Wednesday, 23 November 2011

The Director of Actors Equity, Simon Whipp, has announced his resignation after 12 years as leader of the performers' union and professional association in Australia and New Zealand. Mr Whipp said that after a total of 18 years with the Alliance he had decided to step down to spend more time with his family and pursue new challenges. "This has been a very hard decision and not one I have taken lightly," Mr Whipp said. "It has been an honour and a privilege every day to stand up for Australia's performers and campaign for their rights, but there comes a time when everyone must look for new challenges."

Mr Whipp informed Equity president Simon Burke and the federal secretary of the Alliance, Christopher Warren, today. His resignation is effective from December 31.

A copyright lawyer, Mr Whipp joined the Alliance in 1994 as an industrial officer, rising after several years to head of the Equity section of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance.
 
"Australia and New Zealand have an incredible wealth of acting talent - it's been my great pleasure to work with and for such great people. One of the joys of the job has been that, through the union, we have been able to achieve such a lot with our members and for our industry - and I am sure with the fantastic team now in place at Equity they will continue to achieve great things." said Mr Whipp.

Equity president, Simon Burke, said: “The respect and gratitude Australian performers have for Simon Whipp is incalculable.  He has selflessly fought the good fight every single day of his 18 years with our union, especially in the last 12 as Equity director, where he inspired me and hundreds of my colleagues with his brilliant mind and huge heart. He is one of those rare non-performers who actually gets what we performers do. He is not just an advocate for performers’ rights. He is truly a giant of our industry at large. He will be hugely missed. Myself and National Performers Committee wish him the very best with his future endeavours.”  

Alliance federal secretary, Christopher Warren, said: “Simon has played a huge part in improving the working lives of performers and the industries in which they work during his 18 years with the Alliance. His commitment to our members and our union has been tireless and I thank him for his valuable contributions over the years, including improving wages and conditions for performers, protecting their employment opportunities and campaigning for the health and wellbeing of Australia’s performing arts and film and television industries."