One group could miss out on $43m in NSW festival funding

A $43 million package to help music festivals survive the Omicron surge has been launched – but one group could miss out on the money.

A $43 million rescue package to cushion NSW festival organisers has been welcomed by the events industry, but there are fears musicians won’t get their fair share of the money.

The details of the multi-million dollar Event Saver Fund, designed to give cash support to major events disrupted by pandemic rules, were revealed on Monday.

Each event can get up to $10 million in funding if deemed eligible by the government agency Create NSW.

Australia’s music industry has suffered big losses during the pandemic.

But the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union says there's no guarantee musicians will get a cut of the money.

“It's a bit of a trickle down response – Create NSW says it hopes festival organisers do the right thing, but there are no legal requirements,” MEAA musicians director Paul Davies said.

“Without a minimum fee for artists we think the money is going to drain away before it gets to the musicians.”

The fund guidelines say Create NSW will not instruct recipients on how the money should be spent, but the agency “has an expectation that all suppliers/creditors including performers, artists and other contractors will be accommodated by the funds received“.

If an event gets selected for funding, the applicant is meant to pay musicians and other contractors within 14 days of receiving the money.

Each festival will be eligible for up to $10 million.

Successful applicants will also be subject to review if Create NSW suspects those guidelines haven‘t been followed.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said festivals would be able to cover up to 90 per cent of sunk costs using the fund.

“It‘s good for those ones that have been cancelled because of the public health orders, but it also gives confidence to those in the future that might get cancelled if there are future public health orders,” Mr Kean told NCA NewsWire.

“These events are a big industry, they employ a lot of people, they drive a lot of tourism to NSW.”

The pandemic has been crushing to the entertainment industry, with about 32,000 Australian gigs cancelled and $94 million lost in income since July last year, according to an industry survey.

The Australian Festivals Association welcomed the funding and said the sector had been struggling throughout the pandemic.

The funding has been welcomed by the events industry.

“This package is really great for building confidence,” AFA chair Julia Robinson said.

“We will be able to help events recover some of those costs that they’ve lost.“

The Committee for Sydney said the impact of the pandemic could threaten the prospects of a ”generation of creatives” and the funding would be crucial to keeping events going.

“People are really relieved to see some measure of support,” director of corporate affairs Matthew Levinson said.

NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said the funding had come too late.

The funding was first flagged last October in a government announcement that promised “immediate” support for events during the 2021-2022 summer.

“It’s unacceptable that event organisers have not been able to access Event Saver until today, almost three months since the Government first announced what the Premier said today is a ‘critical lifeline’,“ Ms Faehrmann said.

Originally published as One group could miss out on $43m in NSW festival funding