Aussie Mental Health Blues

Among workers and performers, feelings of suicide are six times that of the general population. Suicide planning is four times more, and suicide attempts are double the rate. Indicators of moderate to severe anxiety are 10 times higher and depression symptomology five times over general population norms.

“Working In The Australian Entertainment Industry: Final Report” (at www.entertainmentassist.org.au) was put together by Victoria University in Melbourne and healthy charity Entertainment Assist.

It first conducted in-depth interviews with 36 professionals followed by an online survey of 2904 industry people, including performers, producers, sound and lighting technicians, roadies and crew. While industry professionals reported they are passionate and committed to their creativity, they found difficulty in dealing with their issues, and 56.1 percent felt a lack of support from family, social circles and the industry.

The report attributed high level of stress and anxiety (44 percent) to low pay; 35 percent of industry workers make less than A$20,000 ($15,170), below the country’s national minimum wage of A$34,112 ($25,890). Of those making less than A$20,000 were 63 percent of performers, 28 percent of support workers and 20 percent of technicians and road crews. Unpredictable working hours saw 43.1 percent work in the evenings and nights, 41.9 percent on the weekends – compared with 16 percent of the general population.

Forty-four percent said they didn’t get enough sleep while 45.5 percent had disrupted sleep. Among key recommendations from the report were targeting specialist interventions, developing support services specifically for the creative industries, and a program to identify what services were available for performers and industry workers.