Report to bolster ACT’s live sector

Develop a Live Music Policy, set up an ACT Live Music Regulation Roundtable, introduce a single applicant multi-event liquor permit scheme, be more flexible with closing times for events and consider the introduction of the Agent of Change policy for the Australian Capital Territory.

These are some of the 25 strategy recommendations made to the ACT Government in a new report released this morning called Cool Little Capital.

Designed to inform the development of an ACT Live Music Policy, the report was initiated by ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell. It identifies a range of short, medium and long-term actions. These need to be taken, the report says, “to ensure live music, as well as small to medium arts scene and live cultural events, play an important part in a diverse and dynamic ACT.”

Cool Little Capital was compiled by John Wardle, Policy Director of the Live Music Office, Music ACT’s President Gavin Findlay and Vice President David Caffery. It was developed over a year through a wide engagement with the ACT music sector including venue owners, festival promoters, musicians, the hotel association and Music ACT’s own wide database

Wardle tells TMN, “The music scene in the ACT is very interesting and very diverse. There’s a lot of activity and excitement here with the old school bands and EDM that I’m so positive for its future. But the red tape and poor alignment of bureaucratic processes are mind-bogglingly complex. For example, just to apply to use public land by the music and arts sectors is difficult because there is Territory land, Federal land and a leasehold system.”

The problem with the ACT, the report emphasises, is that it is the only state or territory in Australia which does not fund a peak body for music. “This is reflected in the current state of the industry here: passionate but behind the times.

There are opportunities for musicians to develop in the ACT despite a lack of smaller venues with 200 to 400 capacity where young acts can cut their teeth.

Among issues identified are liquor licensing and application process, zoning and planning controls, environmental protection regulations and associated noise limits, building code classification and change of use process events approval process.

It also attributes some blame on the ACT Government, in particular its bureaucracy’s culture. There is no policy for live music in the ACT Arts Policy. In addition, four years after it agreed to recommendations to review noise regulations, nothing has been done.

Other recommendations made in Cool Little Capital include:

* Amend the objectives of the Liquor Act s9(b) to include a reference to the live music, arts and entertainment sector.

* Ensure funding for a peak music body and other arts industry service organisations include a contribution from business development as well and arts funding. Like the Music Development Office in South Australia, this will reflect the two components needed for the music sector to develop.

* Support the setting up a 200-to-400 capacity venue for contemporary music, and a 300-400 seat recital hall for classical music.

* Investigate policy development from the Sydney Fringe Festival and the City of Sydney for pop up venues and low risk entertainment use for the purposes of an ACT pilot.

* Exempt non-profit community organisations from having to obtain a permit to sell liquor at up to six small fundraising events per year.

* Introduce a change to the Building Code where live music venues covered by hospitality industry consent and comply within low risk provisions are not assessed as an assembly building under the Code.

* Investigate the use of empty Government-owned buildings for creative uses, similar to what’s happening in Sydney and Adelaide.

* Support live music, arts and entertainment use in industrial zones as Mitchell, Fyshwick and Hume, and to investigate arts and cultural land use controls for less developed areas.

* Evaluate noise levels for venues in established night economy areas.

* Support the development of cultural events by reviewing whether it is appropriate that live music events be stuck with a blanket 11 pm closure, increase sound limits in certain circumstances and drop costly sound measurement where it can be demonstrated to be unnecessary.

artsACT to support and resource an ongoing ACT Music Forum to support the development of the local music sector, and also support enterprise development, through business and marketing skills development in the small to medium music and cultural events sector in the ACT.

The ACT would become only the third state or territory in Australia – after South Australia and Victoria – to have a strategic plan for contemporary music.