LATEST BLOW FOR ARTS SECTOR

Today’s announcement of Australia Council Four-Year Funding results are devastating for the arts sector, at a time when it is already suffering due to the coronavirus crisis.
 
Only 95 small to medium organisations will receive funding for the years 2021-2024 – a 20 per cent drop compared to the previous round.
 
There are high-profile casualties - such as the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, and La Mama Theatre in Victoria – but also smaller organisations that may not have name recognition but are vitally important to their communities.
 
It is absurd the government has not delivered the Australia Council any additional funding to deal with the effects of the coronavirus crisis on the arts after years of cuts. The arts sector was one of the first to be affected in the earliest rounds of crowd restrictions, and it may be one of the last sectors to recover. This $50 billion-plus industry employs hundreds of thousands of Australians, and it is hurting.
 
Labor acknowledges the Australia Council has done the best it can in a bad situation, re-deploying funds toward the grant program, and delivering an extra year of bridging funding for 49 organisations who were not successful in this round to get them through the crisis.
 
But it is not enough. The arts need a specific, tailored package of support from the government. Economy-wide measures, while helpful, will not assist the whole sector and are insufficient to preserve the Australian arts sector as we know it.
 
The arts sector was there when Australia needed it, helping to raise money for bushfire relief. Australians are relying on music, books, and Australian television and movies to help get them through this period of isolation and crisis. But the government is not delivering help to the arts sector when it needs it most.
 
We need the arts to be there when Australia emerges from this crisis – the government must act now.
 
FRIDAY 3 APRIL 2020