Australia’s live music and entertainment industry has once more called on the Government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to deliver a national insurance scheme as the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 threatens the sector’s recovery.
Live music and entertainment bodies from across the industry including AAM, AFA, ALMBC, AMIN, APRA, AMCOS, ARIA, PPCA and Live Performance Australia have called on the State Premiers and the Prime Minister to deliver a Government-backed insurance scheme.
In a statement, the bodies said: “The emergence of this new variant on the heels of Delta and the rapid global response to limit its spread is a salutary reminder that this is not over yet. For an industry getting back on its feet, investing nationally and working hard to get shows back on stage and touring, the ongoing threat of future business disruption is very real.
“It takes months for industry to manage, coordinate and deliver events that tour both regionally and nationally. Thousands of businesses, sole traders and artists are at the mercy of new strains and the ongoing threat of more government lockdowns and reimposition of restrictions.”
LPA recently hailed the decision of an insurance scheme being implemented in the state of Victoria.
The bodies also note the Government-back schemes for the live music and entertainment sectors in New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and Estonia.
“For this scheme to truly work, however, the industry urges the Prime Minister to develop a national scheme that reflects the industry’s national economic and employment footprint,” added the statement.
“We again call on the Federal Government to step up and coordinate a co-contribution scheme shared with the states and territories.
“The Australian live music and entertainment sector has long argued that a government-backed insurance scheme is crucial to allowing the sector to rebuild, maintain employment and rapidly restore its critical economic and cultural contribution to the nation.”
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