As the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games enters its final weekend of competition, Nine’s broadcast of one of the year’s most uplifting two weeks has officially been certified as Inclusively Made.
With the Paralympics now reaching more than 8.7 million Australians across the 9Network and 9Now, the certification from Inclusively Made – the global standard for inclusion in film, TV and advertising – means the on-air broadcast and behind-the-scenes teams meet “key inclusive criteria for people with disability.”
This includes the building of accessible set-ups across Nine’s North Sydney headquarters in commentary booths and workspaces.
Nine’s broadcast has engaged not-for-profit organisation Bus Stop Films, which uses filmmaking to raise the profile of people with disability, to provide staff for post-production roles.
“As Australia’s only disability employment service supporting the screen and media sector, Bus Stop Employment is thrilled to see our members gain meaningful employment on the Paralympics broadcast. Every job builds skills and networks to unlock the next opportunity. Together with Nine and Inclusively Made, we’re making history and changing lives,” said Bus Stop Films CEO, Tracey Corbin-Matchett OAM.
The past eight days of competition has made household names out of para-athletes including Alexa Leary, Lauren Parker, Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson, Vanessa Low, The Steelers and many more, with Nine’s broadcast ensuring that inclusivity is deeply ingrained within the production and embodies the spirit of the Paralympic movement.
Just like the Paralympic motto of ‘always moving forward’, the certification marks an important milestone for Nine, according to Liana Dubois, Nine’s chief marketing officer and who leads Nine’s Community, Company and Climate strategy.
“At Nine, we believe that inclusive storytelling empowers and enriches communities. We are proud to have made progress and have our Paralympic coverage accredited as Inclusively Made for the first time. We are committed to a future where our content is accessible, inclusive, and representative of all audiences. There is more work to do and we look forward to applying the learnings of our Paralympic coverage into the future,” Dubois said.
Broadcasting more than 300 hours of action, Nine’s coverage of the Paralympic Games is the most prominent ever screened with live and free coverage across one curated linear offering on Channel 9 and 9Gem as well as up to 20 streams on 9Now.
People living with disability make up 20% of our global population, yet popular culture often does not reflect this diversity.
“I’m incredibly proud to see Nine’s Paralympics broadcast certified Inclusively Made. It’s vital that the content we see authentically reflects everyone across our community. Nine’s commitment to extend disability representation to on screen roles and across every part of the production process (behind the camera) is unprecedented and sets a new benchmark in disability representation. Nothing about us, without us! — it’s so great to see this perspective reflected on our screens for the biggest sporting event of the year!” said Inclusively Made CEO, Paul Nunnari PLY.
“We’re so proud of the team for achieving this milestone. Inclusively Made is a key partnership for Nine in our Diversity & Inclusion work, and we look forward to our future productions working towards the same goal with the example set by our Paralympics coverage,” said Nine’s director of people and culture, Vanessa Morley
