The 2020 Helpmann Awards will not go ahead, Live Performance Australia has announced. The annual award ceremony, which recognises achievement and excellence in Australia’s live performance sectors, has been cancelled in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its impact on live performance venues and productions across the country. The winners of Melbourne’s Green Room Awards, however, will be announced online in April.

Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s Fly has been nominated in several categories for this year’s Green Room Awards. Photo © Lachlan Woods

“Due to restrictions on public gatherings, it was simply not feasible to proceed with our planning for the 2020 Helpmann Awards,” said LPA Chief Executive Evelyn Richardson. “While we are deeply disappointed to make this decision, we have a wider responsibility to prioritise the health and welfare of our staff, industry and the Australian community to help stop the spread of COVID-19.”

“It is also the case that we need to focus on the survival of our live performance industry which has been devastated by the COVID-19 forced shutdowns,” Richardson said. “Our number one priority right now is to secure more government support for the hundreds of thousands of people...