By the All Good Project
When we talk about safety in music, we often picture physical risks: trip hazards on stage, heat exhaustion in a packed tent, or a messy night out gone wrong. But there’s another side to safety that matters just as much. The kind that shapes whether people feel welcome, respected, and safe enough to show up at all.
At MusicNT, the All Good Project works across the live music landscape to make safety not just something you react to, but something you build into the everyday. We work directly with festivals, venues, artists and audiences to grow positive culture, reduce harm and create music spaces that are All Good for everyone.
At festivals our work is sub-medical. We set up care spaces, low sensory zones, and provide safety essentials to the crowd like sunscreen, water bottles, electrolytes, and accessible information about alcohol and other drugs. We also share education on mixing substances, mental health and respectful relationships. Our team does this with the support of our peer-led volunteer crew trained to offer help without judgement and link people into further support services where needed.
In venues, the All Good Project holds training for venue staff on active bystanding, inclusivity, consent and de-escalation. We offer free venue consulting to support management which includes advice on policies and procedures, inclusive design and strategies for improving diversity and access.
Our work doesn’t stop at the door. We advocate across the sector by working with Hospitality NT, building relationships with Police, and delivering training to senior staff and event leads at organisations like Northern Territory Major Events Company. This year, we contributed content to the NT Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) refresher training, and are also developing a music ambassador program which will engage NT-based musicians to speak directly to audiences about safety and inclusion. Sending safety from the mic to the mosh!
We do this work because music should feel good. And when people feel safe to be fully themselves, we get the best out of them. Whether they’re playing a set, dancing in the crowd, mixing the sound, or pouring a beer, everyone deserves to feel that they safely belong.
One new way we’re helping bring this to life is through Be a Legend – a strengths-based behaviour change campaign designed to make good behaviour aspirational, not preachy. The campaign flips the script from shame to positivity. Instead of telling people what not to do, it celebrates what legends do.
Legends know how to read a room, look after their mates, check in before making a move and best of all, Legends know how to pace themselves! It’s a simple, affirming idea, that culture doesn’t just change from the top down, it also changes sideways, in real time, between peers.
Through short videos, posters, stickers and social media, we’re getting these messages in front of young people. We’re making safety visible, normal, and a little bit fun. But most importantly, we’re showing people that being a good human isn’t just about avoiding harm, it’s about actively contributing to the kind of space you’d want your crew, your best mate or even a totally new person to walk into.
Because what’s safe for the most marginalised is usually safer for everyone. And when people feel safe, they stay longer, play better, and bring their greatest selves to the artform we‘re all trying to protect. If you’ve ever stood in a green room or in the middle of a gig and wondered who’s responsible for keeping things safe, the answer might be simpler than you think. It might include you.
Because at the end of the day, a safer music scene isn’t a dream – it’s something we can all help build, one gig at a time.
Be a legend.
