COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND JUSTICE STANDING COMMITTEE

INQUIRY INTO THE ARTS IN REGIONAL WESTERN AUSTRALIA

TRANSCRIPT OF EVIDENCE TAKEN AT MANDURAH ON MONDAY, 16 JUNE 2003

SESSION 1

Members

Mr D.A. Templeman (Chairman) Mr L. Graham (Deputy Chairman) Mr J.N. Hyde Mr A.P. O’Gorman Ms S.E. Walker Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 1

Committee met at 9.00 am

TILLSON, MS JANE MARY Arts and Cultural Development Officer, City of Mandurah, examined:

SCOTT, MR JOHN Community Development Officer, City of Mandurah, examined:

EMMERSON-LAW, Ms MICHELE Manager Community Services, City of Mandurah, examined:

HILL, MR IAN Director Community Development, City of Mandurah, examined:

NEWMAN, MR MARK ROBERT Chief Executive Officer, City of Mandurah, examined:

The CHAIRMAN: The committee hearing is a proceeding of the Parliament and warrants the same respect that proceedings in the House itself demand. Even though you are not required to give evidence on oath any deliberate misleading of the committee may be regarded as a contempt of Parliament. Have you completed the “Details of Witness” form, and have you read and understood the notes attached to it? The Witnesses: Yes. The CHAIRMAN: Did you also receive and read an “Information for Witnesses” briefing sheet regarding giving evidence before parliamentary committees? The Witnesses: Yes. The CHAIRMAN: The committee has received a submission from the City of Mandurah, and thank you very much for the detail in your submission. Because this is a formal hearing, all the information that you provide to us will be taken verbally. I am aware that you are very keen to also present a substantial briefing to the committee, which we will accommodate in the next month or so in a less formal situation. You are most welcome to speak to your submission. How the committee will work today is that I will ask you shortly to give us an overview of the importance of the arts to the region, in particular with regard to the City of Mandurah. After that we will address a number of the key criteria in the terms of reference of the committee. We will then ask you a number of questions, and if you can elaborate on those questions we will appreciate that. Would you like to give us an overview? Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 2

Mr Hill: Thank you for the opportunity of presenting our submission to you this morning. The Peel region is of course well established under the State Government’s regional development network. Mandurah is the largest local government within the Peel region. The City of Mandurah’s budget for the arts is in the order of $750 000 a year. The city has for a long time been committed to the promotion of arts and cultural development, and we believe we have established a pre- eminent position in the State. In recent times as well as responding to this inquiry we have had the opportunity of responding informally to the policy paper on development of the arts, and also on the per cent for art concept, which was renewed during 2002. The per cent for art concept and arrangement that the State Government has promoted is also supported strongly by the city and we believe it provides an opportunity for the State Government though its agencies to promote and support the arts. Our submission to the inquiry has addressed the terms of reference. The first key point is the benefits of the arts to regional Western Australia. We have highlighted that community arts support sustainable development through the expression of creativity; allow community voices to be heard; project a sense of identity and create a sense of belonging; and increase community spirit and make people feel good about where they live. They also help to attract tourists and visitors, which is very important to the Peel region and Mandurah. In Mandurah festivals have been an important part of our arts calender each year. The crab festival is well known. Recently we have promoted and expanded what is called a Stretch festival. We have also undertaken a number of community public arts projects that involve young people in particular. The Mandurah Performing Arts Centre is also mentioned in our submission. That is strongly supported by the city both financially and otherwise, and I believe the committee is to be addressed by representatives of the Performing Arts Centre later today. The CHAIRMAN: What amount of funding does the City of Mandurah provide for the Performing Arts Centre in terms of a grant? Mr Newman: The council provides the Performing Arts Centre with an annual grant of $350 000. We also undertake all external and internal maintenance to the building, as well as purchase of all the major items. When we look at that and the depreciation of the building, the real value of the funding is probably around $500 000. The CHAIRMAN: The Performing Arts Centre basically relies on that substantial support to ensure it can continue? Mr Newman: Yes. As you would know, Mr Chairman, I have sat on the board of the Performing Arts Centre since its inception. Without that subsidy, the Performing Arts Centre could not operate as well as it does. The Performing Arts Centre has a focus on not only bringing talent to Mandurah but also promoting its own productions. We have had a strong focus on that for the entire six years that we have been operating. Without that funding we could not undertake those activities. [9.10 am] Mr Hill: In a policy sense, the Mandurah performing arts centre is guided by a strategic plan, which the board has recently produced. The city council is guided by a number of policy positions. I referred generally earlier to our enthusiasm for the arts and culture. In particular, consultants Graham Walne and Wendy Wise completed a report for us about two years ago called “The Community Arts and Cultural Centre Option Study”. It addresses the provision and performance of arts and cultural development in the city over a 20 to 30-year time frame. The second point we were asked to address in the submission was the level of local content. It is somewhat disappointing that at this stage there is very little representation of regional art in Perth in particular. Interestingly, local arts and crafts are quite strongly represented outside the region. We would like it to be more strongly represented in the region. In the retail context, quite a lot of the activity occurs both north, in and around the Fremantle area, and south, down around Margaret Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 3

