We write to express our deep concern about the worsening crisis in live theatre across Australia.
Recent cancellations and early closures of musical theatre productions have made clear what workers in the live performance sector have been saying for some time: the sector is operating under severe strain. Rising costs in production, touring, freight, venue, monopolisation of ticketing, and cost-of-living pressures on audiences are combining to make productions increasingly difficult to sustain across the entire live performance industry.
When a production is cancelled, the impact is not limited to producers or venues. Performers, musicians, stage managers, technicians, wardrobe, wigs and make-up workers, front-of-house staff, box office staff, venue workers, administrators, creatives and casual workers across the live performance ecosystem lose income and opportunity. Local economies also lose the cultural, tourism and hospitality activity that major productions generate. And audiences also suffer, missing out on cultural experiences they have invested in and looked forward to, while communities lose opportunities for connection, enrichment and engagement through live performance.
We ask State and Territory Arts Ministers to recognise this as an urgent national issue requiring coordinated government action.
We support a live performance production tax offset or rebate as a practical measure for supporting the industry alongside measures that support Australian jobs and a sustainable workforce. We call on government to include MEAA, as the voice of the creative workforce, in the shaping of any government interventions in the sector.
However, we recognise that a tax measure is insufficient to resolve the broad-based funding crisis in the sector. The Commonwealth and State and Territory governments must work together to restore funding to the arts in Australia.
Access to live performance should be a right of every Australian. We are calling on State and Federal governments to make participation a priority by helping Australians, particularly young people and families, and marginalised communities to access live performance. Any serious response to the crisis must address both sides of the equation: the cost of making theatre, and the cost of attending it. Support for production must be matched by support for participation.
Live performance must not be allowed to become a luxury. It is a necessary artform in which Australian stories are told. Live performance is a major employer, training ground, and a driver of social, cultural and economic activity across our country. Musical theatre, in particular, sustains a large and highly skilled workforce across performance, music, technical production, stage management, design, construction, hospitality and venue operations.
We therefore call on State and Federal Arts Ministers to:
- Restore funding to the arts and index it to both CPI and population growth;
- Publicly support the introduction of a live performance production tax offset or rebate;
- Develop complementary State and Territory measures to reduce the risk of touring and presenting Australian live performance;
- Support MEAA’s arts vouchers or cultural pass proposal as a practical way to stimulate audience attendance and improve access; and
- Establish a cultural sector taskforce that brings together the union, employers, producers and venues to deliver a solution to the problems of the industry including those of precarious and underpaid work.
Musical theatre is the canary in the coalmine. This crisis is already affecting workers across the industry. Australia cannot afford a future in which theatres are dark, productions are cancelled, audiences are priced out, and skilled arts workers are forced out of the industry.
We ask you to act now to protect Australian live performance, support the workers who make it possible, and ensure that it remains accessible to audiences across every State and Territory.
