Live Performance Australia (LPA), the peak body representing the live arts and entertainment industry, is continuing its push for a tax offset on live theatre production costs in Australia for this tax offset to bolster the nation’s live theatre scene and make it more competitive internationally.

LPA and leading theatre producers are in Canberra to discuss the proposal with federal MPs today, Thursday 22 August.

A 40 percent offset, it argues, could create over 4,000 new jobs and inject nearly half a billion dollars into the economy. The LPA’s proposal is supported by modelling predicting that a tax incentive of that magnitude would lead to the creation of 168 new theatrical productions across both commercial and non-profit sectors. The tax offset, the modelling predicts, will generate a positive net tax position for the Commonwealth Government – a win-win for the economy and the arts.

Seann Miley Moore and the cast of Miss Saigon. Photo © Daniel Boud

“Australia is currently not a competitive destination for investment in live theatre due to the absence of any production tax incentives, and we are missing out on private investment that instead is going to the...