adopts. A meal of 30 to 60 minutes must start within 5 hours of call. When it starts late, the performer still takes it as soon as possible, and the meal period is paid at the Award ordinary rate ($54.50 an hour from 1 July 2026) with the day's penalty (Award cl. 67.1(e)).
| Shoot day | Penalty | 30-minute meal | 60-minute meal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekday | 150% | $40.88 | $81.75 |
| Saturday | 175% | $47.69 | $95.38 |
| Sunday | 200% | $54.50 | $109.00 |
| Public holiday | 250% | $68.13 | $136.25 |
It's one payment per performer for the meal period. Calling lunch 15 minutes late costs the same as calling it an hour late.
Six performers whose 30-minute lunch is called late on a Sunday cost 6 × $54.50 = $327.00. The same lunch on a weekday would have been $245.28, and on a public holiday $408.78.
Overtime and night loading
Neither changes with the day. Overtime is $150 an hour for each performer after 10 hours worked, and a performer required past 22:00 attracts a flat $500 night loading (CGA guideline, 24 September 2024). A Saturday night shoot that wraps at 23:00 after a 13:00 call costs the same as a Tuesday one.
Two days in a row
A weekend shoot often follows a late Friday, and that's where turnaround catches people. Performers are entitled to 10 clear hours between wrap and the next call. A shorter break is allowed only in an emergency with the performer's consent, and the whole period they work until they get a 10-hour break is then paid at 200% of the Award rate (Award cl. 67.1(j)).
Wrap Friday at 23:00 and call Saturday at 07:00, and the break is 8 hours. A 10-hour Saturday is all worked before the performer gets a 10-hour break, so every hour carries the extra 100%: 10 × $54.50 = $545 for each performer, on top of the day fee. Moving Saturday's call to 09:00 avoids it.
Public holidays by state
Public holidays differ between states, and a shoot in one state for a client in another can land on a holiday nobody in the office has off. The call sheet builder shows the public holidays for the shoot location on the date you pick.
Pricing the day
Choose the day in the overtime calculator along with your call, meal and wrap times, and it applies the right late-meal penalty, the overtime, any night loading and a short turnaround to the next call.
