Millie Millgate appointed director of Support Act

Millie Millgate is now a board member at Support Act, the organisation that provides relief to performing artists, musicians, crew and others working in the industry.

Based in Sydney-based, Millgate represents founding member AMCOS at the charity, replacing Leah Flanagan, who has stepped down five years on its board.

“We are delighted to welcome Millie to the Board,” comments Sally Howland, Chair of Support Act in a statement. “She has such an incredible breadth of experience in the music industry and has done an amazing job in promoting Australian music internationally through her work with Sounds Australia. She is a critical thinker with huge amounts of energy and a great personality, and we know she will be a great asset to the board.”

Millgate is a tireless champion for the Australian music community, and has created international pathways for countless artists in her role as Executive Producer of Sounds Australia.

Support Act

Indeed, since taking the reins at Sounds Australia in 2009, Millgate has been “instrumental in the growth of Australian music worldwide,” reads a statement from Support Act, having overseen the marketing, networking and showcasing activity undertaken at 80 different international events –many multiple times — in 69 cities, across 25 countries.

“Support Act has always been an important organisation, however I truly hadn’t realised just how much so, until the singer/songwriter for the first band I ever managed was diagnosed with cancer in 2014,” comments Millgate on her appointment as Director.

“The care, attention and support shown to Ash, his family and friends during that critical time and when he passed was astounding to witness and really cemented my understanding of Support Act’s special and invaluable role in our sector.”

Earlier this year, Support Act got a stamp of approval from the federal government, which in April unlocked a $10 million funding package to provide crisis relief to artists, crew and music workers who lost their livelihoods to COVID-19.

The cash was also pumped into upgrading the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline.

In related news, Lynne Small becomes Deputy Chair at Support Act, representing Founding Member ARIA.

A list of current Directors can be found here.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.