River and even across to Pemberton. Commercially, the local retailing of work undertaken in the region in our view needs attention. That involves some long-term support from state, local and, possibly, federal Governments. Indigenous art work is in the same position. Given the size of our indigenous population, it is a fairly important issue. An Aboriginal corporation has recently been established here. Indigenous artwork is one of the activities that it will be involved in. Some fine wood activity occurs in the Dwellingup area but much more could be done in the way that is occurring around Pemberton. As I mentioned, contemporary youth dance, a fairly recent initiative, will be elaborated on later in our hearing this morning. We addressed in our submission the level of employment generated by the arts. As I mentioned, that needs more attention. Mandurah is well positioned to take advantage of that developing arts sector. We have talked about a Fremantle to Bunbury coastal arts initiative, which we think could be devised and implemented. It would create a network of arts activities and promotions down the west coast, south of Fremantle. Mr J.N. HYDE: You alluded to a whole-of-government solution. I understand that through the regional development commissions - you are obviously represented on the Peel Development Commission - some funding is diverted to arts activities? Has that been the case here? Mr Hill: Yes. Mr J.N. HYDE: Is that seen as an effective delivery method? Ms Tillson: I am the arts officer with the City of Mandurah. The whole-of-government concept was that arts be used as a community building tool, especially for building community health. There are opportunities for other government agencies to look outside their normal square and ask how they can use some of their budgets to help in community building in community and mental health. For example, hospitals already have art collections, but perhaps, as a wild example, they could sponsor some performing arts in the corridors. It would assist long-term patients in hospitals. That is an example of working across the whole of Government looking at other government budgets. The Peel Development Commission has funding to develop arts and cultural opportunities. That is an effective way of delivering funding to the region because it has an across the region view of what happens here. Its networks are very strong. It can work with agricultural groups and ask them to include an arts component in their field days. That notion was raised in the more global picture of working across government. Mr J.N. HYDE: The committee has heard that money is being allocated through the Department of Regional Development, so I am asking whether that is true or whether it is an urban/country myth. Have you got real dollars? Mr Hill: In our view, that is one of the ways of doing it. It is moderately successful. More money could always be made available. In our submission we have also touched on the role of the Australia Council and how it might be more proactive in the field. The Peel Development Commission has the opportunity to be the focal point for the region, bearing in mind that the City of Mandurah is just one of five local governments in the area. Perhaps, the development commission and the State could entice the Australia Council to have some regional involvement and presence. There are definitely opportunities for federal, state and local government partnerships, but the parties could perhaps perform a little stronger. Mr J.N. HYDE: Your submission hits the nail on the head. You have highlighted the effectiveness of the New South Wales model of the regional arts officer using the regional development commission boundaries already. You seem to be endorsing that in your submission. Mr Hill: Yes. Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 4

