The Government of Western Australia has extended its live events support program to include rescheduled shows.
The Getting the Show Back on the Road+ (GTSBOTR+) scheme was originally set up to reduce the financial risks of running a ticketed event during the pandemic. It has now been extended to include rescheduled events.
GTSBOTR+ allows for promoters to recoup unrecoverable costs of up to 30% of pre-approved box office value – which is capped at A$150,000 (£83,000/$108,000/€98,000) – when events are rescheduled, thanks to the expansion of the program.
This means that live events that are not viable under current COVID-19 Level 2 public health measures can be moved to safer dates later in the year, rather than cancelled. Level 2 in Western Australia means capacity limits for live events and venues.
Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman said: “Live event organisers now have more certainty around putting on shows in Western Australia during this difficult time, knowing they are supported with the unrecoverable costs of rescheduling.
“We have listened to feedback from the live events industry and expanded the program accordingly.
“I am very pleased these changes will mean a number of terrific upcoming shows can now be rescheduled rather than cancelled. It is a great result for our local live events industry and all WA music fans.”
The announcement has been welcomed by the live events industry, including Live Entertainment Western Australia, as it had a number of shows that would have been cancelled rather than postponed if it was not for the expansion of the GTSBOTR+ program.
Live Entertainment WA president Brad Mellen added: “The rescheduled shows would have been cancelled without the assistance now being offered to enable rescheduling.
“The system’s not perfect – there’s still the problem of shortfalls in sales when sold out shows are rescheduled – but it reflects great credit on the Government that it listened to representations and has acted to provide assistance for rescheduling.
“Hopefully, things will get back to something like normal in the next few months and Western Australia will again see international acts absent now for more than two years.”
The program end date has also been extended to June 30 this year.
Image: Nainoa Shizuru on Unsplash
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