Save Victorian Events has launched a national survey which aims to quantify the difficult situation the events industry has been facing as a result of extended lockdowns, border closures, and a huge amount of uncertainty.
The committee is encouraging every person and business within Australia’s events industry to participate in the National Event Industry Survey, which focuses specifically on the financial impact on events industry professionals and businesses.
“The purpose of this survey is to quantify the situation so we can show governments exactly how serious the current situation is in the event industry, and why real, substantial financial support for event industry businesses is now critical for the survival of many in our industry,” Save Victorian Events co-founder Simon Thewlis says.
This latest survey is a follow up to the committee’s February 2021 survey on Impact of Lockdown on Victoria’s Event Industry, which was a pivotal step in getting some governments to understand the very real situation the industry was in.
“When we released the results of what was the first comprehensive survey of the event industry, Bill Shorten read some of the results into Federal Parliament. They led to many discussions at both federal and state level. The survey was also run in NSW and produced very similarly results.”
The committee’s approach is to be very inclusive of the entire events industry, and Thewlis says the survey will provide data that will help push governments for much needed support.
“We encourage everyone involved in the events industry, including people who may not currently be working in the industry, to take part in this survey as it will give us very specific data to help us, and other industry organisations, to quantify and explain the current situation for workers, freelancers and businesses in our industry to governments and to the media.”
Save Victorian Events was set up in July 2020 by Thewlis and eight other industry professionals and small business owners as a voice for Victoria’s event industry, and so far, their campaign has involved 2,050 people from across 930 event industry businesses.
“We started because we were deeply concerned about the lack of government support for industry, and there seems to be precious little understanding within governments of our industry.
“It has been about involving members of the industry which has included many of them contacting their local members of parliament as well as government ministers, resulting in the recent Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into our industry, which we hope will change the way that events and the event industry are viewed by governments.”
The committee, whose members have personally worn all the costs of the campaign so far whilst also trying to save their own businesses, has worked hard to ensure that the critical issues facing the industry are being reported in mainstream media.
“We have managed to generate a lot of coverage in the mainstream media about our industry—which has been a great help—and we have also met with dozens of MPs and public servants to change their understanding of our industry.”
