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

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 is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts