Work The Summer Festival and Gig Season in Australia at Novatech

	"We've created a strong, family-friendly and flexible workplace and we want to bring in more people to grow and maintain that culture," says managing director Leko Novakovic.

Are you an audio, video, lighting, or AV tech looking for an adventure? Keen to get out of northern hemisphere winter? Always wanted to visit or live in Australia but it's been geographically or financially out of your reach? Then check out the huge range of positions available at production company Novatech.

The season for arts and music festivals, international concert tours, and major events kicks off in Australia in late October 2022 and runs through April 2023. This season, due to pent-up demand, there are three times more international acts touring Australia than in an average pre-pandemic year, the pre-pandemic event calendar is running as normal, and domestic catch-up demand is high.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any skilled tech to get a 12-month working holiday visa, work six months of world-leading events on Australia's great rates of pay, then see the country for six months at your leisure, the company says.

Novatech is based in the lifestyle-superpower city of Adelaide in South Australia, which in 2021 was voted world's third most liveable city in the Economist's Global Liveability Index report. Novatech has contracts to supply not only the world-famous Adelaide Festival and Fringe, but also music festivals and tours that travel right around the country.

For the right technicians, working the season with Novatech may lead to sponsored permanent visa applications for ongoing roles.

Throughout the pandemic, Novatech implemented sweeping measures to recruit and retain staff, adopting incentives and rewards that are the envy of the Australian industry. They've implemented an above-inflation wage increase of 5% across the board, including for casuals. They also introduced four lucrative extra allowances for their staff, acknowledging the increasing pain of inflation and the differences between working in the office, warehouse, and on-site.

Their Production Allowance is a 10% loading that is paid on top of the normal hourly rate when a tech is working on a gig, as opposed to prepping gear back at HQ. Team Leader Allowance is a 20% bump for the responsibility of leading a crew and liaising with clients and venues. The Project Manager Allowance of an impressive 30% rewards Novatech's salaried project managers for site-work, as the eight or so other events they are working on in any given week don't stop for shows. The Additional Shift Allowance ensures any employee is paid for any additional hours worked at their salaried rate, the company says.

Their reward and recognition system grants substantial discounts across thousands of stores and allows for the ad-hoc gifting of vouchers and gift cards to employees who have gone above and beyond.

"We've created a strong, family-friendly and flexible workplace and we want to bring in more people to grow and maintain that culture," says managing director Leko Novakovic. "Our health and wellbeing program has expanded to encourage that. For example, we've realized we're not all gig-fit again yet, so we've got a personal trainer coming in. After a couple of group sessions, they'll be running individual assessments and giving out personalised training plans. In addition, we've been running mindfulness courses which have had great take-up."

Novatech staff can also expand their minds and skills with access to thousands of online courses, which they can be directed to by Novatech or search out on their own. A full-time permanent in-house trainer has been recruited and started in July. There's also group and individual training available with an emphasis on leadership and professional development. Health checks and flu shots are covered for staff, and there's a bonus of up to $4,500 AUD on offer for any personnel referral that leads to a hire.

Personal connection is central to the mental health of their crew, the company says. "It sounds like a little thing, but it's really important for all of us to have a BBQ out the back every month or so and have everyone have a chat over a couple of beers," relates Novakovic. "We want to make Novatech an enjoyable and rewarding place to work, but it's important to also enjoy a work-life balance that is conscious of both family and personal considerations."

"Being proudly South Australia based, we're not being shy in saying that relocating to Adelaide and working for Novatech gives techs the opportunity to work on some of the world's leading events, including interstate tours, while living in hassle-free and cost-effectively in Adelaide."

Find more information here.