Opera Australia is to sell its warehouse in Alexandria and undertake an organisational restructure to reduce costs in order to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

This will entail a number of redundancies. The company will consult with staff and stakeholders including the MEAA – the union representing the media, entertainment and arts industry – regarding the planned job losses.

Natalie Aroyan in Opera Australia’s 2020 production of Attila. Photograph © Prudence Upton

Staff were told about the restructure at 2pm today by OA CEO Rory Jeffes. In a message sent to all OA employees, Jeffes informed them about the changes, which will be undertaken in the coming weeks and months.

In March, OA stood down the majority of its staff under an employee support package, which allowed them to access up to 80 percent of their regular salary. This was extended to September, with the company receiving the JobKeeper wage subsidy to help pay the reduced wages.

Since venues were shuttered in March because of the coronavirus, OA has cancelled more than 570 performances, and lost more than $75m in expected ticket revenue. Last month, OA announced that it was postponing...