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Arts Policy in Australia a History Ofcommonwealth Involvement in the Arts

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Arts Policy in Australia a History Ofcommonwealth Involvement in the Arts Department of the Parliamentary Library Parliamentary Research Sendee Ak..J..l AUBTRALU.,& !J;.)~("" BACKGROUND PAPER No.51994 Arts Policy in Australia A history ofCommonwealth involvement in the Arts .. J, ''''+> ~i .I:' Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia ISSN 1037-2938 Copyright Conuuonwealth of Australia 1994 Except to the extent of the uses pennitted under the Copyn°ght Act 1968, no part ofehis publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the Department of the Parliamentary Library, other than by Members of the Australian Parliament in the course of their official dutieS'. Published by the Department of ~he Parliamentary Library, 1994 UT J 000 Gardiner-Garden Social Policy Group 2 May 1994 Parliamentary Research Service Background Paper No. 5 1994 Arts [XJlicy in Australia A history ofCommonwealth involvement in the Arts Telephone: 062772415 Facmmile:062772407 The author would like to thank Consie Larmour. Paul Mackey, Adrienne Millbank and June Verrier for reading and conunenting on a draft of this paper, and Jane Chaprnan for her clerical assistance. This paper has been prepared for general distribution to Members of the Australian Parliament. Readers outside the Parliament are reminded that this is not an Australian Government docwnent, but a paper prepared by the author and published by the Parliamentary Research Service to contribute to consideration ofthe issues by Senators and Members. The views expressed in this Paper are those ofthe author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Parliamentary Research Service and are not to be attributed to the Department of the Parliamentary Library. < CONTENTS Executive su=ary Introduction 1 From Federation to 1972 ............................. .. 4 The Whitlam GDve=ent ............................ .. 6 The establishing of the Australia Council .............. .. 6 Other initiatives .'.............................. .. 10 The Fraser GDve=ent 11 Initial policies 11 Reviews and Reports 12 Changes and initiatives 15 Ethnic arts. ................................... .. 16 The Hawke GDve=ent 17 . 1983-85 17 Initial changes '" .............................. .. 17 The flagship debate 18 The geographic bias debate 21 The arm's-length debate 22 The level of funding debate 24 Beyond 'ethnic arts' 26 1986-87 ',' 26 The McLeay Report ............................. .. 26 The devolution of authority debate 28 The Jlifinisterial power debate. ..................... .. 30 The Australia Council's structure debate 31 The contemporary music debate '" 33 Australia's Folklife .............................. .. 33 1988-91 35 The Coalition Arts Policy '................. 35 The Australia Council ,.................. 36 The role of the Government debate 38 Towards a National Arts Strategy 40 Beyond 'multicultural arts' ........................ .. 42 Other changes and initiatives ...................... .. 42 Tlle Keating Government 45 i992 - March 1993 ,........ .. 45 Cultural Development 46 The 1992 Budget and Grants debate '. .. ..... .. 47 Literary Funding ............................... .. 4'i The Future Role of the Australia Council ............. .. 48 The lead up to the 1993 election 50 April 1993 - April 1994 53 After the 1993 election ........................... .. 53 The 1993 Budget ........... .. 54 The Performing Arts Board ............. .. 55 Employment in Cultural industries ;.......... 57 The National Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. .. 58 Rights issues 60 Towards a Commonwealth Cultural Policy ............ .. 65 Ministers, Shadow,'Heads and Managers .. ........... .. 68 Corporate support for the Arts ....... .. ............ .. 70 'Arts for a Multicultural Australia' .......... .. 71 Conclusion. ...................................... .. 73 Index ,' 74 Executive Summary Government support for the arts is not new, but the way western democracies have supported the arts in recent tirp.es has varied enormously. In Europe there is often direct funding of major companies, institutions, and projects. In Britain most organisations are funded through an independent Council. In North American the state and local governments are involved in arts funding. In Australia all three occur. All the main arts policy issues debated overseas have been debated in Australia - how to: assist both young and established artists; facilitate both community activity and professional development; support both the flagship and the smaller companies; have both arm's-length. funding and Government accouiltability; have both peer-assessment and regional equity; promote both the traditional 'md the contemporary; invest in