Senate arts inquiry: Restore Australia Council’s funding
A report by a Senate committee into the impact of the Commonwealth Budget decisions on the arts in 2014 and 2015 has been highly critical of the actions of the Federal Government.
Among 13 recommendations, the main one is for the Government to restore all the funding taken away from the Australia Council.
The move earlier this year by then-Arts Minister George Brandis to siphon $110 million over four years to fund his ill-fated National Program for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA), lead to rallies and intensive lobbying by an enraged arts sector.
The Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee found Brandis’ actions “arbitrary” and “made…in the absence of any clear arts policy framework or evidence base.”
It also stated that in 2014, after a two-year consultation process during which under-funded sectors were identified and new initiatives set up, the Australia Council was poised for a new start to sustain the arts sector as a whole.
But, “less than one year on, before the reforms had a chance to prove their worth, that work was scuttled without warning and without justification by the arbitrary removal of a significant portion of the Council’s funding,” the report read.
In 2013-14, the Council spent $227 million on funding the arts projects and associations. Of that, $103.1 million, or 45%, was spent on dedicated support to Major Performing Arts organisations (MPAs) After the axe was wielded, the Council was left with $187.3 million to spend in the 2015/6 period. Of that, 57.5% ($107.7 million) went to the MPAs, leaving just 42.5% ($79.6 million) for individual artists small and medium organisations and on its own operations.
Although new Arts Minister Mitch Fifield restored $8 million in funding to the Council last month, the committee found it “goes only a very small way to redressing this budget shortfall, and the associated imbalance in funding between the government’s pet priorities and the needs of the sector as a whole.”
It recommended that “the Commonwealth Government restore to the Australia Council the full amount of funds diverted from it in the 2014 MYEFO and 2015 Budget, ensuring it has the level of resourcing identified as necessary to implement in full its 2014 strategic plan over the current financial year and the four-year forward estimates.
Among other recommendations:
* The Government consult with the arts sector to develop “a coherent and clear arts policy, including priorities for arts funding supported by evidence-based analysis, and greater clarity about the respective roles of the Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council, as well as the other statutory arts bodies.”
* If the Commonwealth Government is unable to find new money for the arts portfolio, Fifield’s replacement Catalyst fund be disbanded and all its money be returned to the Australia Council. It also found that Catalyst was just duplicating many services and increasing red tape for the arts sector.
* In any case, emergency transition funds should be given in 2016 to small and medium arts organisations affected by the uncertainty of the last two years.
* The Ministry for the Arts should further develop and clarify how Catalyst will complement (and not duplicate) the role of the Australia Council; ensure small-to-medium organisations will be prioritised (through a quota or a similar system); and ensure the spread of funds across the year, given that the funding program exists on a first-in-first-served basis.
* The Ministry for the Arts work with the Australia Council, the state and territory governments and the arts sector to develop and implement streamlined and coordinated grants processes and timelines to minimise the administrative burden on applicants seeking funding from different bodies and programs.
* The Australia Council give careful consideration to prioritise support funding to individuals, as they are not included in Catalyst.
* The Australia Council consider re-launching a specific program for the development of early- career artists, along the lines of the highly successful ArtStart program which was abandoned following the 2015 Budget.
* The Ministry for the Arts, the Australia Council and other funding bodies continue to work with the states and territories towards more equity in funding between various states, between urban and regional/remote, and for disabled, indigenous and culturally diverse sectors.
* Arts funding decisions take advantage of the diversity of artists and audiences.
* All funding cuts to Screen Australia to be restored to support the country’s film and TV industries.
* All funding be restored to the gaming industry, which is emerging globally, to help it achieve its artistic and commercial potential.
* In addition, a program for funding innovation and development in interactive gaming should be restored, whether through reinstating the Australian Interactive Games Fund previously managed by Screen Australia, or through another government entity.