Mr J.N. HYDE: You referred to per cent for art. You avoided the issue. Does Mandurah have a strong per cent for art whereby you hit developers for, say, $500 000 or $1 million? Mr Hill: We do not have the statutory power to force developers to contribute under that program or its private sector equivalent, given that per cent for art is a government initiative and an expectation of agencies. However, we have encouraged developers to provide for public art within developments. I guess LandCorp is a government agency that operates in the private sector mode, which has been involved in the Mandurah Ocean Marina. There are some excellent pieces of public art there that are worth looking at if the committee gets the opportunity. As far as private sector developers are concerned, some development is occurring presently at which there will be a public art component. However, it is not what we would call an established arrangement. Mr J.N. HYDE: My council applied it regardless of whether that was possible technically, and we achieved it in big developments. I think it is still the policy of the Vincent Town Council to have per cent for art. Would you favour more regulation within the Local Government Act or the town planning schemes to enable local councils to enforce per cent for art? Mr Hill: Yes, we would probably support such regulation through the Town Planning and Development Act. We would also encourage the opportunity for more responses from intending developers on issues such as public transport, future employment and a number of those other aspects of building communities, which unfortunately are not gathered in this State in the same way as they are, for example, in New South Wales where compulsory developer levies can be imposed. By comparison, our legislation is relatively weak in the less conventional infrastructure that is essential for the wellbeing of communities. [9.20 am] The CHAIRMAN: I refer to some of the art that has appeared in some of the major infrastructure projects in Mandurah. How much input have local artists had? Mr Hill: I will ask John Scott to respond to that question. Mr Scott: Generally, there has been a fair degree of opportunity for local artists to be involved in recent acquisitions by or through developers. An example of that is at Port Mandurah where a group of local Aboriginal artists were involved in developing quite a number of artworks around the old Winjan campsite. Winjan was a very significant Aboriginal elder in this area in the early days. More recently, the public artworks at the Mandurah Ocean Marina have involved a local artist from Dwellingup. The opportunities are generally taken up by developers to source and use local artists where possible. Often the skill to produce the type of artwork that is looked for is not available in Mandurah. If artists are brought in from other areas we would like there to be the opportunity, through funding that might become available, to allow a local artist or artists to work side by side with artists who come into the area in a mentor-type situation. Mr Newman: If I could just add with respect to the per cent for art, I heartily endorse the concept. There must be a bit of science to the way it would be legislated, because clearly the equation for a large canal development such as Port Mandurah or Port Bouvard would be different to a building project, for example. We would like to think we would get the one per cent out of a building project; there is no way we would get one per cent for a land development project. Ms Emmerson-Law: Mr Chairman, can I make an additional point on the funding issue and in relation to the question raised? In relation to the regional development funding, although it is an effective method of delivery, as some of us mentioned, in terms of understanding the needs across the Peel region, one of the difficulties is that there is no requirement for any of the money to go to arts funding specifically. It has to compete against economic, community and facility developments and a range of different issues that come up, all of which are very important. However, as you know, the arts sometimes take a back seat to some of those issues, particularly those that are more economically driven. That is one weakness in that model. Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 5

