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The Live Entertainment Industry Forum (LEIF) has welcomed the announcement of progressive return of fans to venues in Queensland from this weekend as big win for the industry.

The Queensland Government announced yesterday that up to 2,000 sports fans would be allowed in stadia from this Saturday, under a trial approach suggested by sporting codes.

Live Entertainment Industry Forum (LEIF) Chair James Sutherland said it was a common-sense approach but that there is still a long way to go until events become economically viable for the sector.

Sutherland advised “live entertainment is a huge part of the Australian way of life, and it’s also the livelihood of thousands of Queenslanders, predominantly young, female employees who have really been doing it tough for three months without the employment our sector provides.

“Of course the health of our fans and staff is our top priority and we want to ensure the return to live events is conducted safely to ensure the long-term health and viability of our sector, so we appreciate the incredible amount of work Stadiums Queensland and its venue partners have done to generate this staged approach that will help us get the gates open as soon as possible, and show we can manage a safe return.

“This is an encouraging move in the right direction, and we look forward to similar announcements around the country. The graduated path to recovery has started and we are now focused on finding a way for venues to get back to the capacities that they need for economic viability.”

Launched earlier this month, LEIF’s mission is to support the COVIDSafe reactivation of events with live audiences across Australia as restrictions are eased from July.

The body aims to put in place a comprehensive, flexible, all-of-industry re-opening and risk management strategy that meets the needs of the public, governments, sporting bodies, venues, performers and industry, with safety at its core and will develop industry-wide measures regarding cleaning and sanitisation, crowd management, physical distancing plans, health monitoring and contact tracing.

Image: LEIF Chair James Sutherland (top) and Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium will be Queensland's first venue able to host fans when it stages the NRL clash between the Gold Coast Titans and St George-Illawarra Dragons on Saturday (below).

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