Support Act marks 25 years as the heart and hand of Australia’s music industry

From little things, big things grew: while making its 25th anniversary this month, Support Act in a stronger position than ever to assist music industry members in need.

Anne Jacobs, Cerisa Benjamin and Sally Howland ahead of the 25th anniversary of music industry charity Support Act. Picture: Aaron Francis

When gigs weren’t happening anywhere in Australia during the Covid pandemic, an organisation named Support Act became a ­lifeline for the original “gig economy” workers of the nation’s music industry.

But its history goes back much further than the events of recent years when concert venues of all sizes went dark and silent, sometimes for months on end.

Led by its motto of being the heart and hand of Australian music, Support Act was started as a volunteer-run public company in August 1997, and was designed to fill a major gap in the entertainment business by offering human and financial services to music industry workers, particularly those who fell on hard times.

From little things, big things grew: while marking its 25th anniversary this month, the organisation – which was granted charity status in 2000 – is in a stronger position than ever to assist those in need.

“During Covid, we helped tens of thousands of people,” said Sally Howland, who has been board chairwoman since 2013. We could not have done it without the support of the previous federal government, who over the course of two years gave us $40m for crisis relief and our prevention programs,” she said. “I don’t really want to imagine what would have happened if we didn’t have that funding available.”

Pre-pandemic, Anne Jacobs was working as one of Support Act’s two part-time social workers, alongside former Go-­Betweens drummer Lindy Morrison, who retired last year.

“In March 2020, everything changed so drastically: we used to get a couple of applications per week from people to support, and now we’re supporting hundreds of people each week,” said Jacobs, who is also national welfare co-ordinator.

At the peak of the pandemic, Support Act had 17 social workers on call; today, Jacobs is one of four, alongside Cerisa Benjamin, who has also led its First Nations community engagement since August 2020.

“Prior to me coming on board, we had one First Nations person access our service,” she said. “Since then, we’ve had over 500 people access the service, and it’s great to be able to support my First Nations music community.”

This month, Benjamin will ­release Support Act’s inaugural First Nations strategic plan, which has been designed in consultation with elders and Indigenous leaders across the country.

While the crippling costs of the pandemic to the live music industry have been well documented, one of the few benefits is the way in which the charity’s visibility has grown.

“Because we touched and helped so many people during the past two years, there was an inevitable profile-raising,” Howland said. “Our prevention, education and training programs have been widely taken up by the industry, and our remit has evolved to suit the circumstances of what’s happening in the business.”

To mark its 25th anniversary, Support Act will hold its flagship event, Music In The House, this year for the first time since 2019.