PRESS RELEASE: JOBSEEKER ANTHEM – SONG CHALLENGE LAUNCHES – $10,000 CASH PRIZE
A national songwriting contest with a community crowdfunded $10,000 cash prize has been launched to give voice to the hundreds of thousands of people who can’t find work, or enough of it, and are forced to survive on JobSeeker Payment (unemployment benefit) which, for a single, is $140 a week below the poverty line. Women over 45, the fastest growing group of jobseekers are particularly vulnerable as are the 300,000+ people on JobSeeker who can’t work due to illness or disability.
Australian musicians are being asked to write and record their best anthem, one that represents those unable to make ends meet on current income support, and submit this by 5 September 2021 to be in the running for the prize. The one-off song competition is in response to community outrage that people on JobSeeker Payment, and similar income support payments, are being forced to live on $44 a day resulting in them having to choose between basic things like food, medicines or power bills.
Competition co-convenors Stacey Thomas (CEO of The Wyatt Trust) and Paul Madden report that, ‘There was widespread support for a raise in income support rates but the $4 per day increase earlier this year did little to change things for people living in poverty. We need to continue to give voice to those on JobSeeker Payment and having an anthem that speaks to the dilemmas they face is another way we can do this.’’
In providing the platform for the competition, Ali Taylor, CEO of award winning mental health charity, Listen Up Music says, ‘Music is a universal language. We know that people experiencing different forms of adversity find not only solace, but voice and community through song. This competition expands our reach from those passionate about positive mental health to a larger group whose financial hardship has far-reaching health and wellbeing impacts.’
Support for raising the rate of income support has not only been evidenced in public sentiment but also from politicians, economists and business leaders. Entries can be submitted through the Listen Up Music website – https://www.listenupmusic.com.au/events/jobseeker-anthem/
