NAVA responds to Support Act Wellbeing Helpline evaluation findings

The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) welcomes the release of Support Act’s Wellbeing Helpline Evaluation Findings Report and commends the organisation’s commitment to addressing the mental health needs of workers across the creative industries.

Mental health and wellbeing remain among the most pressing challenges for the visual arts, craft, and design sector. Precarity, financial instability, isolation, insecure work, and a lack of appropriate support are common and compounding pressures, with many artists experiencing high levels of psychological distress. These challenges were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to deepen under the current cost-of-living crisis. NAVA’s 2024 Member Survey confirmed mental health as one of the top concerns facing our members, particularly in relation to insecure income, housing stress, and unsafe workplaces.

The Support Act Wellbeing Helpline is a vital resource for visual artists and arts workers. Available 24/7, free, and confidential, the Helpline plays a unique role in providing tailored, accessible mental health support to those who too often fall between the cracks of mainstream services. We welcome its expansion to include the broader arts sector and acknowledge the Federal Government’s investment in its continuation through Revive and Creative Australia.

However, NAVA echoes the evaluation’s findings that the Helpline must be better positioned to support workers in the visual arts and other non-music creative sectors. Despite being available to all creative industries, the strong association with the music sector has created unintended barriers to access. Visual artists often report feeling uncertain about whether the service is meant for them and whether the counsellors understand the distinct realities of visual arts practice.

We strongly support the report’s recommendations to:

• Redesign the Helpline’s website and communications to reflect the full diversity of the creative industries it serves. Language and imagery must be inclusive and representative of visual arts, screen, literature, and performing arts workers, not just music.
• Ensure counsellors have industry-specific knowledge and training, including an understanding of the particular challenges facing visual artists, such as solitary working conditions, project-based income, burnout, and inadequate institutional support.
• Establish regular industry briefings and collaborative updates with sector stakeholders to keep counsellors informed of relevant news, policy changes, and sector-wide events that may impact mental health.
• Strengthen First Nations support through comprehensive cultural competency training, culturally safe intake processes, and matching with First Nations counsellors as a standard offering.
• Engage directly with industry bodies, including through face-to-face sessions and tailored resources to ensure accurate promotion and increased uptake of the service by non-music sectors.

NAVA urges Support Act to prioritise the redesign of the Wellbeing Helpline website to ensure it reflects the full breadth of the arts. Updating the language and imagery to connect with visual artists and workers in screen, literature, and other creative industries is essential to making the service visible, relevant, and accessible. Visibility matters, particularly for those who often work independently, without access to institutional support or formal employee assistance programs.

In addition, NAVA again calls for the federal government to broaden the allocation of crisis support funding to include visual artists. During the pandemic, the Federal Government increased funding for Support Act to deliver crisis relief to music and live performing arts workers but omitted support for the visual arts. Despite NAVA’s direct appeals to the Minister for the Arts, the visual arts sector remains excluded.

In early 2020, NAVA re-opened the Artists’ Benevolent Fund to provide direct crisis relief to visual artists. The Fund remains a vital but limited resource, offering one-off payments to artists experiencing financial hardship. While the Support Act Crisis Relief Fund continues to receive welcome support from the NSW and Victorian Governments, it remains restricted to workers in music and live performing arts.

NAVA reiterates the urgent need for state and federal governments to extend crisis funding to include the visual arts, either by expanding eligibility under the Support Act Crisis Relief Fund or by investing directly in the Artists’ Benevolent Fund.

Artists and arts workers can access the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline by calling 1800 959 500 or visiting supportact.org.au.