Responding to the $121 Million Covid Relief Fund for Arts and Culture w/ Sarin Moddle: The Impact 'Red' Has on the Art, Music and Events Sector: February 08, 2022

For the last few weeks, News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston has been following the calls made by people working in the arts and culture sector for more consistent and reliable government support to get people through the red setting. Last week, the government announced that $121 million of Covid relief funding for the sector had been made available and Jemima spoke to Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni about this. The Minister said that workers should be able to take comfort in the fact that the funding announced for Arts and Culture in 2020 had not yet been spent and that the government is taking any calls for help seriously. 

This week Jemima wanted to know what the industry reaction to the latest funding announcement has been. She caught up with promoter representative and freelance tour manager Sarin Moddle to ask what her thoughts were on the $121 million fund. Sarin says she has had mixed feelings about the fund but has settled on a belief that the government has simply "tinkered around the edges of what was already there" and have not made funding avenues that fit the purpose of providing direct financial support to industry workers. 

Sarin spoke with Jemima last week about what little help there is out there for people working in the arts, music and events industry. To listen to that podcast and find more coverage on this issue, click here.