Victoria's music community is rallying behind a plan to reinvest a small share of major ticket sales into a permanent Victorian Music Trust.
The proposal sits at the heart of Vote Victorian Music, an industry-led platform launched at the Victorian Music Assembly at Melbourne Town Hall, where more than 150 artists, workers and executives came together around four connected commitments they’re asking every party to make ahead of the state election.
The Victorian Music Trust is the one they’d love to see locked in first.
The Victorian Music Trust
- Rate: 1 per cent on ticket sales for major live music events
- Coverage: major stadiums, arenas and government-owned venues, defined by capacity
- Exemptions: grassroots venues, small operators, low-cost events and all-ages shows
- Estimated revenue: around $4.4 million a year
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Here’s how it would work
A legislated 1 per cent levy would apply to ticket sales for major live music events at stadiums, arenas and government-owned venues. That contribution would flow back into Victorian artists, grassroots venues, workers and the wider music ecology, so the success of the biggest shows helps sustain the smaller rooms where careers begin.
The Trust would be independently governed and protected by legislation, sitting inside the Creative Industries portfolio and quarantined for music so it stays steady through the budget cycle. The aim is a reliable foundation the sector can plan around, complementing the shorter-term grant programs already in place.
The model has plenty of precedent
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France has run a legislated ticket levy on contemporary music for two decades, Britain trialled a voluntary version in 2025, and Germany launched its own voluntary fund in 2026. A federal parliamentary inquiry into live music got behind the idea too, recommending a small levy on large events to support grassroots venues.
The timing reflects real momentum for the sector’s future. Rooms presenting live music every week moved from 813 in 2019 to 655 in 2023, with regional areas feeling it most keenly, and the platform highlights room to grow investment, noting Victoria currently puts in 48 cents per person in contemporary music alongside $3.10 in New South Wales.
Music Victoria has invited a formal response from every party contesting the 28 November election, keeping the Trust firmly on the agenda for candidates across the state in the months ahead.
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