both the proven and the innovative; exploit both the domestic and export potential of the cultural industries; protect the rights of both art' producers and consumers; and sponsor excellence in a cultural-diverse society. This paper offers some background to the many arts issues currently being debated in Australia by summarising arts policy developments and policy debate since Federation. Commonwealth involvement in the arts began with the Deakin Government's establishment of the Commonwealth Literary Fund and the second Fisher Government's appointment of a Commonwealth Art Advisory Board. After the Second World War such non-government grant giving bodies as the Arts Council ofAustralia and the Austraiian Elizabethan Theatre Trust were established with Commonwealth assistance and the' Menzies Government established the National Library of Australia. The Holt Government involved the Commonwealth further in the arts by establishing the Assistance to Composers Advisory Board and agreeing to the ,,~tablishment of an Australian Council for the Arts and an Australian National Gallery. The former was realised in 1968 by the Gorton Government, which also initiated plans for the Film and Television School, and the latter was realised in 1971 by the McMahon Government. The above named boards, advisory bodies and Council were subsumed within a new body which the Whitlam Government formerly established as the Australia Council in 1975. The Council, with its seven specialist boards and wide responsibilities, greatly expanded the Commonwealth's involvement in the arts. This increased Government 'involvement was matched by increased funding. The Fraser Government supported the continued existence of the Australia Council, but made several changes to the. structure of Government support following reports by the Administrative Review Committee in 1975 and Industries Assistance Comm.ission in 1976. Fraser Government initiatives included the decision in 1979 to build a National Museum of Australia and setting-up of the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme in 1981 and and Touring and Access Fund in 1983. The Hawke Government's attempt to redirect funding to smaller companies and groups and to restructure the Australia Council in line with the controversial recommendations of the 1986 McLeay Report brought many issues to a head. There were debates over funding being biased toward large flagship companies and companies in the major cities, over the proper roles of the minister and the Australia Council, over the Australia Council's structure and level of funding, over establishing the Creative Fellowship Scheme and over the perennial question of whether the Federal Government should be involved in arts support at all. With Mr Keating as Prime Minister there was an effort to place arts policy in the wider context. of Australia's cultural development, economic interest and international identity. Following the March 1993 election and new portfolio arrangements which took Arts out of the Department of Arts, Sport, the Envil'onment and Territories and put it firstly with Administrative Services and then later with Communications, arts issues were given a voice in Cabinet. Although the Keating Government believes it has raised the political profile of the arts, many of the issues in public debate have remained the same: funding level (e.g. the debate over the Opposition's Fightback! proposals); funding structure (e.g. the debate over the Opposition's move back to supporting the continl.led existence of the Australia Council, the Council's move to more flexible funding arrangements); and funding emphasis (e.g. the debate over the Government's preference for touring programs over new collecting institutions, and the interest in the Australia Council initiatives to promote artistic innovation, professional development, cultural tourism, arts exports and the participation of young people and people ofnon-English speaking background). The prospect of a cultural policy has reignited some of the old debate on the degree to which the Commonwealth should be involved in the arts. Challenges facing the Government as it approaches the 1994 Budget Sittings include responding to the suggestions that more needs to be done to support young artists, to open up funding avenues for NESB artists, to exploit fully the economic potential ofthe cultural industries, to increase corporate arts sponsorship, to preserve our non-tangible folkheritage and to make the National Museum become a reality. Lack of progress in the last two areas sits uneasily with Government rhetoric on the need to define who we are. Arts Policy in Australia 1 Introduction There have been programs of direct government expenditure on the arts and culture in most western countries since the second world war. Indirect government support (e.g. tax
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