Union members sing out against wages at Hamer Hall

Union members from CPSU Victoria, MEAA and ETU have agreed to a 13 per cent pay rise for Arts Centre workers over three years. 

The CPSU claims wages at Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM) have fallen ten per cent since 2022. ACM staff had initially only been offered a three per cent increase. 

The agreement follows a rally by union members at Hamer Hall on 11 September during their first 24-hour strike, where members protested unfair wages at ACM. 

The protest coincided with broader funding cuts across the Victorian arts sector. 

MEAA Acting Chief Executive Adam Portelli said in a statement that the pay rise is a win for all Victorian arts workers. 

"They sent a clear message that the people who bring arts and culture to life deserve fair pay and decent conditions,” Portelli said. 

However, the agreement has been criticised by some union members for failing to meet the needs of workers. 

The MEAA claims almost 40 per cent of the ACM workforce is at or close to lowest pay band.

CPSU Industrial Organiser Jordi Gilmour said at the rally, “the last pay rise for any worker [at ACM] was in May 2025.” It was one per cent. 

“Two-thirds of our workforce is also casual,” said Gilmour. 

Workers were employed under an Enterprise Agreement which expired in October 2025 and did not reflect the current cost of living. 

Union members asked for a seven per cent annual increase to keep up with inflation. 

MEAA Union member Mali Hawke said hundreds of workers are affected. 

“A lot of people are performers in front of house, and they might take work at Arts Centre in between contracts,” Hawke said. 

“But we also have a lot of people who pick up multiple contracts,” he said.

“Sometimes five contracts at once… to scrape together the hours to get by.” 

 “A sustainable Arts Centre would look like the workers getting paid more and … having more funding to put on more shows,” Hawke said. 

The strike disrupted three performances, including a show by Grammy-award winner Macy Gray. 

CPSU Victoria secretary Jiselle Hanna said in a statement that the decision to strike “has not been made lightly”. 

However, Hanna said that union members are “left with no choice” but to take action until change is made. The cancellation of the performances proved that “shows can’t run without us here,” as chanted by protesters. 

“Tonight, what you’ve actually shown is that MEAA members can bring the cultural capital to its knees,” Wood said. 

“Tonight, the show will not go on, the decision makers are having to listen and the fight will continue.” 

CPSU Victoria member and producer at Arts Centre Melbourne, Pete Quinn, saaid he hoped to inspire others to use art when taking action.

“I was trying to make sure that people felt represented in what I was singing in a hope that people did see themselves,” Quinn said. 

“Making an example of yourself when you’re doing industrial action… it’s a bit of a nerve-wracking thing, but we’re all in it together.”

Negotiations were supposed to start in April 2025, however they did not commence until February this year.

The unions are also calling on the Victorian Government to increase funding for the arts sector so workers can continue to provide high quality service.

Poor funding for the industry has contributed to popular musicals such as Beetlejuice and Waitress closing early. This further affects the availability of work for performers, ACM workers and local businesses. 

Lecturer in cultural and creative industries at Monash University Ben Eltham is on the organising committee for Don’t Break our Arts, a grassroots campaign founded by smaller artists and organisations to address funding cuts across the arts sector. 

He said the campaign is urging Creative Victoria to restore support for essential arts organisations. 

“There were cuts to arts grants and to arts organisations like Abbotsford Convent, Writers of Victoria, Australian Print Workshop,” Eltham said.

“It’s an ecosystem and if you start to slash away at the funding of these bigger institutions, it also hurts the grassroots. If you hack away at the grassroots, then you’re not going to have the actual emerging talent come through,” he said. 

“We should fund culture and art because it’s meaningful to human beings.”