ALMBC Advocacy Update 13/08/20
Remembering that up until last month the ALMBC didn’t exist, our immediate focus has been doing the rounds with Government, their agencies, and the broader music industry to provide background on the organisation and position the ALMBC as a conduit for issues that relate to the business of the live music sector.
The core focus of our advocacy so far has been:
- Exploration of a reframing of the JobMaker Package given large parts of this package will remain dormant until tours and venues can occur at feasible levels – businesses will need assistance in the short to medium term to meet ongoing operational costs (with almost zero revenue).
- Input into the Creative Economy Task Force from an Australian small business perspective
- Analysis of Revenue Contingent Loans as an additional low risk solution to grants funding and financial sector loans (more information on these to be distributed to the members shortly)
- Extension and maintenance of JobKeeper in absence of an industry without capacity to trade
- Exploring the concept of tightly managed cross-border tours to allow artists to play outside their state, providing an opportunity for the industry to in some way feed itself from those states where live music – albeit at reduced capacity – can still occur.
In addition to the conversations with our elected representatives, we have also enjoyed positive engagement with a number of departmental offices, in particular the Office of the Arts and the Australia Council for the Arts with a view to establishing ongoing and open dialogue on the range of important support programs they have on offer to the sector. This week has seen the release of a number of guidelines for funding programs so we will be providing input on those guidelines after consultation with the sector.
Alongside making inroads with government, the ALMBC has also identified the importance of working with various representative organisations and stakeholder groups that operate in the music industry to consolidate our energy into common objectives.
As such, we have consulted with peak music bodies at a State and National level to ensure we complement this work at a policy level and that our efforts add value to existing activities that relate to our shared membership. We have adopted a policy of wherever possible, consulting Industry stakeholders first before launching major initiatives or engaging with Government. Ongoing, we see this as even more critical as we seek to engage State Governments in issues that relate to Safe Operating Guidelines and getting the industry back on stage (in a COVID-safe way – National Gig-Ready Dashboard as a key aspect of this).
Lastly, we have also been working alongside our international peers who are doing it as tough, and in some cases tougher, than we are. Hats off the good people in the US, Canada, UK and Europe for their hard work. It is inspiring to know that we here in Australia are part of something bigger and there is significant good will to share initiatives and best practise across the various jurisdictions.