Media Release
March 19, 2020
More than 13,000 people have signed a change.org petition calling from better protection from the Australian Federal Government during the looming economic downturn.
The petition, created in response to a stimulus package that seemed to ignore the 60 percent of Australian small businesses that employ no staff, has been circulated through freelancing and art industry social media since Friday, March 13.
Freelancer and founder of the Freelance Jungle, Rebekah Lambert said she started the petition because of anecdotal evidence that freelancers and sole traders were taking a big financial hit due to Covid-19.
“The stimulus package announced last week completely ignored the freelancers and sole traders who don’t have staff, nor collect any benefits. We are taxpayers and deserve to be recognised,” she said.
“We received more than 5000 signatures in less than 24 hours, which proved that the petition had merit.”
“It’s sobering to look at the comments people have made about their reasons for signing. Many are already suffering huge business losses. And with yesterday’s announcement of tighter restrictions, it will just get harder.
“We already know that freelancers in arts, entertainment, travel and personal services will be the hardest hit, but the flow-on effects are immeasurable. Many people are reporting jobs drying up as clients’ focus is shifting and contractor budgets are being cut.”
Among other things, the petition calls for:
- State and Federal governments to act now before this diverse and talented industry sector collapses
- a specific grant or emergency fund for freelancers who travel, work in the arts and/or high impact sectors to reinvent their business to adapt their offering
- access to one-off safety net payments for people that become ill to cover the anticipated 4 to 8-week period away from the business
- specific and tailored support in debt collection scenarios for freelancers
- active promotion of remote working situations and promotion of freelancers as viable, enabled and accessible supports to all Australian
“Freelancers and sole traders have long been the canary in the coalmine, and yet this is not the first time we have been overlooked by Government and the ATO,” Rebekah said.
“We understand that more stimulus packages are set to be announced, and we hope this petition is seen and circulated by decision makers in both State and Federal Government.”
The government needs to support all sectors and this particular group of people are currently taking an enormous hit. Hopefully they receive the support they deserve.
Thanks for commenting Meredith. We agree!
I’m a Virtual Assistant (VA) for two small business owners in the events industry and most of their clients have cancelled bookings for their events. No bookings mean they don’t earn anything and will have no means to pay for my work. I’m struggling now as I’ve just received my fortnightly pay and I’m not sure if in the following weeks if I will still receive another. Whatever money I have left in my bank account, we use it for our food. I don’t qualify for the stimulus package the government will roll out and have no other means to earn and pay for our bills or food. There’s already a scarcity of food, toilet paper, canned goods, even fresh veggies and fruits at IGA Harrington. Yesterday, we drove to Coles Taree and we can hardly get veggies – no supply of carrots, potatoes, beans, bok choy, packed apples gone, and meat running out. I have my period today and I can’t even buy a pack of feminine pads in our town because they ran out. This is very saddening times and I hope the government can help freelancers like myself. We also have bills to pay and we need to eat and buy our essentials. I can’t be away from work and not earn anything. Even my clients are struggling now.
I am a sole trader working in a number of areas in the end of life field including advance planning, grief support, and education. While I am able to work remotely for much of my work the downturn is costing me both clients and students. At this point in time I am not sure where I will be financially in a few months time given the impact of COVID-19, or if my business will still be able to trade viably.
I’m a sole trader with an 18mo daughter. This week she was home from daycare with an unrelated illness, and it gave me some insight into just how hard it will be for me when daycare closes (which I think is inevitable). Even if I still have clients – which is uncertain – I’m going to have to reduce my hours to the point where I’m hardly working because we have no other childcare options. But unfortunately the expenses don’t stop just because the work does. Some form of government assistance (eg similar to paid parental leave) for this period would make such a difference to our family.
I am weeks away from launching my accommodation business as a sole trader. Now, with the tourism industry hit so hard by COVID-19, I’ll be closed for an indefinite period of time. I’m effectively unemployed with no primary income.
