Events Management and ArtistWellbeing
For Venues and
Production Companies
The people on your stage are holding up more than the show
A practical guide for venues, producers and production companies who want to do right by their artists and increasingly, who are required to.
1
What the research actually shows
If you run a venue, produce shows, or hire performers, the wellbeing of the people you work with is not someone else's problem.
The data makes that uncomfortably clear. Support Act's 2024 survey of more than 1,500 creative workers found that:
- Almost one in five
creative workers earns
below the poverty line
- 73% reported experiencing
poor mental health in the
past 12 months
- Financial precarity was
the leading driver, ahead of workload, isolation or
industry culture
These numbers don't describe
a fragile workforce. They describe a workforce being squeezed by structural conditions, irregular income, unpredictable hours,
last-minute cancellations,
late payment, that are largely
set by venues and producers.
Not through malice. Usually through habit, or simply not
having thought it through.
2
The regulatory picture
Australian work health and
safety law has not historically caught up with the performing arts, but that is changing and
faster than most of the industry realises.
Victoria's standalone psychosocial hazard regulations came into force in December 2025. Across Australia, the Commonwealth
WHS Code of Practice now names job insecurity as a recognised psychosocial hazard.
The direction of travel is clear:
duty of care for mental health is becoming as much an employer responsibility as physical safety. Many performing artists are engaged as independent contractors or on one-off bookings, which has historically
put them in a regulatory grey zone. That zone is narrowing.
And regardless of where the law sits on a given day, the question
of whether you are genuinely looking after the people who
make your event possible is
worth asking now.
3
What it looks like
in practice
This is not about grand gestures. Most of what makes a meaningful difference is practical, low-cost, and immediately available.
- Clear agreements.
- Pay on time.
- Be honest about
cancellation policies.
- Have a contact person performers can raise concerns
with not just their direct booker.
- Know what a Code of Conduct
is and have one.
- Know who your Wellbeing
First Responder is.
If any of those feel unfamiliar, that's fine this is what the guide below is for.
SOURCES
Support Act & Centre for Social Impact,
Swinburne "Mental Health and Wellbeing in
Creative Industries Australia" (2024)
Entertainment Assist & Victoria University
"Working in the Australian Entertainment
Industry: Final Report" (2016)
R. Jansen, Master of Business (Arts and Cultural Management), Deakin University (research into arts funding mechanisms, value capture and artist precarity)
Your Practical Guide
It takes a village to make the arts a great place work.
Here are some small things you can do, to do your part.
Before the booking
Put the terms in writing,
even for a one-night gig.
A clear brief protects both parties.
Be upfront about pay, payment timeline, and cancellation policy
before anyone says yes.
Share your Code of Conduct
with cast and crew at the point
of engagement, not the day
before bump-in.
Confirm any access or wellbeing requirements and actually act on
what you're told.
During Production
Have a named point of contact for wellbeing concerns who isn't the person responsible for the artist's contract or continued engagement. Include rest breaks in schedules.
Not as an afterthought,
in the run sheet.
Know the difference between
someone who is tired and someone who is struggling. Ask the question.
If something goes wrong, an incident,
a complaint, a performer in distress, know your process before it happens, not during.
After the show
Pay on time. Every time.
The industry norm of "net 30"
or longer causes genuine financial hardship to artists working
contract-to-contract.
Debrief with your team.
Not just 'how did it go',
how did it feel?
What would have made this
production safer or
healthier to be part of?
How we can help
A one-page checklist covering the essentials.
Designed to be printed, stuck on the production noticeboard,
or shared with your team at the start of a project.
Cherri On Top is a social enterprise built on exactly this problem. Our Wellbeing First Responder program grew out of the gap between what artists needed and what was available.
We've run it through our own productions, trained others in it, and built relationships with the services that matter when a performer needs real support.
If you'd like to talk about what better practice looks like for your venue or production company, we're happy to have that conversation. No pitch, no package, just a practical conversation between people who work in this industry.