They’ll work with the government to form a sustainable plan for getting the live entertainment industry back up and running.
The biggest names in live music and sport have teamed up to form the Live Entertainment Industry Forum (LEIF) to help revive live entertainment as COVID-19 restrictions begin to lift.
LEIF will work alongside governments, venues and sporting bodies to explore a safe and sustainable return for sporting events, live music, theatre, festivals and other live entertainment.
The organisation aims to develop industry-wide measures including cleaning and sanitisation, crowd management, physical distancing, health monitoring and contact tracing to allow the industry to safely restart as social distancing restrictions lift in July.
Formed by Australia’s main sport and entertainment promoters, venue managers and key peak bodies, LEIF is made up of bosses from TEG, Live Nation, Frontier Touring, Chugg Entertainment, AEG, WME, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground, Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Olympic Parks, Adelaide Oval, ASM Global, Venues West, Venues Live, Michael Cassel Group, Live Performance Australia, Venue Management Association, the Australian Festivals Association, and more.
“This pandemic has brought our industry to a complete standstill. The thousands of cancelled sporting events, concerts, festivals, theatre, family and comedy shows, and all the associated revenues related to them, can never be replaced,” said LEIF Chair and former Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland.
“Our industry was the first to close during COVID-19 and it will be one of the last to fully re-open. The cultural, creative and sports industries supports the livelihoods of around 175,000 Australians, many of whom are casual or part time. The industry also contributes an estimated $150 billion to the Australian economy. Our live events have a huge economic flow on effect: we support jobs in airlines and other transport companies, hotels, pubs, restaurants and retail establishments of all sizes all over Australia,” he added.
“We need a clear roadmap to get our industry back to work, while playing a bigger role in the post COVID-19 economic recovery of our nation. We are committed to working with all States and Territories, especially with their Chief Medical and Health Officers. We will develop COVIDSafe best practices and a world-leading response to revive our industry, get people back to work and bring fans back together throughout Australia through the unbeatable power of live events,” said Sutherland.
LEIF’s main objective is to restart the live entertainment sector which supports over 175,000 Australian jobs while ensuring public safety.
For more information, visit the Live Entertainment Industry Forum website.
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