Report: Australia Council invested $173.8m in the arts

Australia Council for the Arts supported 1,366 initiatives in the 2015/16 financial year, it revealed in its annual report. Through grants and strategic initiatives, it helped 716 individual artists, 650 arts organisations and 7,234 new artistic works.

It delivers the first full year of activity under its Strategic Plan, A Culturally Ambitious Nation.

In other findings:

A total of $173.8 million was invested in the arts sector, $14.6 million in individual artists and $159.2 million in arts organisations. An additional $15 million was spent in the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy (VACS) and other government initiatives.

20% of successful applicants to the grants program were new applicants.

175 organisations were supported by multi-year funding through the Key Organisations program and the Major Performing Arts framework and more than 400 artists and organisations supported to work internationally in over 50 countries.

More than $50 million was invested in individual artists and small to medium organisations through grants programs and strategic development initiatives and more than $100 million invested through the Major Performing Arts (MPA) framework.

$25.8 million was put into regional Australian artists to foster artistic vibrancy and access to the arts, enriching the lives of 1.9 million people through attendance at performances, exhibitions, school activities or workshops.

Audience attendances reached 15.7 million (12.8 million nationally and 2.9 million internationally), which supported the work of individual Australian artists and organisations, with many projects finding new markets and audiences.

Australia Council Chair Rupert Myer AO pointed out that nearly 90%of the budget went directly into the arts sector, with the remaining funds supporting the sector through strategic advice, specialist knowledge and high-quality program delivery.

“Although the Australia Council is the principal distributor of Commonwealth funding to the arts, we see our approach broadly as a key advocate for, and an investor in, Australia’s artistic and cultural future,” he said.

“Our agenda includes supporting arts organisations to respond to the very challenging economic and social environment by generating new pathways and new business models.”