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Support Act is delighted to announce that its Wellbeing Helpline has been expanded beyond the music and theatre industries to now incorporate all artists and arts workers across Australia.
The Wellbeing Helpline is a free confidential service available 24/7, staffed by professional clinicians familiar with issues faced by people working in music and the arts. It can be accessed by calling 1800 959 500 within Australia, or via email. Zoom video calls are also available.
The twelve-month expansion of this essential service has been made possible thanks to the Australian Government, through the Office for the Arts.
Clive Miller, CEO, says he is thrilled that Support Act can extend access to the Helpline to the wider arts community during this challenging time.
“COVID-19 is clearly having a huge impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people across the entire arts sector, with many people struggling as a result of financial hardship, concern about careers, being cut off from social networks and working from home. Our clinicians can provide support in all these areas and more, and we encourage any music or arts worker who is concerned about their mental health to call the Helpline on 1800 959 500.”
Support Act launched the Wellbeing Helpline in June 2018 with support from The Tony Foundation and Levi’s and partnered with the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Arts Wellbeing Collective to extend access to all performing arts workers in July 2019.
The Wellbeing Helpline is delivered in partnership with AccessEAP, a leading not-for-profit Employee Assistance Program provider with close to 30 years’ experience in mental health and workplace wellbeing.
“I have used the Helpline and it really helped me at the time deal with some flat feelings after a project came to an end,” said Ben Steel, writer & director of the documentary, The Show Must Go On . “It was a relief to speak with a trained clinician who could understand my creative world and provide thoughtful and relevant advice at a convenient time to my busy schedule. I know screen actors and our friends across all of arts & entertainment will benefit from having access to this incredible industry Helpline.”
More information is available on our website, including digital resources to download and share on socials, websites, emails as well as venues and workplaces.

Australian Greens Disability Rights Spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called on the South Australian Premier to reconsider the appointment of David Caudrey to lead the task force investigating the death of Ann Marie Smith, citing “unacceptable conflicts of interest”.
“The tragic death of Ms Smith must be investigated by a truly independent task force led by disabled people, not by individuals with links to the very systems at fault,” Steele-John said.
“Unfortunately, there is no chance of an independent outcome when this task force is led by Mr Caudrey; it’s letting the fox guard the henhouse.
“Mr Caudrey has been working in various state government disability roles with direct links to the very systems that have failed Ms Smith for more than a decade.
“As Executive Director of Disability SA from 2011 to 2016, Mr Caudrey lead the very agency that funded Ms Smith’s supports until her transition to the NDIS.Then, as South Australia’s Disability Advocate he had direct oversight of her care under the NDIS.
“Investigating both of these institutions, their systemic failures and their role in the abuse, and ultimately the death, of Ms Smith will be a key component of the task force’s work, including potentially Mr Caudrey’s own role.
“His role in this taskforce is completely untenable and he must be replaced immediately.”
South Australian Greens Disability Spokesperson Tammy Franks MLC said:
“South Australians are still reeling from what happened to Ann Marie Smith. We failed her when our systems failed her.
“While a task force is welcomed we need to make sure it has the trust of the community to do its important work. That requires absolute clarity to community that the Chair is truly independent and also does not come with the baggage of previously being a leader in shaping the broken system.”

The Greens have pledged to make Australia’s rivers and lakes swimmable again, under their Covid-19 Economic Recovery plan, that’s good for jobs, the economy and the environment.
The Swimmable Lakes and Rivers Pledge would see iconic rivers and lakes across the country restored and clean enough to swim in within the next decade.
It is one of the job-rich projects under the Greens Next Gen Guarantee which would see young people guaranteed a job and secure income to restart the economy and build a better normal after Covid-19.
Greens South Australian Senator and Spokesperson for Environment and Water Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“A green jobs recovery is desperately needed to stem the flow of jobs across the country, as our young people in particular stare down the barrel of years of unemployment.
“From the bushfires to yearning to reconnect with nature after the Covid lockdown, Australian’s are concerned about our environment more than ever before.
“Making the rivers like the Adelaide’s Torrens, Melbourne’s Yarra, Perth’s Swan and even Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, clean enough to swim in, is a wonderful investment in our environment and the community.
“The Greens plan for getting young people into jobs that rehabilitate bushfire devastated areas, protect native wildlife and restore our iconic rivers is a win-win. It’s good for the economy, it tackles youth unemployment and its good for our environment.
“Swimmable rivers and lakes in our cities isn’t just good for jobs, it’s great for Aussies who want to cool off as we experience more hot days, for our social fabric as we come back together after the pandemic and of course for the environment.
“Many of our urban rivers used to be swimmable, and remain beautiful spots to picnic or exercise around, why shouldn’t they be returned to their former glory of being a spot for a dip as well?
“We are facing a devastatingly high unemployment rate across the country and our young people have been hit the hardest. Jobs in our environment shouldn’t just be in regional areas, we need urban jobs in nature too.
“Together with a Habitat Taskforce to restore bushfire devastated areas and rehabilitate the environment and our wildlife, the Greens’ plan to get young people into jobs is a win-win. It’s good for the economy, it tackles youth unemployment and its good for our natural assets.”