Mr J.N. HYDE: That raises an interesting point, because the Healthway legislation states that 33 per cent goes to arts and 65 per cent to sport. Your personal view is that you need something in legislation guaranteeing - Ms Emmerson-Law: Yes, guaranteeing a percentage. Mr Hill: Perhaps in rounding off the employment and development area of our activities, we should acknowledge that as a result of an election commitment the State Government vested a community health centre, which is within the precinct of the area we are in at the moment, to the City of Mandurah for the future development of community purposes with a particular focus on the arts. Those arrangements are being worked through at the moment. It is a little complicated in terms of a lease-back arrangement and also the accommodation of those uses that are within that centre. Over a period of time and after a further consultants’ report, which I mentioned in terms of the vision for the city, it is intended that the precinct will be an arts, cultural and civic precinct. We believe that it will provide an additional focus on the arts and cultural development in Mandurah, hopefully once the centre is acquired by the city. It will give artists some space for work activities and the retailing of their work. A number of artists consider the lack of operating display and retail space a fairly significant constraint in Mandurah and the region. The CHAIRMAN: Thank you. I move on to a general question about the participation aspect of the arts. Mandurah has a diverse population that includes a high number of seniors and a growing number of young families. Can you give the committee an understanding of the community’s participation in the arts, particular by the youth? Mr Scott: Thank you for the opportunity to answer that question, especially in relation to the youth of Mandurah. Art is a key to reducing Mandurah’s crime rate and its high youth unemployment rate, which, in real terms, is over 30 per cent for people under 25 years of age. The arts have the ability to play an important part in engaging people right across the community. In some of the programs that the council has run over the past four or five years, especially through the Billy Dower Youth Centre, it has been able to engage young people from the Aboriginal corporation at Winjan. More recently the Stretch Festival project has brought young people into the arts. It has become clear that the arts plays a critical part in giving people the ability to express themselves and to gain the confidence that might link them back to the community. It has run programs for kids who have dropped out of school to engage them and get them back into school. Projects that have been successful in that area are truancy programs that have been run at the Billy Dower Youth Centre with our StreetNet team, who have creatively worked with groups of up to 10 young people at a time and involved them in programs that have included health and the arts. Over a period of six or eight months they have turned those numbers around and many youths are now back in mainstream education. Mandurah has a demographic that is in some ways difficult to understand. As you drive through Mandurah you get the impression that it is a rich and prosperous community. In real terms the weekly income per head of population is around $300, which is the second lowest in Western Australia. Mandurah is a community of 50 000 people. That immediately gives the impression that a lot of people in the community are missing out. In recent times, and with the success of the Stretch Festival, it has been noted that arts projects give us the ability to engage people who cannot afford to get into mainstream arts projects. That has been a particularly successful program. Whether they be young people, seniors or families, the arts is an engaging and stimulating way to engage people in the community. Our community development projects are continuing with that program. Three community workers are working towards that at the moment. Mr J.N. HYDE: It is my fervent hope that arts projects lead to the reduction in crime you alluded to in your opening statement. Is there any local evidence - or anything more than anecdotal evidence - to suggest that the alleviation of boredom or the promotion of self enrichment through arts projects, particularly with the youth, leads to a demonstrable decrease in crime? [9.30 am] Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 6

