Live music sector calls for same support as film and TV
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Live music sector calls for same support as film and TV

live music

The Australian government announced today that they’re extending the Temporary Interruption Fund (TIF), a $50 million assistance fund available for local film and television projects interrupted by COVID restrictions.

In response, the Australian live music and events sector are calling for COVID local film and television production insurance to be matched for their industry.

Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.

Since the Omicron wave has hit around the country the live music and events sector has once again been smashed with restrictive health orders and COVID spread leading once again to mass cancellations and rescheduled events.  Live music and events have been one of the hardest hit sectors, with the brunt of new restrictions – density limits and dancefloor bans – directly impacting their industry more than any other.

Following federal Arts Minister Paul Fletcher’s announcement today of the extension of the $50m TIF, the united live music and entertainment industry bodies AAM, AFA, ALMBC, AMIN, APRA AMCOS, ARIA, PPCA, LEIF and Live Performance Australia have combined forces for a united call.

Despite TIF’s $50m extension, the live music industry say their calls over the past 18 months for a similar national scheme have “fallen on deaf ears”.

“Australia now lags behind New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Estonia in delivering a solution to this issue,” their statement read.

Victoria is leading the country, having already delivered an insurance scheme that is now set to be tested by the Omicron-related disruptions.

But the live music sector is saying a national approach with federal funding is needed if the live music and entertainment industry is going to “ride this wave”.