News January 17, 2022

NSW government announces huge support package for events impacted by COVID-19

The NSW government has announced a huge support package for events in the state that have been severely impacted by COVID-19.

Any major event that was “cancelled or significantly disrupted” due to the virus is eligible to receive support from the Event Saver Fund. The event must have been scheduled to be take place between Wednesday, December 15th 2021 and Saturday, December 31st 2022.

From today onwards, organisers of such events will be able “to pay suppliers, staff and recovery other costs.” The scheme will provide “the financial security and certainty to plan and deliver their future events.”

The Event Saver Fund arrives at a key time as more and more events are being impacted by the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. As NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet put it in a statement, the scheme would “ensure that organisers aren’t left high and dry as we work through this latest phase of the pandemic.”

Events disrupted recently include Sydney’s King Street Carnival, which was pushed back, and the Tamworth Country Music Festival which was postponed entirely. The NSW version of Grapevine Gathering was cancelled last week just a few days for it was set to take place.

It comes after organisations including APRA AMCOS and Live Performance Australia urged the government to introduce an insurance scheme for live music and events, in an effort to protect the industry from any future COVID-related setbacks.

“Since the Omicron wave has hit around the country the live music and events sector has once again been smashed with restrictive health orders and COVID spread leading once again to mass cancellations and rescheduled events,” a joint statement from the group read.

You can find out more information on the Event Saver Fund at the Create NSW official website. Expressions of Interest are now open for the scheme.

For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer.