CrewCare is asking Tasmanian venues, production companies and suppliers to help turn live music training into paid work for the next generation of crew.
by Paul Cashmere
CrewCare is expanding its Pathways to Jobs in Live Music program into Tasmania, with around 20 emerging and underrepresented workers to receive practical training in Hobart followed by supervised paid placements with local industry employers.
The Tasmanian program, supported by Arts Tasmania and Music Australia, is designed to address one of the persistent challenges facing live music: getting people from training into the workplaces where they can build sustainable careers.
Rather than operating solely as a classroom program, the Weasle Eicke Scholarship, known as WES Pathways to Jobs in Live Music, is asking the Tasmanian industry to become part of the training itself.
Applications for participants opened on 16 September, while CrewCare is now seeking venues, production suppliers, crewing companies, employers and training organisations willing to provide workplace access, mentoring and paid placement opportunities.
The ten-day training program will be held in Hobart from 26 October to 6 November 2026. Participants will undertake practical training across live production and, following the training period, may undertake up to 80 hours of paid industry placement matched as closely as possible to their interests, existing skills and employment goals.
That connection between training and employment is central to the program.
CrewCare is asking industry partners to host practical sessions, workplace visits or shadowing opportunities, nominate experienced staff as mentors, identify skills shortages and entry-level opportunities, and consider participants for future casual, freelance or ongoing employment.
Organisations do not have to commit to every element of the program. CrewCare says each partnership can be structured around what the individual business or organisation can contribute.
For participants, the package includes ten days of industry-led training, stipend support, regional travel and accommodation assistance for eligible applicants, paid placement hours and ongoing support during placements.
The program is particularly focused on people who may otherwise find the transition into professional live music difficult. Building workplace confidence and professional networks is being treated as part of the training, alongside technical and practical skills.
The Tasmanian expansion follows previous WES Pathways programs in Victoria and New South Wales.
The Victorian pilot recorded 85 per cent of participants moving into regular paid work, alongside more than 1,100 hours of hands-on training. The 2025 New South Wales program involved 20 trainees and combined industry training with paid placements, with participants continuing to develop employment relationships after the formal program concluded.
Those figures provide the strongest indication of what CrewCare is attempting to replicate in Tasmania: not simply another training course, but a direct connection between people seeking entry into the industry and the employers who need trained crew.
The model also reflects the way live music production is actually learned. Technical roles across audio, lighting, staging, rigging, video and other production disciplines require practical knowledge of equipment, workplaces, safety procedures and the demands of a live event. Those skills are difficult to acquire entirely away from the working environment.
For Tasmanian businesses, participation also provides an opportunity to meet prospective workers before making employment decisions, while helping identify the skills that are most needed locally.
The program is named for Wellesley “Weasle” Eicke, a veteran lighting operator and technician who led crewing company Gig Power and was known for passing practical knowledge on to newer workers. The scholarship carrying his name has developed into a broader employment pathway through CrewCare’s work with production companies, venues and educators.
The Tasmanian initiative now puts that model into a new local environment, with CrewCare relying on industry participation to make the connection between training and employment work.
Tasmanian venues, production companies, crewing businesses, suppliers, educators and music organisations can register their interest with CrewCare at [email protected].
Applications are scheduled to close in early October, with the Hobart training commencing on 26 October.
Applications: Open 16 September 2026, closing date supplied by CrewCare as 7 October 2026.
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