ACT announces Minister’s Creative Council to advise on arts and music policy

The ACT government has responded to feedback from the local arts and music sector and set up a ministerial advisory body

Last year the government conducted an online survey, which received 79 submissions and four roundtables which drew 57 people.

It has set up the Minister’s Creative Council to provide advice and test ideas.

It will be made up of up to 12 members of Canberra’s arts community, who must have demonstrated experience in such areas as music, visual arts and craft, dance, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultures, theatre, circus, literature, and community arts and cultural development.

It is calling on those from multicultural backgrounds, representatives from LGBTQI+ communities, and people who identify as a person with a disability or have lived experience of mental illness.

According to a statement from the minister for the arts and community events Gordon Ramsay, the Council “is a positive, solutions-focused, Ministerial advisory body for the arts in Canberra.

“The MCC is a two-way conduit of information and provides strategic advice to the ACT Government on the arts and sector issues

“The MCC assists the Government to develop arts policies in order to promote and advance the arts across government and community, reflecting the importance of the arts to all.

“The minister for the arts and community events will use the MCC in its capacity as an advisory body to explore and test ideas.

“The MCC will provide advice on matters referred to the council directly by the minister.”

Expressions of interest are now open until August 24 at the Arts ACT website.

At last year’s roundtables, among the reasons given for an advisory body were that it would develop a better understanding of the arts community, and its needs in order to establish priorities and create a focused arts policy like a strategic five-year plan including measurable targets.

Such a body would generate greater communicate between the territory’s arts bodies, work on the need for funding, be a lobby group, keep up with trends, identify issues, and represent as diverse as possible the creative sector.