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On 16 June 2015, the Senate announced the Legal and Constitution Affairs References Committee would review the impact of the recent federal budget decisions affecting the Arts, including the suitability and appropriateness of establishing the National Programme for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA) to be administered by the Ministry for the Arts.
As a member of the ArtsPeak lobby group of peak arts organisations, Arts Law has been an active contributor to the national discussion on developing a new National Cultural Policy for Australia. Arts Law has also made many individual submissions to Members of Parliament on issues pertaining to cultural policy. These have included increased support for peak service organisations in the arts sector, better protection of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property and better copyright protection in an evolving digital environment. Arts Law also supports submissions on cultural policy by the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity and Arts Access Australia.
ArtsPeak, the confederation of Australian peak arts organisations, has responded to the recommendations of the Australia Council Review Report with a mix of enthusiasm and serious criticism and concern.
On 15 May 2012, the review of the Australia Council was released by Arts Minister Simon Crean. The review considered whether the Australia Council’s legislative purpose remains relevant, and whether the Council’s administrative and governance structures facilitate the delivery of robust outcomes to Australia’s contemporary arts and cultural sector.
The National Cultural Policy Postponed!
It’s nearly 20 years since the release of Paul Keating’s “Creative Nation” and the art sector had hoped that the Federal Government was releasing its new strategic vision for the arts with the Budget. It wasn’t. Apparently, as the Age reported last week, current fiscal constraints are such that “there are no spare funds to allocate to a new arts policy” at the moment. However, Arts Minister Simon Crean has assured the arts sector that the Policy will be finalised later this year and will take into account the findings of the recent Convergence Review and the forthcoming review of the Australia Council. Arts Law is a member of lobby group ArtsPeak which has made submissions on the draft policy.
Federal, State and Territory Arts and Cultural Ministers met in Melbourne last week to discuss the development of the National Cultural Policy.
The Australian Government is developing a National Cultural Policy. Arts Law is pleased to provide its submission on the National Cultural Policy (NCP) discussion paper.
Arts Law made a submission to the inquiry of the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Committee into Australia’s Indigenous Visual Arts and Crafts Sector.
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