Young people will be guaranteed a job, secure income, and free education under a new Greens recovery plan to build ‘a better normal’ and restart the economy after the coronavirus economic shock.
The vision for a debt-financed recovery reaffirms the government’s role in responding to the crisis, and rejects the austerity approaches offered by the Liberal and Labor parties, charting a course for a government-led recovery that extends Australia’s social services, instead of slashing funding for education, healthcare, and the environment.
Greens Community Services Spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert said “We have a unique opportunity here in WA to invest to recover.
“We can’t cut our way out of this crisis. The government and big corporations are calling for more cuts – to company taxes, to public spending, to workers’ rights – but that is a recipe for disaster.
“Our Jobs and Income Guarantee offers people security and decent work while setting Australia up for the future.
For older Australians, for those who haven’t reached retirement age and are staring down their last years in the workforce without access to a job, the half a million jobs being created through our investment package will offer hope and pathways back to employment.
“We need to make sure we are looking after people as we come out of this pandemic, I can’t see how anybody can think that it is okay to return the Jobseeker Payment to the old rate of $40 a day which will condemn unemployed Australians to poverty and will act as a barrier to employment.
Australian Greens Youth and Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said young people are really struggling as a result of COVID-19.
“History shows recessions disproportionately affect young people, with under-employment remaining persistently higher for years, even as the general population recovers.
“With the April 2020 ABS data showing that nearly 4 in 10 young people are now without a job or enough hours of work, it’s clear that we need to place addressing the challenges we face now at the centre of all plans to build a future for all of us.”
The Invest to Recover plan is part of the Green New Deal approach.
Key elements of the plan will:

• Create 870,000 jobs in the private and public sectors through projects that will build new energy infrastructure, 500,000 new public and community homes, expand TAFE and universities, save the arts and creative sectors, expand the care-based sectors and restore axed public service jobs;
• Renew and reshape the economy with $60bn in government support to revive manufacturing and  grow new processing, manufacturing and pharmaceutical jobs in these industries that have been neglected or decimated in the era of Liberal/Labor free trade agreements, mining booms & neoliberal industry policy;
• Get Australia running on 100% renewable energy with $59bn investment in sustainable infrastructure
• Guarantee everyone under 30 either a free place at uni or TAFE, an apprenticeship or traineeship, or a secure job working on nation building, planet saving projects that will build our nation, restore our environment, and help care for Australians;
• Save Australia’s hard-hit arts, entertainment and creative industry with a $2.3bn Create Australia recovery package, that will put artists in every school and library in the country, and directly fund festivals, films and live performances; and
• Establish a $6.7bn Nature Fund to clean up our natural environment and create 13,000 jobs.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has re-iterated the Greens call for the Australian Government to push for a global ban on the trade of wildlife, after the Agriculture Minister’s comments today on wildlife wet markets.
Senator Hanson-Young said:
“The Agriculture Minister and the PM can wax lyrical about an investigation into wildlife wet markets all they like, but if wildlife continue to be traded for consumption and other purposes, a health risk will remain.
“The science is well established on the link between wildlife consumption and the transfer of zoonotic diseases to humans.
“When wildlife is traded, it brings animals in contact with humans and other species in horrendous conditions leading to the spread of disease.
“The Australian Government has an opportunity to really lead on this issue and help end the cruelty and reduce the risk of another pandemic like coronavirus in the future.
“Right now it seems they’re not really serious about leading a global effort to reduce the risks for disease to emerge and spread.
“Just last week the major parties voted against my Senate motion calling on the government to advocate for a global ban. They should both explain why they wouldn’t support it and why they won’t back the hundreds of organisations and millions of people across the world pleading for a global ban on wildlife trade.”