Omicron impact sees call for screen production insurance to be matched for live music and events

An alliance of live music and entertainment bodies is calling on the Federal Government to extend its Temporary Interruption Fund (TIF), announced earlier this week to help the screen sector, live music and entertainment industry.

Following Federal Minister for the Arts Paul Fletcher's announcement yesterday of the extension of the $50 million TIF, the united live music and entertainment industry bodies - including Live  Performance  Australia (LPA), APRA  AMCOS, ARIA  PPCA, the Australian  Festival  Association, the Australian Live Music Business Council and the Live Entertainment Industry Forum - have called on Federal and state Governments to deliver a government-backed live industry insurance scheme.

A joint statement from the live bodies advised “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.

“The Temporary Interruption Fund for the Film industry was today extended by $50 million, yet the live music and entertainment industry’s 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.

“Victoria has already delivered an insurance scheme that is now set to be tested by the Omicron-related disruptions, but a national approach is needed if the live music and entertainment industry is going to ‘ride this wave’, survive and play its role living with the virus.”

With 2022 having been expected to see a restart of the live entertainment and music industry, the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus is causing the cancellation of a range of upcoming events and festivals.

Following the postponement of the 2022 Tamworth Country Music Festival, this week has seen three more Australian music festivals cancelled or postponed, including the Grapevine Gathering and Numeralla Folk Festival in NSW while touring metal and punk festival Full Tilt postponed its Brisbane edition until the end of April and cancelled its Adelaide concert set for 29th January.

LPA Chief Executive, Evelyn Richardson told The Guardian “Omicron has played out worse than anyone expected

“We appreciate the support we’ve had, but the government needs to step up and introduce a national scheme. Yes the states have a role, but it has been very disappointing that the federal government hasn’t led and pulled the states together and worked with them.”

Image: Tamworth Country Music Festival. Credit: Tamworth Country Music Festival.