Mr Scott: I think it is from within our community; that is, the Billy Dower Youth Centre program and the StreetNet program. StreetNet has been running for three years. Statistical information has been gathered from the beginning of the program until the present time. I would be pleased to provide a range of statistics regarding the number of young people involved in StreetNet, and the number of people in the program who got back into mainstream education or, alternatively, back in some work through the arts and cultural aspects of StreetNet. Mr J.N. HYDE: Putting my head on the chopping block, I have been chairing the body responsible for the community security fund, formerly known as the Safer WA fund. Your program rings a bell. Did we fund any part of the program through that process, or did we turn you down? Have we done the wrong thing? Here is your chance! Mr Scott: To your credit, after a long fight and a lot of lobbying, the committee funded StreetNet for another 12 months. That funding will cease in August of this year, and we are looking to some other funding for the next couple of years. We received another year’s funding. It has been very positive, not only for the Billy Dower Youth Centre, but also for a lot of disfranchised young people. Truancy is a problem in mainstream schools today. Students fall out of school, and there is really nothing for them to do. StreetNet has meant that there has been an intervention program in Mandurah that has been able to pick them up. It has been successful as a real intervention because it either directs the kids back to school or provides them with support; that is, they are able to do something else if they leave school. The arts have been an important part of the process. Ms S.E. WALKER: How many children do you think are beneficiaries of the arts program? What are the statistics? Mr Scott: My recollection - I will confirm this to the committee - is that StreetNet has effectively engaged over 3 000 young people in three years. It involves a police person and a youth worker operating out of the youth centre on the basis of a normal 40-hour week. The hours are structured so they are available when the kids are around. They work from five in the afternoon until 12 at night, or something of that nature, a couple of days a week, and they are available by mobile phone. They build up credibility in the community by being at the coalface, so to speak. Ms S.E. WALKER: Maybe I did not make myself clear. I was talking about the Billy Dower Youth Centre and the arts component. You said you gathered statistics on how it helped you in Mandurah. Do those statistics include an analysis of offence reports for youths by police, and have you analysed that to see whether crime levels have dropped? You would have had to look at that aspect. Mr Scott: I will have to take that question on notice. Ms S.E. WALKER: I ask generally. Have you considered whether it has reduced crime? Have you looked at offence reports in the years before you started the Billy Dower Youth Centre and compared them with current reports? Ms Emmerson-Law: We have done some of those. As you are probably aware, it is very difficult to compile those statistics, and the quantities often do not give a clear picture because of the turnover of young people who offend between the ages of 13 and 18 years. Therefore, it is a rolling group. It is difficult to ascertain what effect the program has had by numbers. Data has been collected through the StreetNet program that shows the sort of contacts made and the sorts of interventions that have assisted. Feedback gathered from young people in the compilation of the data indicates that the program is helpful and useful. In terms of arts projects, the same sort of data certainly is available to show that young people have been effectively engaged. Many of the young people involved do not engage easily. Their trust relationships have broken down from a very early age. It is difficult to build some level of trust with them. We have been able to work with young people over a couple of years and build a relationship with them. It is effectively intervention in the long term. It shows they can engage with people and have meaningful relationships, and that Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 7 people do not abuse their trust; it is things of that nature. Statistically, it is difficult to show the outcome. We have attempted to do so as much as the numbers will allow. Ms S.E. WALKER: There are two ways of looking at the delivery of arts in the regions: first, the cultural education of the community, and, second, engaging the community. I am interested in the second aspect. I note that you mentioned unemployment rates of 30 per cent. How many young people are unemployed and what age groups are involved? Secondly, have the programs affected the rate of suicide in Mandurah? How do you see the city engaging youth? How effective is it, and how do you go about engaging youth through art? Ms Emmerson-Law: We have tried a range of different ways to engage young people in art. One recent initiative was the development of the Peel Music Foundation, which has had broad-based community support. This was originally the brainchild of the superintendent of police down here, Ross Napier. The city has effectively picked up a lot of infrastructure support in providing an office from which that group works, and officer support to assist young people. The vision is that we will tap into existing music development with young people’s bands and the like, and provide support to let them develop their music. We help by providing audiences and an opportunity to play for people around town. Some of that happened through the youth centre, sometimes on the foreshore and at other times at other venues around town. Also, we provide musical equipment, marketing and such support. The vision is eventually to provide some traineeships in those areas. Those are examples of things we are doing. As you are probably aware, music is a great informal way to engage young people. They can relate to it, particularly when it is their kind of music. A range of art programs have been run through the Billy Dower Youth Centre over the years, such as ceramic- type programs and the development of logos and art murals. Ms S.E. WALKER: How do you bring the children in? Do you conduct workshops? How does it work in a practical way? Ms Emmerson-Law: The StreetNet team engage people around the place. Much of this approach is through word of mouth, and some of it is by advertising. The work for the dole program with an urban art project was very successful. Young people had to be engaged as part of their reciprocal agreement with the Government to receive their welfare benefit. They were engaged in projects around the city and sites were developed. For example, toilet walls and not aesthetically pleasing places were developed with beautiful designs and paintings. That was very effective in a number of different ways. It changed the perception of that form of art for the young people engaged, as well as for the broader community. Surprisingly, we had quite a lot of feedback about that form of art and how it could be used positively and about young people being involved and contributing in that way. [9.40 am] Even within the city itself, it changed the perception of young people’s art in some ways for our works and services department, because it had to be involved in developing the sites and rendering the surfaces, and those kinds of things. It therefore was fairly far-reaching. I guess the overall answer to the question is that it is about creativity, about thinking of things that will work, it is about word of mouth and it is about building trust and getting runs on the board. Ms S.E. WALKER: I did not get a response - I do not know whether any member can - about the suicide rate in Mandurah. Are you aware of it or do you have figures on it? Also, you said unemployment was 30 per cent, but what is that in numbers and age group? The CHAIRMAN: I think we can probably provide that as supplementary information, but I know that the numbers are high. I want to ask about the community’s infrastructure of arts groups and what the City of Mandurah is and has been doing to nurture and encourage the community arts groups that make up the arts infrastructure? Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 8

