News

Opera Australia and MEAA clash over proposed staff redundancies

Claims and counter-claims abound, with MEAA saying 25% of all staff across the company will be made redundant, a claim Opera Australia disputes.

4 Sep 2020 12:00

Richard Watts

Performing Arts

Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Méphistophélès in Opera Australia’s 2020 production of Faust at the Sydney Opera House. Photo credit: Prudence Upton

A war of words has erupted between Opera Australia and the arts workers union, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) over proposed redundancies at the company.

As reported by ArtsHub, Opera Australia recently announced that a number of roles ‘will no longer be required’ at the company following an organisational restructure designed to offset the financial impact of COVID-19.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in early 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association in 2021, and a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Photo: Fiona Hamilton. Follow Richard on Bluesky @richardthewatts.bsky.social and Instagram @richard.l.watts