Casual Arts Workers Want Sick Leave, Viagogo, and Grapevine Music Festival | Music News

The Greens in Victoria are pushing for self-employed musicians and production crews to be eligible for sick pay.

Gabrielle de Vietri, the party’s candidate for Richmond in Victoria’s upcoming state election, has started a petition urging the Victorian Labor Government to extend its new Sick Pay Guarantee to include casual or self-employed workers in the arts sector, effective immediately.

Filmmakers, producers, theatre workers and visual artists are also currently excluded.

The Victorian Government introduced the Sick Pay Guarantee in June as a two-year trial to stop low-income workers from going to work when ill during the pandemic. It provides up to 38 hours (or five days a year) of sick and carer’s pay.

So far it covers 150,000 hospitality workers, food preparation assistants, food trades workers, sales support workers, sales assistants, labourers in supermarket supply chains, aged and disability carers, cleaners and laundry workers and security officers and guards.

They must not already be entitled to paid personal, sick or carer’s leave in any of their jobs, or have leave entitlements, and their workplaces must be physically located in Victoria.

If allowed, each claim by musicians and live sector workers would be paid at the national minimum wage as it is on the date of the claim (currently $20.33 per hour/$772.54 per week)

Studies show that those in the sector feel guilty about taking time off when ill—or fear they might be seen as unreliable and replaced. But it’s now seen as contributing to burnout, mental health problems, social alienation, substance abuse and higher than average suicide rates in the sectors.

Victoria’s cultural and creative sectors employ approximately 220,000 people, making up 8% of the economy.

Meanwhile, WA’s Consumer Protection is investigating ticket re-selling website Viagogo for possible breaches of the state’s anti-scalping laws, in a bid to collect enough evidence to launch legal action, and we discuss the new Grapevine lineup. 

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Homebrewed is a radio program and podcast dedicated to supporting the Australian Music Industry. Cameron Smith and Eamonn Snow have been presenting Homebrewed since November 2017 and have received excellence awards and the admiration of local bands for their presentation of Homebrewed and their continued support of the Australian music scene. This podcast is designed so you can enjoy conversations with musicians, industry representatives and music media personalities.

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