Music Victoria in conjunction with the Partners in Wellbeing Program is now offering the Victorian music community confidential mental health support services.
Adding further resources to enable the essential work of Support Act, Music Victoria's new team member, Bree Chapman-Stewart (pictured above) is a Mental Health Clinician/Consultant who will work alongside our team to deliver the new service.
The pandemic has been tough, it's important we get the jump on our mental health as we return to a new world of normal.
Bree offers free and confidential mental health support for you, your families, and your employees. Along with the one-to-one sessions, Bree can refer you to our free financial counselling and business advisory support services.
Bree's available for a chat Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Outside of Business Hours until 10pm, you can call the Partners in Wellbeing Helpline on 1300 375 330, or Support Act 24/7 on 1800 959 500.
You can self-refer by sending a confidential email to bree@musicvictoria.com.au or book directly here.
Let’s be real… COVID sucks. But we wanted to give you the chance to reach out and ask us questions. Can you rehearse? When can you tour? Do you need to get vaccinated? When is our freedom day?
Watch the video of our Where To From Here Information Session below where we answer all your questions around the roadmap.
The session covers eligibility, the process and how mediation can work for tenants and landlords.
The Scheme was introduced by the Victorian Government to ease the pressure on Victoria’s small and medium-sized businesses (with an annual turnover of less than $50 million) that have experienced a fall in turnover of more than 30 per cent during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Eligible business owners can obtain relief in the form of a proportionate reduction in rent. For example, a business with a turnover of 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels can only be charged 40 per cent of its rent. Of the balance, at least half must be waived, with the remainder deferred.
Under the Scheme, the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC) is supporting tenants and landlords by providing information to assist with negotiating a rent relief agreement and access to free and impartial mediation if a fair agreement can’t be reached.
Tenants can also apply to the VSBC for a binding order for rent relief if their landlord fails to respond or sufficiently respond to the VSBC or doesn’t engage in mediation in good faith.
The Scheme applies retrospectively from 28 July 2021 and will run until 15 January 2022.
The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments have announced jointly-funded packages of grants to support thousands of small and medium-sized businesses through the next six weeks at which point Victoria is expected to reach 80 per cent vaccination.
The funding package of up to $2.27 billion announced today will support businesses most affected by restrictions as Victoria reaches the 70 per cent, then 80 per cent fully vaccinated thresholds on the state’s Roadmap to Deliver the National Plan.
At these key markers, forecast around 26 October and 5 November respectively, dining, entertainment, retail, sport, recreation and other sectors will progressively and safely open.
The package announced today provides businesses with further certainty that support will continue in line with Victoria’s Roadmap. This will see more than 160,000 businesses receive support, ranging from retailers and gyms to hairdressers and hotels – mostly through automatic deposits into their bank accounts.
Of these, around 124,000 eligible businesses will receive automatic Business Costs Assistance Program grants ranging from $1,000 to $8,400 per week, rising according to payroll, until the end of October. Businesses that remain closed or severely restricted over the first two weeks of November will also receive automatic payments for that period.
More than 9,000 eligible cafes, restaurants, hotels and bars across Victoria will receive automatic Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund payments of between $5,000 and $20,000 per week until the end of October.
Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund payments will continue for the first half of November, set at reduced rates to reflect lower restrictions in place at that stage under Victoria’s Roadmap.
The package will also enable a further 30,000 businesses to receive a one-off $20,000 payment through the Small Business COVID Hardship Fund, taking the number of recipients to 65,000.
Funding of up to $1.26 billion will provide for automatic payments to recipients of the Business Costs Assistance Program across October and into the first half of November.
Businesses will be eligible to receive two fortnightly payments between 1-29 October on a rising scale.
Eligible non-employing businesses will receive $1,000 per week, increasing to $2,800 a week for an annual payroll of up to $650,000, $5,600 a week for a payroll of $650,000 - $3 million and $8,400 a week for a payroll of $3 million - $10 million.
Businesses that remain closed or severely restricted between 70 and 80 per cent double dose will receive an automatic payment for the period from 29 October to 13 November.
The full list of eligible ANZSIC codes for the Business Costs Assistance Program will be available on the Business Victoria website tomorrow.
Businesses that have previously received or been approved for a Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two or July Extension grant will be eligible for these payments.
More than 9,000 licensed hospitality businesses that have previously received grants under the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund or July Extension programs will receive further automatic payments in October.
