19 October 2020 House of Representatives Standing
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19 October 2020 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts Inquiry into Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutions Submission from Castlemaine State Festival Introduction Castlemaine State Festival (CSF) welcomes this Parliamentary Inquiry in particular the desire to better understand the economic, employment, community and social wellbeing arising from creative and cultural industries. A more systematic and better supported system to recognise, support and grow the benefits of creative and cultural industries would be most welcome. About Castlemaine State Festival The Castlemaine State Festival is a 10 day long multi-arts event held in the Central Victorian City of Castlemaine, in the Mt Alexander Shire municipality. The Castlemaine State Festival began in 1976 and has now run 23 festivals over 44 years. Planning is now underway for a Covid safe Festival to be held in March 2021. The Festival has grown to be arguably Australia’s flagship multi-arts regional festival. It precedes any other Victorian multi-arts festival and has been unique in its scope and diversity, and in its impact on the social and cultural fabric of central Victoria in particular, as evidenced by surveys on cultural and artistic engagement by the community. Castlemaine State Festival PO Box 230 Castlemaine Victoria Australia 3450 P + 61 3 5472 3733 E [email protected] W www.castlemainefestival.com.au The Festival program encompasses a wide variety of music, theatre, dance, literature, film and visual arts, and is a major contributor in connecting people and developing creative and cultural endeavour within this regional community. Highlights from the 2019 Festival were. • Over 13,000 tickets sold to 66 ticketed events • Estimated total attendance of 54,000 including free community events, visual arts program, and other events • Attendances were 54% from Castlemaine and surrounding region, 26% from Greater Melbourne and 20% from regional Victoria and further afield. • An estimated economic impact of over $3.7M, • 23% of attendees stayed overnight with an average number of nights stayed of 4.5 Our budget over the 2-year cycle is approx. $1.5M. Our revenue streams are made up of the following proportions. • Government Grants (Federal, State and Local) – 42% • Box Office Sales 21% • Sponsorship 16% • Donations and Fundraising 13% • Trusts and Foundations 8% Overall, in relation the Festival, government (Federal State and Local) receives a return on investment ratio of approx. $6 for every $1 of grant funding. This is economic benefit in terms of arts/Festival related purchases, accommodation, food, drink, travel, and retail. It does not include broader health, wellbeing, and social benefits. In a regional town like Castlemaine, the sense of engagement, euphoria, and uplifting nature of the Festival as it takes over/engulfs the town for 10 days is substantial, but not something CSF has the capacity and resources to measure. The Castlemaine State Festival has also undertaken a major project to convert the former Castlemaine Railway Goods Shed into a Creative Industries Hub. The Stage 1 capital upgrades (totalling approx. $1million) are substantially complete and operations were due to commence in March prior to Covid disruptions. We anticipate over 20 jobs will be created within 5 years in the Creative Industries Hub. Castlemaine State Festival would like to thank the Federal Government for their generous support of the 2019 Festival through grants from Festivals Australia totalling $140,000 and a Building Better Regions Grant of $228,000 for the Goods Shed capital project. 2 Page Response to Terms of Reference The direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them CSF has a permanent staffing complement of 9 (6.2 Effective Full time). In the months leading up to the festival this swells to approx. 25 plus 180 volunteers. In addition, we estimate that 400 artists are engaged in a professional capacity across our performances or are provided with the opportunity to sell artistic works as an integral part of the Festival. A business case prepared for the Creative Industries Hub involved an opportunities and gaps analysis to arrive at the employment opportunities over a 5 year period. As part of each Festival, resources are set aside to undertake research based on intercept surveys during the Festival, and surveys of ticket buyers, patrons and sponsors after the Festival. Economic impacts are extrapolated from Survey results. An analysis of creative and cultural employment/activity in Mt Alexander Shire is not easily attainable, not easily broken down into Arts, separate from Tourism or Recreation (at the municipality level). • employment in Arts and Recreation is proportionately higher in Mt Alexander than Greater Bendigo City, but lower than Victoria, Macedon Shire or Hepburn Shire. • Tourism visitation to Mt Alexander (food wine and arts the major attractors) lower than Hepburn Shire, but higher than Macedon Shire, Greater Bendigo City and Victoria as a whole1 CSF would recommend Government should work with the Arts sector and economic/employment research expertise to standardise methodologies to measure economic impact and employment benefits of events and programs, then ensure there is sufficient funds included as part of grants to undertake this work. 3 Page 1 ABS Census 2016 The non-economic benefits that enhance community, social wellbeing and promoting Australia’s national identity, and how to recognise, measure and grow them Data on Arts participation2 (attended arts activities, made, or created arts or crafts, participated in arts and related activities, shows significantly higher participation rates in Mt Alexander Shire than surrounding shires or the State average. Unfortunately, the data is somewhat dated. Compared with other Victorians, Mount Alexander residents were the most likely to have created their own art or crafts. More than half (51.2%) reported making or creating art or crafts in the previous three months, a proportion significantly higher than the state average of 34.9%.3 A study commissioned by the WA Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (March 2019) concluded the positive social impacts (education, health, and social capital) totalled $67million per annum and represented a 5 to 1 return on investment4. This looks to CSF to be an underestimate given our research shows our Festival has 6 to 1 return on investment that excludes education, health, and social capital. Further work on this should be undertaken to better understand this, but it is beyond the capacity of individual arts companies. CSF would recommend that the Federal Government collaborate with the States to further develop research methodologies for measuring the community and social wellbeing impacts of Creative Industries. Health, Education, Transport, public broadcasting, film production, major sports stadiums development and redevelopment, Olympics and Commonwealth games teams’ participation, and many other services require continuing government support. The Arts is no different. Cultural (including sporting) activities, broadly defined, should be regarded as an integral part 4 of our health and wellbeing. Not only in the “good times” but in times of emergency or crisis Page 2 https://greaterdandenong.com/document/18464/statistical-data-for-victorian-communities Community Strengthening data based on VicHealth Survey 2011/12 and Community Indicators Victoria 3 VicHealth Survey 2011/12 4 https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2019-08/apo-nid258661.pdf such as natural disasters and Covid, they time and again play a critical role in sustaining community spirit. Notions that Government funding is “seed funding” and arts organisations should wean themselves off government funding is neither realistic (history shows continuing reliance), nor equitable given the range of activities government support on a continuing basis. The best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between layers of government The impact of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural industries In Mt Alexander Shire the impact on activity has been substantial. Locally a range of artistic activities such as dance schools, a children’s’ circus, art classes, open studios have all been cancelled for months on end. A vibrant live music scene has also been shut down. The Castlemaine Art Museum has been closed. This has been further exacerbated by the lock down of Melbourne prohibiting visitation. For CSF our Goods Shed Arts operations have been put on hold completely, our creative industries hub has not been able to open and a range of other artistic endeavours, eg workshops, artist in residence programs have all been cancelled or postponed. The operating revenues have ceased completely, but fortunately have been offset with Jobkeeper subsidies, for which we are very appreciative. Avenues for increasing access and opportunities for Australia’s creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment. CSF is seeking additional financial support to build virtual/online capacity for the 2021 Festival, marketing, ticketing, and participation in events. CSF has been successful in securing State Government funding for a digital arts program that builds digital capacities amongst local artists, storytelling by young and indigenous people. Festivals Australia is an important vehicle