Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Impact of the 2014 and 2015 Commonwealth Budget decisions on the Arts

Committee Secretary Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600

From Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal Corporation, trading as Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Submitted by Peter Kift AFAIM MIPA, General Manager, on behalf of the Chair, Board, staff and members.

17 July 2015

Background

• Yirra Yaakin (Yir-raarh Yaarh-kin), which means “Stand Tall” in the Noongar language, is an Aboriginal-led theatre company that has been dedicated to the telling of Aboriginal stories through live performance since 1993. For over 21 years, we have evolved into a respected cultural leader and artistic hub for Aboriginal people from all over , Australia and the world.

• We have performed 800+ shows to over 400,000 people, undertaken 43 tours on 6 continents and 13 countries and been involved in 31 internationally significant events. We have performed in all states and territories of Australia and delivered over 1,000 workshops, facilitated more than 45,000 workshop participants and employed more than 400 Aboriginal artsworkers during our 21+ years.

• The Company has commissioned and premiered over 50 new theatre works, including Waltzing the Wilarra, One Day in 67, Aliwah, Windmill Baby and Cruel Wild Woman and Noongar Shakespeare Sonnets at the Globe Theatre, London as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Prominent Aboriginal writers have included Dallas Winmar, Mitch Torres, David Milroy, Sally Morgan and Derek Nannup, as well as numerous highly respected and nationally-recognised actors who have performed with us, including Kelton Pell, Lynette Narkle, , Miranda Tapsell, Luke Carroll and .

• Yirra Yaakin has a proud history of sharing Western Australian Aboriginal stories with Australian and international audiences alike from an authentic, Australian and Aboriginal perspective. We are acknowledged as an Australia Council Key Organisation, providing cultural leadership in the

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performing arts sector where the theatre work we continue to develop and present is providing the platform for building genuine and long-lasting bridges between Indigenous and non- .

• In 2014 alone, we presented or co-presented 135 performances, created or developed 3 new works, provided 41 workshops, reached 38 schools to over 8,000 students and participated in over 300 activities throughout Western Australia to nearly 24,000 people which included Perth, and some of the world’s most remote rural communities. Through these activities we employed more than 60 Aboriginal arts workers totalling approximately 100 weeks of employment, assisted 2 at-risk young Aboriginal trainees, with our organisation comprising more than 60% Aboriginal employees. These figures represent an almost 50% increase on previous years in most areas of our activities. In 2015, because of our artistic direction and project management of the Indigenous Cultural component for the Perth International Arts Festival production of The Giants, an estimated audience of 1.4 million people witnessed Aboriginal arts & culture on a scale never before experienced within Australia.

Response to the 2014 and 2015 budget decisions

• Our Company is deeply concerned on the impact that the further reduction of $104.8 million over 4 years to the Australia Council funding will have, not only on our own organisation’s future financial stability, but also the entire S2M arts sector. The Australia Council support is vital in ensuring that Australia continues to thrive as a country with a sustainable, innovative, diverse and vibrant arts and cultural ecology. The 2015 budget announcement, coupled with the announcements made in 2014, are of grave concern to everyone involved in the arts and cultural sector.

• With an at-arms-length, decision-making process in place at the Australia Council, we were assured that decisions were not unduly influenced by Ministerial “favourites” and although not all decisions were greeted with absolute joy, the sector as a whole, was highly satisfied that our peers were capable and experienced enough in making those decisions, through a transparent and rigorous process, that was always carried out in the best interests of the sector, to produce works of excellence or support projects than enhanced the cultural integrity of this country.

• In 2010, our Company was awarded multi-year funding by the Australia Council to assist with the stabilisation of our operations and provide a platform in which the Company could forward plan with more certainty and assist the development of Indigenous theatre in this country. Over those 6 years, the investment by the Australia Council has totalled in excess of $1.2million and in 2014 the annual investment represented just under 13% of our turnover. It also enabled our Company to develop the capacity to engage more Indigenous performers and arts workers to develop, create and present works of excellence to more Australian & international audiences, who are acquiring a greater appetite and appreciation for authentic Australian Aboriginal theatre. This is an important aspect of the work that we provide and the reason we exist. The removal of this

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funding from the Australia Council without formal consultation with the industry lacks transparency and accountability from the Government and jeopardises the viability of the entire arts sector.

• We are also concerned with the duplication of administrative services being provided from 2 sources of Government funding and the subsequent duplication in reporting and compliance requirements by already-stretched S2M arts organisations.

• The funding that was previously available to the S2M arts sector has now effectively been eliminated for many S2M arts organisations and independent artists. It has been stated in numerous studies over the past decade that the S2M arts sector is the main source of new Australian works and is essential to the artistic vitality and the ongoing development of Australia’s performing arts. We are the “small businesses” of the performing arts sector in this country and should be accorded that respect as in other industry sectors.

• Evidence also suggests that the majority of Australian artists and arts workers commenced their careers within the S2M sector and progressed through to the major performing arts organisations because of the opportunities they were given within our sector. There has always been a career pathway in which, not only did excellence in art evolve, but also excellence by its creators, performers and administrators. How will this continue if funding is not guaranteed for the S2M sector that feeds directly into the major performing arts companies? The prominent Aboriginal writers and artists, noted above, that have been connected to our Company over the past 21 years would not have been able to enter the industry without the support of the Australia Council and the next generation of talented and emerging Aboriginal artists are going to be severely hampered in their efforts in pursuing their own careers without that ongoing support from the Australia Council.

• Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company’s achievements over 21 years reinforces that stable funding and resources from a peer-assessment framework are a vital component to any organisation’s ability to remain financially viable and sustainable. It also reinforces the ability of organisations to evolve and respond quickly to the ever-changing nature of the entire arts sector and not waste valuable resources by constantly chasing project-based funding which does nothing but ensure regular uncertainty. This is anathema to corporate funders, who prefer to partner with arts organisations that have a reliable and sustainable financial track record, as well as a stable management team who are able to provide deliverable outcomes.

• We implore the Government to reverse its decision and re-instate the funding to the Australia Council to ensure that our inter-dependent arts and cultural sector does not suffer a potential and abrupt drain of talent over the foreseeable future and lose very creative people to other industries.

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• Without ongoing and sustainable (multi-year) financial support from the Australia Council, our Company will need to re-assess our entire program of activities and our ability to provide sustainable employment opportunities for Aboriginal arts workers who wish to make a career within the creative arts industry. Our vision of becoming a “Centre of Excellence” for Aboriginal theatre and the ambition to eventually become a major performing arts organisation has now been severely hampered by the Minister’s decision.

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