A Senate inquiry into Labor’s national cultural policy has called on the government to provide urgent additional funding to keep the floundering music festivals sector afloat.
The interim report into the cultural policy, released on Thursday, also recommended the federal government facilitate access to affordable insurance for organisers of small-to medium sized festivals.
The timing of the release of the inquiry’s interim report was significant, it said, because it focused on areas of urgent need that could be addressed in next week’s federal budget.
Chair of the inquiry, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, said there was “compelling evidence” that the government needed to intercede to stem the rising cost of overheads music festivals organisers were facing, which has led to a slew of cancellations in the past 12 months, including Groovin’ the Moo, Splendour in the Grass, the Falls festival, and the Caloundra music festival.
“This is not just about the big name, corporate-backed festivals, but more importantly, it’s about supporting local and independent festivals,” Hanson-Young said in a statement.
“Live performance events bring significant economic benefits that flow through to jobs in hospitality, tourism, trades and other sectors. This would be a minor budget measure that would make a significant difference.”
The report noted that the Australian Festival Association told the inquiry that while emergency funding provided by the previous government had had a positive impact on the industry, it “did not always reach the artists most in need of it”.
In April, the Guardian revealed that the music festivals that had benefited most from state and federal government emergency assistance during and immediately after the pandemic, were produced by a subsidiary of the US-based multinational Live Nation Entertainment, which last year recorded a net profit of US$563m.
But a dissenting report by Coalition senators who sat on the committee accused the Labor government of withholding the last $20m in emergency Covid funding promised by the Coalition government under its $200m Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (Rise) package.
“Instead, the Hon Tony Burke MP, minister for the arts, left the arts and performance sector to struggle through recovery from the pandemic without any additional support while they drafted new policy,” the dissenting report said.
“The Labor government could have funded many events and festivals with this $20m, including those whose organisers appeared before this committee.”
The Guardian has requested comment from the minister.
The peak body for the live arts and entertainment industry, Live Performance Australia, said the case for government action over unaffordable insurance costs was compelling.
‘This is one area where government can make a meaningful difference to some of the cost pressures affecting our arts and music festivals,” LPA’s chief executive, Evelyn Richardson, said in a statement.
‘The federal government should be leading this work in consultation with states and territories, our industry and insurers to develop a sustainable solution.”
Richardson added that the government needed to take a more strategic approach to public investment in festivals.
“We need to ensure that public funding across all levels of government is well targeted and fit for purpose,” she said.
Labor’s national cultural policy, Revive, was announced on 30 January 2023, with Burke promising funding of $286m to the arts over the next four years.
The new policy included rebranding the five decades-old Australia Council into Creative Australia, including a dedicated First Nations-led board and a Centre for Arts and Entertainment Workplaces to address issues of pay, safety, codes of conduct and welfare.
The policy also pledged a new body to support the Australian music industry, which was set up in August last year, as well as the establishment of an equivalent body to support Australian literature, which is scheduled to begin next year.
A third recommendation the report made was for Labor to honour its promise to impose local content requirements on streaming services by 1 July 2024, to redress the power imbalance between global streaming companies and local screen producers and artists.
