Invest in Artistic Courage

Australia needs an ambitious arts policy that invests in artistic courage. This means:

• Putting First Nations first: on the ongoing advice of Elders and artists, fund the National Indigenous Arts & Cultural Authority ambitiously, implement the Uluru Statement, and action the Fake Art Harms Culture recommendations
• Making fair pay at industry standards a condition of public funding, so that all funded organisations can meet their responsibility. As Chair of the Australia Council Sam Walsh AO said at the 2019 Australia Council Awards: “Our artists should be celebrated – and they should be remunerated accordingly.”
• Investing ambitiously in artists’ time, artists’ leadership and artist self-organisation – NAVA advocates for three new funds:
  • Artist Time: Recognising that finding the time is crucial to creating work, a new program for mid-career artists of ten $100,000 fellowships per year, including dedicated mentorship and professional development
  • Artist Led: As contemporary artists push artform boundaries beyond visual arts, craft and design to public art, fashion, games and experimentation, this $1.5m fund fosters collaborations with any organisation – both within and beyond the arts
  • Artist Run: Supporting artist self-organisation projects whose working models are led by artists, a new $2.5m multi-year funding program for operating costs and artists’ fees, encouraging the best new thinking to emerge.
• Increasing the Australia Council’s funding by at least $25m per year to catch up on cuts since 2014, support ‘unfunded excellence’, and lead significant sector development initiatives and vital artist programs such as these
• Committing to the integrity of independently peer-assessed arts funding as a clear expression of confidence in the expertise of Australia’s artists
• Replacing the Major Performing Arts Framework with an Artistic Investment Framework that includes the Visual Arts & Crafts Strategy in long-term indexed investment
• Prioritising initiatives that promote artist self-organisation, strengthened communities and a vibrant independent arts sector
• Advancing copyright reform that enables artists to earn incomes from our intellectual property without threat from ‘content’-trading tech giants
• and there’s plenty more to be done in superannuation reform, tax incentives, a Guaranteed Annual Income scheme, ensuring all arts grants and major art prizes become tax free.

Election 2019

Joan Cameron-Smith, photo by Tanya Bruckner, 2015

Amplify your voice this election year and let’s make sure that all parties commit to investing in artistic courage.

1. Share our campaign on social media and add your voice
2. Ask your favourite arts organisations or businesses to endorse the campaign 
3. Contact your MP – download NAVA's advocacy toolkit for talking points, handy guides and letter template.