Music Victoria Calls For Restriction Changes In Open Letter: 'We're Fighting For You'

Music Victoria is maintaining pressure for change to the state's live music venue restrictions to change amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In an open letter, the organisation is calling for greater support from the State Government around the restrictions. 

"While many of you may already be across this (because you are so directly impacted by it), I am writing to clarify the present situation for Music in Victoria," wrote newly appointed CEO Simone Schinkel.

"Firstly, new COVIDSafe Settings introduced on Friday 9th April have had little to no positive impact on our industry.

"While the first line of the announcement may read that we are back to 100% of total capacity - the devil is in the detail. The 1 person per 2 square metre rule still applies to most live music venues (non-seated), which equates to them operating at about 30% capacity. Events or venues with over 1,000 patrons are required to go through a separate approval process with the Public Events Framework.

"We have communicated our industry’s grave concerns around these restrictions to the Department of Health (DH), and disappointingly, they have not yet introduced any changes to remedy the situation. We are continuing to have these discussions with them, in order to bring about the changes our live industry needs to be operating at optimum levels.

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"We want to make the current situation clear to those inside the industry and to those who just care about music more generally.

"We share your absolute and total frustration with the current situation and are working to do all that we can to make it change..."

"We're in this together and we're fighting for you."

The open letter goes on to detail that Music Victoria are pushing for change through the following methods:

• Pursuing DH to change their guidelines and benchmark us against other states, and other industries and settings (across two meetings);
• Exploring options under the Public Events Framework for all sized venues and events (not just those with capacities over 1000);
• Meeting with Ministers and Advisors from Health, Creative Industries, Small Business, Employment, Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation;
• Presenting at the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of Covid-19 on Events and Tourism (yesterday – a transcript will be available);
• Making a submission to the above Inquiry;
• Ongoing communication with Creative Victoria;
• Speaking with the media to raise the profile of our concerns and to counter the perception of ‘trading as usual’;
• Fielding many emails and phone calls across the sector – hearing your stories first-hand, and sharing these with government.

The peak body is asking for support from the public, encouraging people to get in touch with their local electorate member to voice their experiences and concerns, make a submission to the Inquiry into the Impact of Covid-19 on Events and Tourism (closing today) and more. 

As reported last month, Victoria's current density quotients means that a venue like Richmond's Corner Hotel can only have around 280 people in its usual 750 bandroom at any time. 

For smaller spaces like Brunswick East's Whole Lotta Love, Victorian residents can legally have more people in their homes than owner Sasha Janssen can have in her venue (100 people in a private residence to Whole Lotta Love's 45 people). 

Find out more about how you can support Music Victoria's calls here.