Weekly payment amounts are stepped according to premises capacity: $5,000 for a capacity of up to 99 patrons or where patron capacity is not specified, $10,000 for a capacity of 100 to 499 patrons, and $20,000 for a capacity of 500 or more.
Between 70 and 80 per cent double dose, payments for licensed premises in metropolitan Melbourne will be reduced by 25 per cent, and in regional Victoria by 50 per cent as the economy continue to progress to greater levels of freedom.
The Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund payments will total up to $407.5 million for the six-week period.
Some $600 million has been added to the Small Business COVID Hardship Fund, taking the total program to $1.3 billion.
The existing $700 million funding pool has been fully subscribed and the new allocation means 65,000 businesses will now be supported with one-off grants of $20,000.
The Fund supports businesses that have suffered significant losses due to the pandemic, including businesses legally allowed to operate but restricted in their ability to generate revenue, but have previously fallen between the cracks in terms of government support.
Read the full announcement from the Victorian Government here.
Music Victoria has joined Rock Posters and other Melbourne businesses to launch a vaccination campaign to encourage Melburnians to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The month-long 'Mighty V' campaign will be visible on advertisement sites across Melbourne due to contributions of over $10,000 made by 22 partner organisations, including Music Victoria. The campaign will aid Support Act and its crisis relief program, which brings much-needed support to those in the music industry who have lost work, gigs and their livelihoods due to the pandemic.
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In early August, Support Act announced it received an additional $20 million in funding from the Australian Government. The organisation will expand its outreach beyond the music industry to support artists, creatives, production and technical crew working across the broader arts sector from 23 August.
The Mighty V campaign is one of two vaccination campaigns Music Victoria helped launch this month. On August 20, Music Victoria launched #GetVaxxed4Vic, an online campaign to encourage the music industry and music lovers to get vaccinated to aid the Victorian live music scene in reopening.
You can also support artists and music workers by donating to Support Act here or Music Victoria here.
In 2018 Victoria had more venues per capita than anywhere in the world. Fast forward to February 2021 and 3 in 5 workers are considering leaving the music industry as live music trades at under 4% of pre-COVID levels. Every person that gets vaccinated brings us a step closer to reopening and saving Victoria's live music scene.
Along with getting vaxxed, you can support Victoria's live music industry by updating your Facebook profile picture with the campaign frame to encourage others to get vaxxed too.
Step 1: Click on the links below to download a campaign frame
Facebook profile picture frame
Instagram or Facebook post frame
Instagram story frame
TikTok frame
Facebook video frame
Facebook cover image (no editing required)
Twitter header (no editing required)
Email signature (no editing required)
Step 2: Use your image editing tool of choice to put the frame on a photo of yourself
Don't worry, you don't need any design skills! You can use this free, easy-to-use site called Canva and follow the steps below.
Business Victoria has opened round two of the Live Performance Support Program for suppliers and presenters. If you were contracted to work on a live performance event that has been postponed or cancelled, we encourage you to apply for this funding.
If you’re thinking about applying for Business Victoria's Live Performance Support Program Round Two, register for one of our free online information sessions! We'll cover changes from the last round of funding, program guidelines (including eligibility and how to apply) and answer all your questions.
Click the links below for more info and to register.
REGISTER FOR THE SUPPLIER STREAM
Session 1: 20 August at 2pm
Session 2 : 3 September at 2pm
REGISTER FOR THE PRESENTER STREAM
Session 1: 20 August at 4pm
Session 2: 3 September at 4pm
We received great feedback from our last round of info sessions and we hope these next sessions help many more of you submit funding applications!
The Victorian Government has announced a further easing of restrictions from 11:59pm on Thursday 8 July.
For a detailed overview of the statewide settings, see the latest Table of Restrictions (located at the bottom of the announcement). These settings will be in place for 14 days, subject to public health assessments.
Following is a high-level summary.
Victoria to move to statewide settings
Creative industries statewide settings (under the Restricted Activity Directions)
Check in everywhere, every time
All businesses and workplaces are required to use the Victorian Government QR Code Service, unless an exemption applies.
Victorians must check-in everywhere, every time. Businesses must ensure that every customer and visitor has checked-in, no matter how long they are at the premises.
Update your COVIDSafe Plan
Every business with on-site operations must have a COVIDSafe Plan.
Your COVIDSafe Plan is a list of safety actions that help reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in your workplace. It should be reviewed and updated regularly and discussed with your workers.