I’m 12 months into running a solo copywriting business. One of my main clients is in Italy and they’ve put a major project on hold. It looks like another project we planned to work on won’t go ahead. I don’t expect to be paid for the work I have done. Thanks to Christmas and the impact of the bushfires, any buffer I had is gone. I’m looking for new opportunities, especially to support other small businesses. It’s scary not knowing if I’ll make enough to cover our mortgage and other expenses, especially as my husband’s job is largely hospitality based.
Unfortunately for those of us who are single and freelancers it’s a double whammy as we only have one income in our household and most of us are now losing clients and contracts at a very fast rate. I’ve lost two major contracts this week which will leave me without the ability to pay rent within the next couple of weeks. We are going to see an enormous rate of bankruptcies and homelessness in the near future as more and more people can’t meet rent/mortgage payments and end up being evicted and therefore have no way to meet their debt obligations and no home to live in and their livelihood in tatters. It is an exceptionally unnerving time in my world right now and in the world of many around me.
I was just about to relaunch my very successful 20+ year freelance editing business after more than 5 years off paid work as an unpaid carer. I had the website up, business cards printed and emails out to potential and past clients. All just as I got sick with potential COVID-19 symptoms. My doctor told me I couldn’t be tested but had to self-isolate, scrapping my launch plans. Now I’m going to be competing with a huge number of people who have since lost clients and are also seeking work in the same industry, and who have more up-to-date skills than me. I’d been booking networking events, all now cancelled. The opportunity to be interviewed by prospective clients has gone. I’m not able to pay for marketing to source alternative means. Getting stuck with nothing more than Newstart for income the foreseeable future was not part of my business plan.
My business began in 2014 from a blog I started because I had to quit the workforce due to chronic illness. While I was off sick I started writing, because that’s what I love, and people started asking me to do related things and pay me for it. Kind of took off from there.
Unfortunately, as an entertainment publicist, merch manager, photographer and journalist Based in North Queensland, my primary source of paid income relies heavily on the live entertainment and touring industry. I’ve carved out a niche in helping southern artists touring regional North Queensland promote their shows.
I know the downturn won’t be forever, and in the meantime I can strip things back to what the business was when it began – a blog – but I have a team of girls I mentor in music media who are lost now, as well.
I’m self-isolating due to being immunocompromised and there isn’t much to spend money on besides essentials, so financially I’ll get by on very little for a while. I know many aren’t as lucky though. Or have families to support. Those are the ones I worry about through all of this.
As the sole income provider for my family, we are very vulnerable and exposed to the potential economic downturn. Already projects have been paused, jobs cancelled and we’re using our savings to pay the rent and bills. If things continue this way, there is a serious risk we won’t be able to keep a roof over our heads. We are very careful with money, always pay our tax on time, meet our bill obligations and work hard to grow our incomes. But without government support, I fear we (along with the entire freelance/self-employed community) will go under. We simply don’t have the resources to bail ourselves out.
Within 1 week, most of my income from copywriting work has gone. With only a small amount of savings the next few months are going to be really tough. Medication costs, bills and mortgage payments will be hard to meet.
My clients are split between travel (hotels, serviced apartments), property and agencies. The travel funnel has completely dried, with no scope for future work. The property clients are uncertain what their next steps are, and have frozen my workload for a ‘TBD’ amount of time. The agencies I support are losing clients left and right, and so they are supporting their employees over freelancers, which I understand. Grateful to have a partner with an income.
My freelance video work has disappeared. With a mortgage and a young family the outlook is very grim 🙁
I’m just a year into my sole trader copywriting business, and most of my contracts have dried up. Being officially on the NEIS program means I’m not eligible for any stimulus package support, despite the fact that payments from NEIS ended three months ago. I have limited savings and am eating into them weekly with rent and food alone, and hold serious concerns about how I’m going to pay utility and medical bills.
I have been freelancing nearly nine years, as a B2B copywriter. With general business uncertainty, fires and now this, my income this calendar year is almost half what it usually is in the first quarter. And I imagine it will get worse before it gets better.
I’m a graphic designer who has just chosen to go full time freelance – one of my jobs worth $3000 was unfortunately cancelled as it was a Gala event. This a big chunk of my income for the next couple of months.