Ms Tillson: Over the years my colleague John Scott and I, and more recently in the past 12 months, have been working with a range of arts and cultural groups in Mandurah. We commissioned a report a couple of years ago that statistically caught the number of groups. There are up to 40 various groups including photographic, drama and visual arts groups etc. There is a very active group called the Mandurah Murray Arts Council that has a large membership base. We have worked with that group over the years developing projects with them and providing funding to them through an annual grants program. Those grants are also available to other groups in the area. We have worked with another active visual arts group called the Masks of Mandurah that comes from a bigger group called the Peel Community Campus. We have worked with them on developing visual arts for the Perth International Opera Festival that happens down here in Mandurah. We are beginning a process now of bringing together those groups to do some cross- cultural and cross-art form projects and getting them to network more strongly; for example, the potters group working with the literary group and the mask-making group working with the poetry group to see what projects can come out of that. The CHAIRMAN: What is your experience of the capacity of those organisations to lodge submissions for and gain access to grants and those sorts of things? Have you had any feedback from various groups that it is a difficult or onerous task to access funding from Country Arts WA, Healthway or any of the major funding bodies? Ms Tillson: I will make a few comments and I think John might want to make a few comments too. Most community groups are run by volunteers. Most volunteers are retired people, because they have the time on their hands to run a group. Generally, they are not up to speed with strategic and business planning, and because they are volunteers, the fiduciary responsibilities for running an association can be quite onerous. There are probably six or seven funding bodies that a group can apply to for a grant to develop an arts projects. Those funding bodies, quite rightly, have their own agenda and their own reasons for passing out funds, and they want to see certain outcomes. It can be onerous for volunteers in the community who want to run a project and are seeking funding from three different bodies. It can be onerous for perhaps a retired person who has had health problems, does not have access to a facsimile machine or e-mail and does not have a car etc to actually gather the information for the application for that grant and then to deliver the project and acquit the grant. Reporting to a number of funding agencies can be very onerous. That can then hamper the delivery of funds into this region and, therefore, the development of arts projects and arts practice. The CHAIRMAN: I take this matter a bit further. In your experience, have the City of Mandurah and the Peel region, compared with other regions, not received funding commensurate with other regions and is there some reason that that has occurred? Mr Scott: I am not sure - The CHAIRMAN: Does the region get its fair share? Mr Scott: We would always say that we would like more. However, the situation with arts funding in Western Australia is that we have ArtsWA, Country Arts WA and Community Arts Network. Within each of those groups are a group of very professional and very committed people. I am sure that they are endeavouring to get the funds that they have for funding out to the regions and out to arts bodies in a fair and reasonable manner. However, if someone is setting up an arts festival and wants to find and access funding, finding a way through the maze of various applications and various funding rounds that occur at different times of the year is an absolute minefield. It is even more complicated for a community group trying to do that than it is for the bureaucrats in local government or government departments who might apply for funding. I believe - I might be right or I might be wrong - that the best way forward is to have some rational way of working out arts funding in this State. We are 1.8 million people and half of the whole of Australia in area. We really need people at the coalface to assist local community groups, councils, and whoever else is involved in the arts, to access funding. We do not get that and I am sure other Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 9 regions would say the same: there is great intent there but getting out to the coalface just does not happen. Moreover, I think Western Australia receives a disproportionate amount of funding from the Australia Council for the Arts compared with the eastern States, even in terms of population. Mr J.N. HYDE: That is disproportionately less? Mr Scott: Yes. On that basis, if you are seeking funding, the only way to access an officer from the Australia Council for the Arts is by telephone, e-mail and/or half an hour with an officer from the Australia Council for the Arts who comes to Western Australia for one week each year. Across the board there are some ways of reducing the level of bureaucracy and the huge number of criteria that one must address to finally receive a $10 000 grant. Ms Tillson: I add that we in the office have had discussions that in the ideal world we would have an arts officer based in each region to work strategically with the development commissions, the various government agencies and the various community arts groups. He would then develop a professional arts practice; he would also use arts and culture as a means of community building; he would be proficient with all the various arts funding rounds; he would have a good understanding of the policies of all the agencies that deliver those funding rounds; he would have a good network with the Australia Council for the Arts and other federal funding agencies; he would understand how to apply for corporate sponsorship and who are the key players in the sponsorship world. Currently we do not have that level of knowledge based in one person who also has a profound knowledge of the wide arts field. The arts is not just about paintings on the walls; it is about performing arts, theatre, contemporary music, classical music, soloists, craft, fine wood, pottery, textiles, museums and libraries; it is a very large industry. The sports sector is a very large sector and there are offices of the Department of Sport and Recreation in most regions; the arts are not represented in that way. The arts are always the poor sister. If recognition in developing employment, community identity, sense of place and community building were better understood, I am sure the arts agencies would be given funding to place field officers out in the regions. The