MusicNSW, along with more than 60 music industry representatives and health and safety specialists, have come together to ask the Premier of NSW for an open dialogue about better solutions for safety at music festivals.
Dear Premier Berejiklian,
In light of recent events, we have come together to request the NSW Government include music festival representatives on any expert panel established to consider health and safety issues at music festivals.
We are focused on ensuring live music and entertainment is a positive and safe experience for everyone, and the recent deaths due to drug use are heartbreaking and deeply troubling. The safety and well-being of people attending music festivals is of utmost importance. Our expertise, experience, skills and research can assist you.
Music festivals in NSW attract 350,000 attendees a year (LPA 2016). They employ thousands of people, support small businesses and cultural tourism, and provide inclusive spaces for many different communities to come together for a positive experience. They are vital not just to the NSW economy, but also to the social and cultural vibrancy of our cities and towns.
Recreational drug-use occurs in a variety of public settings. Placing bans on music festivals will do very little to curb the impacts of drugs on our communities but may push festival-goers to less safe spaces that are harder to regulate, manage or control.
Any attempt to address concerns about drug use and public safety at music festivals cannot be effective unless music industry representatives are part of the conversation. We already work collaboratively and successfully with numerous state and local authorities and we request that this collaboration extends to participation in, and consultation with, the NSW Government’s ‘Ensuring Safety at Music Festivals’ panel.
We also request that any expert panel meet with the following in order to work together on an effective, strategic and collaborative approach to festival safety;
- music industry representatives
- health and safety specialists
- experts in drug research and policy development
We are the voice of music in NSW. Please do not shut us out of this important part of the discussion. Together we can develop safe, legal, and practical means for ensuring festivals are safer, enjoyable places for all people in NSW.
Regards,
MusicNSW
Alex The Astronaut
Architects of Entertainment
Australian Drug Law Reform Initiative
Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN)
BBE – FOMO Festival
Ben Mostyn, Founding member Australian Drug Law Reform Initiative
Byron Bay Bluesfest
Cattleyard Promotions – Groovin the Moo
Chugg Entertainment
Cloud Control
Crowd Manager
Dashville – The Gum Ball, Dashville Skyline
Defqon.1
Dr Bianca Fileborn, Lecturer Criminology (UNSW Sydney)
Dr Caitlin Hughes, Criminologist and Senior Research Fellow (UNSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre)
Dr Monica Barratt, Social Scientist and Senior Research Fellow (UNSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre)
Dr Phillip Wadds, Lecturer Criminology (UNSW Sydney)
Dr Will Tregoning, Executive Director, Unharm
DSEM
Electric Gardens
Electronic Music Conference
EMS Event Medical
Event Health Management
FBi Radio
Field Day New Year’s Day
Finely Tuned Productions
Flagmen
Flight Facilities
Force Events
Fuzzy Operations – Listen Out, Harbourlife,
Curve Ball
GAS Audio Services
Good Things Festival
Hamiltons Hospitality
Handsome Tours – Fairgrounds
Hardware Corporation
Heaps Gay
Helen Gibbon, Foundation member Australian Drug Law Reform Initiative
Hermitude
Humm
ISEC SECURITY
KLP
Lost Paradise
Lucky Seven Co – Output Festival
MJR Presents – Sydney Summer Series
Morse Code PR
Mountain Sounds
Ms Michala Kowalski, Research Assistant Drug Policy Modelling Program (UNSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre)
Nina Las Vegas – NLV Records
NYE in The Park
One Day Entertainment – One Day Sundays
Peking Duk
Phoenix Entertainment Live
Pure Music Co
R-Events
R-Training
Red Square Music – Mullum Music Festival, Bello Winter Music
Reddawn Australia
Reddawn Group
RSA Marshals
Rubin Events
Secret Sounds – Splendour In the Grass, Falls Festival, Download Festival
Secure Events and Assets
Set Mo
SLAM (Save Live Australia’s Music)
Spectator Safety
St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival
Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras
This That Festival
Thundamentals
Ultra Australia
Verandah Productions – Secret Garden Festival
Wine Machine
Yours & Owls
For any enquiries contact Emily Collins at ecollins@musicnsw.com or 0415642235.
