A select number of organisations and record labels will be eligible for the free courses.
Australian music industry mental health foundation Support Act has announced a string of mental health workshops for a number of industry bodies and record labels around the country.
The free Mental Health First Aid workshops follow Support Act’s recent financial grant from the Federal Government’s Office for the Arts, with the training set to be provided in conjunction with fellow creative mental health body MakeShift.
Industry personnel who are eligible to receive free mental health training must come from a handful of approved organisations including ARIA, APRA AMCOS, PPCA, ALMBC, Music Victoria, Music NSW, QMusic, Music SA, Music NT, WAM, MusicTas and Music ACT, with employees of Sony Music Australia and Warner Music Australia also being eligible for the workshops.
Kicking off in February and March, each Mental Health First Aid workshop will aim to educate and train participants in recognising mental health issues, provide initial help to colleagues and respond appropriately in a crisis situation.
Support Act CEO Clive Miller discussed the need to run these workshops in a recent statement, claiming that the charity has been overwhelmed by industry professionals in the wake of the pandemic’s impact upon the music industry.
‘COVID-19 is clearly having a huge impact, and nowhere more so than in the music industry,’ he said.
‘By providing access to free MHFA training, we believe we can make a major change to the overall mental health and wellbeing of the entire industry
‘Our goal is to provide training to as many people across the industry as possible. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and to help us to really move the needle when it comes to creating a mentally healthy music industry.
Although the upcoming workshops are only made free for the aforementioned organisations, Miller also expressed his concern to others within the industry and urged them to contact Support Act for additional information on the mental health workshops.
‘If you are not one of the organisations listed above, and would like to participate, please contact us.’
View this post on Instagram
Registration for Support Act’s Mental Health First Aid workshops is open now.