CHAIRMAN: So that you would be keen to use the model that is used in New South Wales, where there are regional “roundos”, as they call them, whatever Government of the day was keen to implement them. Ms Tillson: Yes. Mr Scott: Yes. Mr J.N. HYDE: They are all nodding! The CHAIRMAN: Let Hansard note unanimous nodding! Mr J.N. HYDE: And vigorous! Mr A.P. O’GORMAN: While you are talking about funding, what is your view on funding by Country Arts WA of regional works and regional arts? [9.50 am] Mr Scott: I think fairly, but when one looks at the amount of money that Country Arts WA has available to fund arts in the region, it is not a huge bucket of money. There are, I think, limitations on the scope of the project that one can undertake. There are real difficulties in any community, especially a community like Mandurah of 50 000 people that has, say, a Stretch Festival, which this year was in year two. However, when you are starting a grassroots arts festival, one of the things about which you need certainty is, say, three-year funding, so that the initial impetus can be guaranteed. Council puts in the $50 000 or $60 000, and after we find out that that money has been provided in the budgetary period, it is then a constant battle to go out and try to pick up the $40 000 or $50 000 funding through the various arts bodies. If you have a festival that has the commitment from a council or a municipality, that certainty of funding for three years is really needed. There is Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 10 no scope for that to happen at present through Country Arts WA, ArtsWA or Community Arts Network WA. Mr A.P. O’GORMAN: Can you quickly give us an outline of the Stretch Festival, because I have no idea what it is? Ms Tillson: One of our strategies is to keep it one of the world’s best-kept secrets, so that people will flock down here to find out what it is. In a nutshell, the Stretch Festival is an arts festival. However, it is about involving the community in the arts projects that take place there. It is about involving it on an amateur level and on a professional level. We might ask the professional artists in the region to develop a project that is run through the festival, or we might engage professionals, such as choreographers, film directors etc, from out of the region - say, perhaps Perth - to come down here and run a project with the community. Therefore, the community becomes involves in those projects. It then takes ownership of the Stretch Festival. It becomes a real community festival. People learn skills that way as well. We have run it for two years now. Each year you can see the palpable level of interest and excitement building. It is not deliberate. However, because we are delivering contemporary work and because of the way we are going about it, we are attracting a lot of interest from young people. We have run two contemporary dance projects - one in each festival - for which we have engaged four choreographers from Perth. We have worked with young people who have been recruited through advertising. Those young people have thought about their lives and have developed choreographic steps to describe the things that happen in their lives, such as catching the bus to school, bullying, hanging around the street corner trying to pick a girl up and all those things. The end dance project is vibrant, dynamic and lively, and has live music created especially for it. We perform that dance project in an open place so the public can see it, and also in a professional performance space as well. That is just one project we have undertaken. Though Stretch we have run projects in the regions and brought those projects into the community to involve the wider community. We try to pick up on people who do not necessarily access the arts, because they are intimidated by the arts or have certain access problems. This year we worked with people who have special needs. They go to a camp out at Fairbridge - that is known as FAIR camp. They came on board, made masks and took part in a parade. For the first time in their lives, those particular people were on show with pride, and they took part in the parade. I am sorry, it is the long version. You can hear my passion for it. Stretch is about various art genres for all people, and it is about Mandurah and why we like living here. It will grow over the years to be a true community festival. Mr J.N. HYDE: I have a couple of quick questions, probably to all of you, but first to the chief executive officer. As somebody who comes from Geraldton, I still cannot understand why Governments have not moved, say, Country Arts or Healthway to a regional centre such as Mandurah, Geraldton or Albany. I am wondering whether the City of Mandurah has ever contemplated approaching government for that sort of devolution, or whether that has been considered. I believe Healthway was legislated through a gerrymander. Either 50 or 35 per cent of the funding must go to regional WA, so it seems silly if all the administration is done from Perth - which is a very good electorate. The second issue is that New South Wales, through negotiation, has mandated in its Local Government Act that each council must undertake a cultural plan. Obviously, a good council like Mandurah is doing that already. You all probably have experience with other councils. I do not think it would be too onerous - in fact, in many ways it is just drawing together what is already being done. I guess I would like your view on that too; that is, whether there is any validity à la New South Wales to require councils, under the Local Government Act, to undertake a cultural plan? Mr Newman: My Hyde, I could not embrace that concept of regionalisation better than you put it. We have previously thought about the arts being headquartered in Mandurah. I think it would be Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 11 entirely appropriate. In fact, at the moment negotiations are taking place about putting together state and federal government offices within the redevelopment on the old Brighton site. We probably should be making those contacts, as you pointed out. I am not quite sure that I totally got the question about the cultural plan. Certainly this city has embraced that. Mr J.N. HYDE: The Local Government Act states that the council shall undertake a principal activities plan of all the other things that are referred to in legislation. Obviously, the quality varies. Would it be a stimulus to the arts, certainly in terms of profile, if the Local Government Act stated that you shall undertake a cultural plan? Mr Newman: For a council of our size, you would expect us to be doing something of that nature. I must say that it might be an imposition on some of the smaller councils. Certainly, I