In a federal election campaign understandably focused on household cost of living pressures, industry peak body Live Performance Australia has called on candidates to talk about their plans for a key driver of our creative and cultural quality of life: Australia’s world-class live arts and entertainment industry.
More Australians see a live performance than all of our major sporting codes combined, whether it’s ballet and dance, children’s and family entertainment, circus and physical theatre, classical music, comedy, musical and dramatic theatre, opera, arts and music festivals or concerts.
- More than two-thirds of Australians attend live events;
- There were more than 30.1 million ticketed attendances at live events in 2023; and,
- More broadly, 97 per cent of Australians engage with the arts in some way.
Our creative and performing arts organisations and businesses are an integral part of Australia’s $64 billion cultural and creative industries which collectively contribute around 2.5% of GDP (comparable in size to either the agriculture and forestry or accommodation and food services industries).
‘Going into the election, we understand that governments are operating under tight budgetary constraints with household cost of living pressures and the uncertain global outlook front of mind,’ said Live Performance Australia Chief Executive Eric Lassen.
‘But there is one thing we can be certain of: investment in our live arts and entertainment industry creates great jobs, builds economic resilience and opportunity, supports social well-being and enriches our community, and takes Australian creativity to the world.
‘Although audiences have returned to live arts and entertainment since the pandemic, we’re operating in a very challenging business environment with significantly higher costs for production and touring; skills shortages; shifts in audience behaviours; and, cost of living pressures really squeezing discretionary spending by consumers.
‘There’s no room for complacency. We need to keep investing in current and future generations of Australian creative talent, with a smart mix of good policy and strategic investment that powers up the creative and economic potential of Australia’s live arts and entertainment industry,’ Mr Lassen said.
LPA’s key policy priorities for the 2025 election include:
- A 40% Live Theatre Production Incentive for commercial and not-for-profit theatre producers to attract investment and recoup expenses involved in making live theatre, based on principles similar to incentives already in place for the Australian screen and digital games industries, as well as for live theatre in the UK and US.
- A strategic approach for Australian live music, in collaboration with industry, to provide more opportunities for artists to build their careers and for audiences to discover, experience and enjoy more Australian live music and festivals.
- Continuing support for Creative Australia’s role as the Australian Government’s lead agency for public investment in our performing arts organisations and industry-specific programs.
- A Business Innovation and Sustainability Fund to accelerate new business model development and strengthen the financial stability of performing arts organisations as they adapt to the post-pandemic business environment.
- A Reserves Rebuild Fund to help organisations restore their financial reserves which were run down during the pandemic and secure their role as significant employers of creative skills.
- Extending Public Benevolent Institutions (PBI) status to a wider range of arts and cultural organisations to help them attract and retain skilled staff, and incentivising private donations to DGR organisations.
- National industry-led skills and training initiatives to address skills shortages across the arts and cultural sector.
- Building future audiences through more opportunities for children and young people to engage in live performance and the arts, including piloting a ‘See It Live’ cultural pass program, and investing in arts access programs for schools.
- Taking Australian creativity to more audiences in regional Australia by doubling the current investment in Playing Australia and introducing an international performing arts export development program.
- Renewing our performing arts venues to support infrastructure and accessibility upgrades, including dedicated funding for regional venues.
- Creating a Local Programming Fund to support local presenters and producers to program, develop and attract cultural product relevant to local communities.
‘We look forward to working closely with the incoming government after the election to continue building a thriving and dynamic live arts and entertainment industry made by Australians for local and global audiences,’ Mr Lassen said.