I’m a freelance photographer, and have had all of my future shoots cancelled, and zero new enquiries since last weeks event lockdown. I’d already lost some business earlier in the year as regular clients couldn’t get their products in while China was in quarantine. I shot my last job yesterday and have absolutely nothing on the horizon now, which is terrifying. I have a small amount of savings, but they will not take me very far. I have a photographer friend who has today announced the closure of his studio business he’s kept for 10 years, a makeup artist colleague with all her jobs cancelled who is the only income for herself and her elderly mother. I know an event stylist who is down over $100k+ in job cancellations for 2020. Another photographer who had international jobs booked that were crucial to covering her mortgage, all gone. A friend who hires out event equipment has had to let go all staff and is on the brink of totally shutting down. An actor friend who’s own play was just about to debut, who sees no choice but to pack up from sydney and go live on his parents farm again. There are so many more stories like this, and we all urgently need support. We all looked on at those 5000 supermarket jobs advertised, thinking – we’re not above that and we would absolutely apply. In one day 36k applied, which shows exactly how desperate we all are! Even Centrelink is generally at least a 6 week hoop-jumping mission to get on to, that is going to be too late for a lot of us. I am frightened of what is to come.
I am a sole trader running two businesses:
A) A coworking space whereby all but one member has cancelled their monthly contact, and all events held in the space for March & beyond have been cancelled. I’m really worried about how I’ll pay the commercial lease with no income coming in for who knows how long?
B) A graphic design & marketing business for the financial and retail sectors. Many projects have been put on hold indefinitely or cancelled. At the moment I’ll be looking at about 1/10th of income per month if my remaining contracts stay in play.
I don’t employ anyone so I’m ineligible for the current stimulus package. I honestly don’t know how we’ll survive this. My husband’s income just covers the mortgage (which I’m very grateful for) but I pay for absolute everything else for our family of four. I’m terrified.
I’m a education consultant. With the uncertainty in schools and possible school closures I’m looking at losing upwards of $80000 this year and over 12 clients. I’m the main income earner for a family of 6 so this will have a huge impact on us financially. We have resources to hold us for 6 weeks – anything past that and we are in significant financial trouble.
I have been a sole trader/ freelancer for 6 years- B2B for fashion businesses, the majority them are sole traders or small businesses. It has already been difficult for them since the fires, and long shipping delays for businesses manufacturing out of China when the lockdown was enforced. With actual or anticipated lockdowns in many other countries now, further product development has been put on hold for some clients, and many who were thriving last year have had drastically lower sales this quarter.
The trickle down from this has meant that this quarter my income has more than halved compared to the previous year, and I am having trouble with late payments also. I am a single mum, and carer to my youngest who has a disability, I’m unable to work in permanent employment due to his needs. I also anticipate losing the little child support I receive as my ex is a freelancer also, has been impacted much worse than I have, and will struggle to pay his own bills.
Sole traders like my clients would spend part of the stimulus on freelancers, as I would also. We rely on each other to build our businesses together, and in this crisis we are going to need help. We already needed it months ago 🙁
I’ve had 6 workshops cancelled in March, April and May and one of my retainer clients have put their work on hold. A project I am working on until June is on a knife-edge already and I’m worried that now it won’t be extended. More worryingly my husband works in entertainment and has had 100% of his work cancelled. Our savings will get us by for 2 weeks, maybe 3… and then?
Im a freelance writer supported by a single income working in the travel industry. So many challenges & much uncertainty ahead as publishers & clients struggle to stay afloat themselves, let alone pay freelancers where work is either completed, in progress or commissioned for future editions.
I am a freelance travel and lifestyle writer. On March 9, a tourism client of 3.5 years abruptly cancelled my services because of a 40% loss to their business. After that, job after job was cancelled including my casual customer service role at Optus Stadium in Perth. And just minutes ago, I got an email from an editor saying the publication has put a hold on content so there goes my last standing regular gig. This means I now have no work. And my husband, who works in tourism, is expecting this weekend to be his last days at work. He’s been told the company will be forced to close. Freelancing is already a stressful hustle to make ends meet. I don’t know what the next few months will look or feel like. It’s too frightening to think about.