Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been caring for Country and the environment for over 60,000 years in Australia. We need to ensure their voices are listened to and amplified in our fight for the living planet.

• Make an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of shows. This is a way of standing in solidarity with First Nations people by respecting and acknowledging their ongoing resilience and strength as traditional custodians. Our suggested wording:
  'I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land that this event takes place on, the (people) of the (nation), and pay my respects to Elders past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded and this performance takes place on stolen land.'
  Check out this map to see whose land you’re on. Make your Acknowledgement personal in some way - reflect on what the Country you’re on means to you in addition to the above wording.
• Raise Indigenous work and voices through your online platforms. 
• Donate a portion of ticketing profits to a body led by Indigenous Elders through the #PaytheRent movement. Use this guide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander charities, the links in Shannan Dodson’s article, or the #paytherent links in the anti-racism resources to choose a group that’s genuinely controlled by the community, without government interference. If you're in Victoria, pay the rent here.
• Undertake cultural awareness training like the Black Card program
• Educate yourself: Learn about the history of this continent and about how to be a good Indigenous ally

To read more about the New Normal & our workshop on normalising First Nations leadership, click here →

Use our Green Drinks Rider Text for all of your shows and festivals:

We travel with our own reusable water bottles, in order to cut down on the unnecessary waste and environmental  damage caused by disposable bottles. Please ensure that jugs or refilling stations with cold and room temperature water are made available for us to use. We encourage you to consider phasing out disposable water bottles across  our business and providing free water refilling stations to punters, staff and artists. Green Music Australia is happy to help: [email protected]

Not only will this lower your waste, but it draws the attention of the venues and festivals you play at. For more resources, see our BYO Bottle campaign here.

In Australia, touring large distances is unavoidable - the average tour of Australia with 15 shows creates 28 tonnes of carbon emissions, and audience travel is the biggest contributing factor! Encourage low-impact transport, carefully plan your route, and offset emissions to reduce your environmental impact.

Our top tips include:

• Collaborate with our awesome friends over at FEAT. to offset your emissions and invest in renewables 
• Encourage fans to take public transport, ride or carpool to your gig through venue selection and ticketing incentives - work with ethical, non-profit ticketing providers like Humanitix if you can, whose profits go to sustainable projects like literacy programs for young girls!
• Tour with as little flying as possible

Australians buy an average of 27 kilograms of new textiles each year, and then discard about 23 kilograms into landfill, two-thirds of those being predominantly plastic fibers that don’t break down, and contribute to the microplastics in our oceans. To change this fast fashion trend, both personally and in your merch sales, consider

• Shopping/sourcing clothes locally, from recycled materials and/or ethical brands if you can
• Scrutinise the necessity of your consumption
• Shop second hand in op-shops, and remember to mend instead of throwing out (there are endless online tutorials on how you can get creative with old clothes, trust us.)
• Look for fair trade certification and boycott brands that harm the earth!

Read our full ethical merch guide here.