On Thursday the 25th June the Australian Federal Government announced a $250 million COVID-19 Creative Economy Support Package, in a bid to support Australia’s arts and entertainment industry.
As a result of the lockdown and social distancing restrictions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the entertainment and arts industry has been heavily impacted. We have seen the likes of film and television productions, theatres and touring shows shut down or cancelled indefinitely. This package has been created to help restart the creative economy and assist the entertainment, arts and screen sectors get back into business.
A breakdown of the support package:
The $250 million support package aims to assist the industry in its recovery over the next year, with the package structured to cover four areas, which will include:
- Seed Investment to Reactivate Productions and Tours: $75 million grant to provide financial assistance to Australian production and events businesses, supporting the implementation of festivals, concerts, tours and other events as social distancing restrictions ease, with grants of up to $2 million to individual businesses.
- Kick-starting Local Screen Production: $50 million grant will also be dispensed by Screen Australia, to support local productions that have shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions and the economic impacts to the industry at large.
- Supporting Sustainability of Sector-Significant Organisations: $35 million put aside for “significant Commonwealth-funded arts and culture organisations.” This will include theatre groups, dance companies, the performing arts and musical groups.
Implementation of the support package:
The implementation of the support package will be established by a ministerial taskforce, with more information and guidelines to be released over the next couple of weeks.
For more information regarding the support package, please click here.
Need help?
If you have any questions regarding the Creative Economy Support Package; or would like assistance in understanding the how the package may be applicable for your business, please contact your Allan Hall Business Advisor on 02 9981 2300.