Australian government stalls over special treatment for arts workers

A move by Australia's state cultural ministers to extend the jobkeeper wage subsidy to help the struggling cultural sector has been blocked by the Federal Government. Ministers discussed "eligibility rules being broadened to support the significant number of organisations, freelance and casual artists and arts workers, and employees of publicly owned or operated arts and cultural facilities that have been unable to access the program”. But the proposals went beyond what Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, was willing to endorse, and a teleconference meeting "ended in a standoff".