Executive Director, Robyn Ayres, looks back on a big year at Arts Law.
Arts Law has had an amazing year, achieving a huge amount with very modest resources. The most significant development was the launch of our new Indigenous service, Artists in the Black in June. Since then, our Aboriginal lawyer, Samantha Joseph, and Aboriginal Information & Liaison Officer, Blanch Lake, together with other Arts Law staff have traveled widely throughout Australia. In fact the Arts Law team have delivered over 60 lectures, seminars and workshops, in more than 20 different regional locations. This has largely been made possible through funding received from the Australia Council for the Artists in the Black project together with the support of the Copyright Agency Limited.
Arts Law could not achieve anywhere near as much as we do, particularly in the education area, without the relationships we have with other organisations who provide support in all sorts of ways to make it all happen. This ranges from arranging and facilitating meetings with Arts organisations in the planning of an Arts Law Week, using their own networks and contacts to ensure we reach the right people in the community, providing venues and technical support, helping with publicity, to changing the tyre on the 4 wheel drive in the Pilbara.
Despite the huge amount of education work in 2004, the delivery of our legal advice service continued to grow. Arts Law maintained the level of telephone legal advice provided by our valiant lawyers and managed to increase the number of face-to-face legal advice sessions delivered through the Legal Advice Nights. Of course this could not be achieved without the pro bono contribution made by the lawyers who volunteer their time and expertise to Arts Law. With a panel of more than 150 lawyers, individual thank-yous are not possible here. This year, however, we will be acknowledging those lawyers who have been particularly generous with their time by presenting them with the inaugural Arts Law Print Commission, the print being made by Hannah Jones, a graduating student from the Art School at Curtin University in WA. We would also like to thank the many other volunteers who have assisted through the year.
We have also found the time in 2004 to develop new publications, publishing online Where There’s A Will – A Guide to Estate Planning for Visual Artists in partnership with the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) and we will shortly be publishing the 2nd edition of the Arts Insurance Handbook.
And let’s not forget the law reform and advocacy work in which Arts Law is involved. This year has seen the drafting of the public ruling by the Australian Taxation Office on what it means to be carrying on a business as a professional artist, work that Arts Law and NAVA, together with pro bono lawyer Judy Sullivan from Malleson Stephen Jaques, have been driving for many years. Arts Law has also worked with Viscopy, Australian Copyright Council and NAVA to keep resale royalties for visual artists on the agenda. However, Arts Law is ending 2004 with considerable concerns for the treatment of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property in Australia and we will be giving these issues further attention in 2005.
Finally, the achievements of Arts Law are only made possible through the dedication and hard work of the small but committed team down here at the Gunnery, all of whom deserve to be mentioned by name…. Sally Hanson, Garey Campbell, Ant Horn, Katherine Giles, Samantha Joseph, Blanch Lake, Adori Bubble, Hannah Cox and Mary Egan. They continue to do so much with so little, to the enormous benefit of the Australian arts community. And on that note Arts Law ends 2004, saying a fond farewell to Justice David Levine who has been Arts Law’s President for the last 10 years and warmly welcoming Justice George Palmer who will be taking over the leadership of the Board in 2005. We expect 2005 to be just as action-packed…so warmest wishes for the festive season, happy holidays and all the very best for 2005.
