Albanese Government Announces Live Performance Support Fund

The Albanese Labor Government will establish a national Live Performance Support Fund for events such as plays, concerts and festivals. 

The national assistance program will bring some much-needed and long overdue support for a live events industry that is still trying to recover from the crushing impact of the pandemic. 

For the music industry, the Live Performance Support Fund promises to mitigate some of the financial risks associated with running live music events in the current climate, providing a layer of insurance for COVID-19-induced cancellations for which many events cannot currently secure commercial insurance. 

The Live Performance Support Fund will be a demand-driven fund that will allow eligible event organisers to access coverage up to a defined percentage of their anticipated revenue – supported by the Commonwealth. The program will run from November 2022 until February 2023.

It will provide coverage for events affected by the nationwide requirement to mandatorily isolate following a positive test.

Announced via a media release from Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke,  the Live Performance Support Fund seeks to help prevent a repeat of the widespread loss of investment experienced when events had to be cancelled at short notice due to public health orders, with the Burke noting that the impact of those cancellations extended well-beyond the artists and organisers directly involved in the show.  "Those cancellations were devastating not just for organisers but for the musicians, performers, tradies, lighting operators, food van workers, hospitality employees and others who had been counting on income from those events."

On Twitter, Burke added that he believed that a fund of this nature should have been established "years ago".

The Albanese Government is safeguarding the summer festival season by establishing a Live Performance Support Fund.

This Fund should have been set up years ago - but I’m proud our Government is getting it done. pic.twitter.com/o6CmTxCadZ

— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) September 27, 2022

Burke alluded that this is just the beginning of the Government's plans to support the live events sector stating "In Opposition, Labor promised to examine the need for such a scheme as part of consultations on our new National Cultural Policy. But this cannot wait until the end of the year. The industry needs confidence now – and the Government is giving it to them."

Information on guidelines and the application process for the scheme will follow soon.