Here’s Why You Might Not Want to Go to Australia to be in the Music Industry

FYIMusicNews draws our attention to this article in The Age out of Oz. Music/entertainment people Down Under have a high rate of suicide.

Australia’s 25,000 entertainment industry workers are more likely to suffer from mental health issues, have higher rates of suicide and are paid much less than the rest of the community, according to research from Victoria University.

The pilot study highlights a work environment that is “unhealthy, often divisive, competitive and lacking social support” and concludes “there are strong indicators these creative workers have a disproportionate rate of mental health issues”.

In 2012, the Australian Road Crew Collective identified  70 roadies who had died prematurely, many from suspected suicide. That sparked Entertainment Assist, a charity that helps people working in the entertainment industry, to try and found out why.

The Pratt Foundation funded the pilot study, which was completed by Dr Julie van den Eynde, Professor Adrian Fisher and Associate Professor Christopher Sonn, from Victoria University. For the Phase I report, the researchers interviewed entertainment industry workers across three employment groups.

Uh-oh.  Keep reading.