think the regions should be embracing a cultural plan. That is my personal view. I have not bounced this off the members across the table here; but certainly a council of our size should be expected, I believe, to undertake that process. I think it is an enjoyable process as well. You actually learn a lot in going through it. I would not like to say that councils with fewer than a thousand people should be put in that same boat, but they should certainly be assisted in doing so. The CHAIRMAN: The member for Nedlands has one final question. I draw your attention to the time. Before the member for Nedlands asks her question, I will give you some background. As I said at the beginning, the City of Mandurah will have an opportunity to give the committee a briefing in the near future to cover a range of other issues. After the member for Nedlands has asked her question and you have answered it, I will give you a minute to give the committee a brief summary, if you would like to take that opportunity. Ms S.E. WALKER: I was interested in the Stretch program, which sounds great. Do you believe that part of the funding for artists should include their spending some time mentoring youth in the community by running workshops for young people? This is seen as an elitist area, and obviously youths who are marginalised will not put their tiptoes over something that is being held in the community. Do you believe that artists, as leaders in the community, have a responsibility in some way to pass on their skills to people in this way, and what proportion of the funding for arts to Mandurah do you think should be spent in this way? Ms Tillson: I will go back to the beginning of your question. The Stretch Festival provides us with a vehicle, an opportunity and a focus to do just that. We brought in professional artists who worked with young people and enhanced what they had already known. Obviously, we attracted dancers to the dance project that I told you about. However, we also brought in young people who had never danced before or who felt awkward dancing. We also had eight mentorships, I think, running throughout the Stretch Festival. I do not organise the festival; another person does that. Therefore, I am not completely au fait with the detail. However, those eight mentorships went to young people, and the anecdotal feedback from that has been very strong, and is a eye-opener or a real motivator to make sure that we continue to do that. One young lady was living on the streets at the time of the Stretch Festival. She became involved in helping support a professional artist deliver a project. Through that, she engaged with the other young people, who did not see her as a youth at risk or kept her held down in that category; they saw her as innovative, creative and a team leader, and were motivated by what she had to do with that project. If we ever have any doubts, I guess that reinforces that that is the way to go. As we are very familiar with, unless artists are in the top echelons, it is very hard for them to make a living from their practice. [10.00 am] I do not think we can impose anything on them, but we can certainly run projects through council, which has sufficient funding to engage that artist and provide funding for the artist to mentor a Community Development and Justice - Mandurah Session 1- Monday, 16 June 2003 12 young person through that project. We are all fully supportive of that. Is that what you were asking? Ms S.E. WALKER: Yes. Lastly, what portion of the funding do you think should be devoted to engaging the youth and the community in this way? Ms Tillson: Through traineeships or running projects for young people? Ms S.E. WALKER: No, as a whole. Ms Tillson: Youth are our future. I cannot give you an exact answer. Everyone in the community services team recognises that youth are our future, so we always place heavy emphasis on developing young people. Ms S.E. WALKER: I would like to record some vigorous head nodding as well. The CHAIRMAN: We have run out of time. Mr Hill, I offer you the opportunity to make a very brief final comment. Mr Hill: Thank you, Mr Chairman. The main points of our submission have been highlighted and we thank you and the committee for that. There is no doubt from the questions and comments that we all need to do more work in the young people field. The way the comments and questions have embraced issues of community security as well as arts is important. There is no doubt that Mandurah is playing its part in assisting young people in their development, particularly those who are unemployed and are not doing so well in the education network. It has been highlighted that there are opportunities for more work to be done across state and local governments in that field. The second point we want to highlight is streamlining the funding arrangements and capacity building, so to speak, for arts groups to put forward their claims and proposals, and rolling in some longer term, two and three-year funding arrangements instead of just one-off, yearly battles for funding. Thirdly, and thanks to Mr Hyde for this, the focus on regional assistance for the arts and arts groups is very important. As we have said, we need to bring the Australia Council into that framework as well. It also highlights the importance of things like partnerships and foundations, and we are working on both aspects of those initiatives to try to improve the development and funding of arts in Mandurah and the Peel region. The CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much. Mr Newman, do you want to make any comments? Mr Newman: I appreciate that we have run out of time. I appreciate the chance to appear before the inquiry. As you are all aware, the City of Mandurah is a very young city. To some extent, its involvement in the arts is only very young as well. In fact, Jane has been with us for fewer than two years, and the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre is only six years old. For example, we have only just appointed our first permanent professional museum curator, so we are only young in the industry. However, we have a heavy and growing emphasis on it. Certainly there has been an emphasis on youth; there is no doubt about that, as Ian has just expressed. Our dollar commitment over the past three or four years has grown from probably $200 000 to in excess of $750 000, when we add in some of the capital commitment we have made. We are growing and are establishing ourselves in this industry. We thank you for the chance to present ourselves today. The CHAIRMAN: Once again, on behalf of committee members, I thank all the representatives of the City of Mandurah. We look forward to the opportunity to have a briefing in the near future. Proceedings suspended from 10.04 to 10.12 am.