Get vaccinated – don’t wait until it’s too late
The vaccine reduces your risk of getting sick, and helps to protect your friends, family and community.
Please support your workers to get vaccinated. Appointments can be booked here.
More information is available at www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
Due to the epidemiological conditions in Australia, the Victorian Government has confirmed that there will be no changes made to the current restrictions in place for Victoria.
Following is a summary of the overall current restrictions and the restrictions for Creative Venues in both Metropolitan Melbourne and Regional Victoria.
Current restrictions
Creative venues: Metropolitan Melbourne
Creative venues: Regional Victoria
Tier 1 and Tier 2 public events with a COVIDSafe Event Plan that has been approved, and Tier 2 or Tier 3 public events that have been registered under the Public Events Framework can operate under current settings. No exemptions will be considered for events until the Victorian Government announces a further easing of restrictions
QR Codes
A reminder that all businesses and workplaces are now required to use the Victorian Government QR Code Service, unless an exemption applies.
Victorians must check-in everywhere, every time. Businesses must ensure that every customer and visitor has checked-in, no matter how long they are at the premises.
Support for businesses
There are a number of support programs available to businesses, with applications for the Victorian Events Support Package closing at 11:59pm Friday 16 July 2021. For more information and to apply, visit Business Victoria.
If Victorians have earned anything this year, it’s a break.
And with school holidays just around the corner, families deserve the certainty they need to plan ahead.
We all want to be back at birthdays and BBQs – to see friends, to explore the coast or take the kids on a trip somewhere new.
And while it's hard to know exactly what tomorrow might bring – Victorian families are relying on a little more certainty to help make those plans happen.
Which is why today, we're taking a big step forward. So that every Victorian can get together and spend more time together.
On the advice of the Chief Health Officer, restrictions in regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne will ease from 11.59pm Thursday 24 June.
And these changes won't just last a week – they'll remain in place for at least two weeks' time, meaning Victorians can plan and get back to doing the things they love.
Private visitors to the home will increase from two in Melbourne, and five in regional Victoria to 15 across the entire state – and up to 50 people can gather outside in a public place like a park.
Funerals and weddings will be capped at 300 people, and hospitality venues can serve up to 300 in Melbourne, but density limits still apply.
Masks must still be worn inside. But more people in metropolitan Melbourne can return to offices, with 75% capacity – or 30 people in a workplace – whichever is greater.
Players, parents and spectators can attend outdoor community sport within the total cap of 1,000 people.
And live music will have greater numbers in pubs, clubs and other hospitality venues across the state too, but dance floors are still closed for now.
Theatres will initially open at 50% capacity, with up to 1,000 people. And this weekend crowds can attend public events and outdoor stadiums with a limit of 50%, or up to 25,000 people.
But, subject to epidemiology and the advice of the Chief Health Officer, from 11:59pm, 1 July, they'll be able to host even bigger numbers:
That means 100% capacity at shows like Frozen at Her Majesty's Theatre, and Harry Potter at the Princess Theatre.
And indoor and outdoor stadiums will be able to increase to 85 per cent capacity – so that includes the MCG, Marvel Stadium, and AAMI Park.
For the next week, we’re recommending that those travelling to Victoria's alpine region get tested prior departing metropolitan Melbourne, especially if they’re staying overnight.
And there's lots more detail online too, and this will give Victorians the confidence to make plans and enjoy the school holidays.
And if you’re taking some time off over the next few weeks, go out and explore your state.
Head to the bush, stay at the beach – shop in a small town, and buy Victorian made.
And everywhere you go, remember to check in using the Service Victoria QR code, this is the seat belt we need as we open up the state.
But please, if you’re coming from afar, stay away from storm and flood affected areas in the state’s east.
Many roads still aren’t safe, many trees continue to fall, and accommodation is in short supply.
And while we all deserve a break and a chance to explore our state, please remember – if you have even the mildest of symptoms, get tested.
If you’re catching up with mates and you’ve got a sore throat – go another night.
If you’re heading to the shops and you’ve got a runny nose – just order it online.
And if you’re finally seeing Mum and you’ve got a cough – remember who it is you’ve made all these sacrifices for.
Whatever your plans are, it’s not worth risking everything we’ve achieved – please get tested.
Victorians have worked so incredibly hard to get to this point.
So, let’s protect it. For ourselves – and for each other.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE TABLE OF RESTRICTIONS FROM 11:59PM THURSDAY 24 JUNE
