Why Your Creative Business Needs a Wellbeing Plan

Creative work can be deeply meaningful, powerful, and transformative—but it can also be exhausting. Whether you run a design studio, manage a theatre company, program a festival, or coordinate a collective, you are in the business of people. And when those people are overwhelmed, unsupported, or burned out, it impacts everything: your culture, your output, and your impact.

For too long, the creative industries have normalised poor mental health, long hours, and unpaid labour as the price of doing what you love. But love does not prevent burnout. Passion does not protect people from trauma, stress, or exhaustion. If we want a thriving creative sector, we have to start prioritising care. That means your creative business needs a wellbeing plan.

Mental Health in the Creative Sector: The Numbers Are Clear

There is now robust data confirming what many in the arts have felt for years.

A 2022 study by Entertainment Assist and Victoria University revealed that workers in the Australian entertainment industry experience symptoms of anxiety at 10 times the national average and depression at five times the average. This study found that 63 percent of respondents had sought help for a mental health condition, and 40 percent had been diagnosed with a mental illness in their lifetime.

The 2023 Support Act Mental Health and Wellbeing Evaluation Report showed similarly alarming trends across the music and performing arts industries. Over 75 percent of respondents had experienced symptoms of poor mental health in the previous year, with burnout, exhaustion, and emotional fatigue being the most common experiences.

Creative Australia’s National Arts Participation Survey (2022) also reported that half of Australia’s professional artists earn less than $18,000 per year from their creative practice, placing them well below the national poverty line. This kind of financial precarity, when combined with high expectations, emotional labour, and unstable working conditions, creates a mental health crisis that is structural—not individual.

Wellbeing Impacts Your People—and Your Projects

Creative businesses depend on energy, innovation, and collaboration. When your people are overwhelmed or unsupported, those foundations start to crumble. You might see rising absenteeism, last-minute dropouts, communication breakdowns, or declining morale. Talent walks out the door. Projects stall or collapse. And your organisation quietly becomes a place people survive—not thrive.

This is not about soft values. This is about the health of your work, your workforce, and your future. A proactive wellbeing plan supports your team before things go wrong—while strengthening connection, performance, and culture.

Why Creative Workplaces Need Specialised Support

The creative industries are not like other sectors. Work is often casual, short-term, or freelance. Hours are irregular. Deadlines are tight. The work itself can be emotionally intense—whether you are creating, interpreting, performing, or facilitating.

And the stakes are personal. In the creative industries, people’s work is often tied closely to their identity, values, and community. This adds emotional complexity and vulnerability that traditional HR models or mental health services may not understand.

That is why generic employee wellbeing plans often fall flat in creative contexts. Creative businesses need tools and systems that reflect the reality of artistic work—flexible, peer-informed, and grounded in lived experience.

A Wellbeing Plan Is Not a Luxury—It Is a Strategic Asset

Investing in wellbeing is not just about being a “good employer.” It is a smart, strategic move. Studies by the World Health Organization have found that for every $1 invested in mental health support, businesses can expect a $4 return in improved productivity and reduced absenteeism.

In creative settings, that return shows up as stronger collaboration, better project outcomes, improved retention, and more innovation. When people feel safe, heard, and supported, they do their best work. They show up. They take risks. They stay.

A wellbeing plan also shows funders, partners, and collaborators that you are ethical, future-focused, and serious about sustainability—not just of your business, but of your people.

What Should a Creative Wellbeing Plan Include?

A creative wellbeing plan does not need to be complex or expensive. It just needs to be intentional and aligned with your team’s needs. At Hey Mate, we help organisations create realistic and relevant wellbeing frameworks.

Your plan might include:

• Embedded wellbeing check-ins during high-pressure periods

• Confidential access to creative-industry aligned counsellors or peer support

• Structured debriefs post-tour, post-show, or post-festival

• Regular workshops or training in burnout prevention, boundaries, or psychological safety

• Manager coaching on how to have wellbeing conversations

• A set of team values around care, consent, inclusion, and recovery

• Clear support pathways for casual or freelance workers

Most importantly, your wellbeing plan should be a living document. It should evolve with your work and your people.

Culture Starts with Leadership

Wellbeing planning is not about ticking a box. It is about creating a culture. Leaders and managers in the creative industries have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to shift the norms.

When you model vulnerability, take breaks, honour limits, and invite open conversations about stress and mental health, you make it safe for others to do the same. Culture is not what you say in your staff manual. It is what you live every day in your meetings, emails, productions, and partnerships.

If you lead a team, ask yourself: Do we know how to respond when someone is struggling? Do we have a plan for peak season pressure or post-project fatigue? Are we building spaces where people feel safe to speak up?

The Future of the Industry Depends on Care

If we want a creative sector that lasts, we need to stop pushing people to the brink. We need to build new norms—ones where care is not seen as separate from creativity, but central to it.

A wellbeing plan does not mean you will prevent every issue. But it means you have a foundation in place when challenges come. It gives you language, structure, and confidence. And most importantly, it tells your team: you matter here.

At Hey Mate, we are working to build a future where mental health support is as embedded in creative businesses as marketing or production. Where emotional safety is part of the brief. And where creative people can thrive—not just survive.

Need Help Creating a Wellbeing Plan?

We work with creative organisations, businesses, collectives, and festivals to build practical, values-driven wellbeing strategies. Whether you need a one-off workshop, a full EAP model, or help designing a long-term care plan—we’re here for it.

Let’s build a creative sector where care is part of the culture.