Entertainment wellbeing summit discusses challenges, solutions, at Sydney Opera House today

Music NSW and Entertainment Assist are two organisations taking part in an 8½ hour How Can the Show Go On? summit today (Monday, November 13) on the mental health and well-being of people within the Australian live entertainment and screen industries.

It was developed by the NSW Performing Arts and Screen Working Group and held at the Sydney Opera House.

‘We all know the saying, “The Show Must Go On” and the levels of passion, creativity and commitment, that often underpin that phrase,” says award-winning actor Deborah Mailman (pictured,left).

“We also need to ask “How Can The Show Go On?” without sacrificing ourselves, our colleagues, family, or friends along the way.”

Mailman is one of the keynote speakers, as is Entertainment Assist GM Susan Cooper, NSW Mental Health Deputy Commissioner Fay Jackson and Marie Jepson of the Jepson Foundation which works with mental health in the legal profession.

Music NSW’s Emily Collins and Penny Watts of the Monkey Baa theatre company will speak on life on the road.

Susan Cooper will discuss in more detail the newly formed Australian Alliance for Wellness in Entertainment (AAWE), a world-first initiative to openly and actively discuss mental health, conduct research on it and find preventive solutions.

It was Entertainment Assist and College of Arts, Victoria University’s 2015 study Working in the Australian Entertainment Industry: Final Report which sent alarm bells ringing when it unveiled the “severe distress” performers and arts workers were working under.

Compared to the general population, suicide attempts are more than double, moderate to severe anxiety are 10 times higher and depression five times higher.

Since then, the various facets of the entertainment industries had collaborated to address the problem.

Jane Kreis, Director of Theatre Network NSW and a member of the NSW Performing Arts Wellbeing Group says, ’We’re seeing a whole range of programs that have come about, as well as this summit, nationally, locally and independently.

“The momentum is really there, the drive is there, and I think it’s reinforced now by the research and the data and the findings – and that gives a really clear voice to a genuine desire for change.

’How that change comes about is what we hope to explore at the summit.”

Topics discussed at keynotes, workshops and panels cover changes from top-down to grassroots, what well-being is, advice for those working solo in independent and small businesses, preventive action to make those in the sector more resilient, self-help action, positive case studies, ways to reducethe issues that cause the problems in the first place, and family support for workers.

Those unable to attend the summit can follow proceedings on social media via the #wecandobetter hashtag.

The summit will also be taped for future use as a resource.