How to boost homegrown Artists
NSW launches $20K Artists incentive. Part of a major push to spotlight homegrown talent on world-class stages across the state. In a bold and targeted move to revitalise Australia’s live music ecosystem, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has introduced a venue-based financial support scheme. Aimed at increasing local artist representation on major lineups. The initiative is designed to ensure Australian performers share the stage with international touring acts. Strengthening cultural identity and boosting industry recovery post-pandemic.
A bold policy shift to support Australian music
In a defining move for Australia’s cultural sector. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has unveiled a new initiative designed to elevate local musicians in the live entertainment ecosystem. Under this scheme, touring acts that include NSW-based support artists will be eligible for up to $20,000 in venue fee discounts. At iconic, government-operated sites such as the Sydney Opera House, State Theatre, and others across the state.
The measure, launched in May 2025. Is being heralded as one of the most ambitious policy interventions in recent memory aimed at reversing the decline in visibility for local acts. After years of industry stagnation caused by COVID-19 and the rising dominance of large-scale international tours. The incentive signals a broader commitment to rebalancing the scales in favour of Australian talent.
Premier Minns described the program as a deliberate effort to put Australian artists “on the biggest stages possible,”. Making it clear that cultural investment is central to the state’s post-pandemic recovery plan. With the return of international touring giants. The scheme offers a vital lifeline to musicians, promoters, and independent industry operators still grappling with the financial and logistical fallout of recent years.
How the scheme works and who’s eligible
As NSW launches $20K Artists incentive scheme. It offers venue hire fee reductions of up to $20,000 for international touring acts that include local Australian artists as support performers. It applies specifically to shows staged at government-owned venues. Including the State Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Qudos Bank Arena, and other locations managed by Venues NSW.
To qualify, tours must meet key criteria:
- At least one Australian support artist must be part of the official lineup
- The local artist must perform on the same stage and be announced at the same time as the headliner
This initiative is not a grant program in the traditional sense. There is currently no open application portal. Instead, eligibility and implementation are handled directly through venue operators in partnership with event promoters. Artists or managers hoping to benefit from the scheme are advised to contact venue management directly to express interest or inquire about upcoming opportunities.
The incentive program is set to run for an initial two-year period from May 2025 and is already being rolled out across key NSW venues.
For more details, see the official NSW Government announcement.
How the program works — and who benefits
The incentive applies specifically to performances staged at venues owned or operated by the New South Wales government. If a touring headliner books a local artist as part of the official support lineup. They will receive a reduction in their booking fees of up to $20,000, depending on the scale and terms of the event.
Rather than directing funding toward artist grants or recording subsidies. The scheme takes a demand-side approach: encouraging promoters to include Australian acts by lowering their overheads when they do. This increases the likelihood of support slots going to local performers. Not only raising their profile, but providing them with coveted access to audiences they may otherwise struggle to reach.
Ball Park Music, one of the country’s most beloved indie outfits. They have already benefitted from the incentive. The Brisbane-born group is set to support Oasis during the band’s much-hyped reunion show in Sydney later this year. Marking a rare moment of international exposure on one of Australia’s most prestigious stages.
The band’s inclusion is a symbolic victory for the program. Illustrating how legacy acts from abroad can directly uplift the next generation of homegrown performers when supported by thoughtful policy. Industry insiders suggest this early announcement is likely to be the first of many. With more Aussie names expected to be added to high-profile lineups in the coming months.
A sector still in recovery
The pandemic dealt a crushing blow to Australia’s music sector. With hundreds of venues closing and thousands of jobs lost across the creative economy. Even as restrictions eased, the path to recovery has been uneven — hampered by rising touring costs, inflation, and audience hesitancy.
According to APRA AMCOS data, live music revenue across Australia dropped by over 70% in 2020 and has only partially rebounded. Smaller venues and local acts continue to face uphill battles, with competition from major global tours further squeezing domestic lineups. Festival closures, staff shortages, and volatile ticket sales have all contributed to ongoing instability.
This policy, by creating financial incentives that benefit both promoters and performers, attempts to rebuild a more inclusive model. For fans, it promises a richer concert experience: one that includes not only blockbuster headliners, but also a curated showcase of emerging and established Australian voices.
Promoters have cautiously welcomed the scheme, noting that while it won’t resolve all industry challenges, it provides an important piece of the puzzle in terms of rebuilding local music ecosystems. There’s also hope that the policy may influence other states to follow suit — fostering a more unified, national approach to cultural support.
A cultural identity worth protecting
One of the underlying motivations behind the policy is the protection of Australia’s musical identity. In recent years, there’s been growing concern that globalisation of touring circuits and festival rosters has come at the cost of local diversity. With booking fees rising and touring budgets stretched, support slots have increasingly gone to acts with label affiliations or commercial partnerships — often bypassing regional and independent artists.
By using public infrastructure as leverage, the NSW government is effectively reasserting the cultural value of local content. Subsidising stage time for Australian musicians is not simply an economic gesture, but a cultural one — aimed at preserving the relevance and accessibility of homegrown music.
The timing is particularly important. As streaming continues to flatten international barriers in recorded music, the live scene remains one of the few spaces where audiences can form real, lasting connections with artists. Seeing a local band open for a globally recognised act can be how you make lifelong fans. And how careers are launched.
The broader implications for policy and practice
Beyond the immediate benefit to artists, the $20K incentive may also serve as a case study in how governments can actively shape cultural outcomes without compromising commercial viability. By incentivising diversity in programming, rather than mandating quotas or imposing restrictions, the scheme offers a collaborative framework in which public and private interests can align.
There are logistical hurdles, of course. Promoters must still weigh artistic compatibility, tour logistics, and market demand when booking openers. But by easing the financial burden of doing so, the government is helping to shift those calculations in favour of local inclusion — especially in high-capacity venues where costs are otherwise prohibitive.
It also sends a message internationally: that Australia is serious about backing its cultural workers and maintaining a distinct voice in the global music conversation. For artists on the rise, the policy offers not just exposure, but validation — proof that their home state recognises the importance of their work.
Conclusion: A welcome move for a challenged industry
NSW launches $20K Artists incentive at a time when the country’s music scene needs it most. From a fan perspective, it promises more diverse shows and better representation of Australia’s artistic output. For musicians, it opens pathways that were previously cost-prohibitive or gatekept. And for promoters, it reduces financial pressure in an increasingly expensive live market.
As the scheme continues to unfold across the state’s most iconic venues, it is likely to become a defining feature of Australia’s evolving live music landscape — one where local talent can thrive, not in the shadow of international headliners, but right beside them. In all as NSW launches $20K Artists incentive it can only be a good thing for up and coming artists
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