NAVA’s 2025 Year in Review
As we near the end of 2025, NAVA reflects on this year’s work alongside our Members and the broader visual arts sector.
Here is a brief look at the work NAVA carried forward this year:
NAVA has long called for tax reform because many of the pressures artists face are built into the tax system. This year’s NSW Government consultation, The Art of Tax Reform, marked the strongest momentum we’ve seen in decades, with a high number of visual arts submissions and clear recognition that change is needed. We are now working with tax policy experts to refine detailed proposals and will continue to keep Members updated.
As generative AI tools continue to expand, artists raised concerns about how their work may be used in training datasets and what consent, recognition and payment should look like. NAVA contributed to national policy discussions, collaborated with arts peaks, and ran a survey to understand artists’ expectations around copyright and AI. Our focus remains protecting artists’ copyright and moral rights, to stop work being used without permission, and supporting artists’ rights to earn income from creative work.
This year NAVA launched a new insurance package for Premium Plus Members. The uptake has grown steadily across 2025, offering Members better protection and consistent pricing. If you’re considering renewing or joining as a PP Member with insurance, please note that the last day to renew or apply is Tuesday 16 December, ahead of NAVA’s office closure on 19 December 2025.
NAVA updated the Code of Practice Payment Standards with an annual indexation, and expanded Code content with more Auslan and audio translations, as well as learnings from the Precarious Movements research. NAVA also began consultation for a new section on parenting, caring responsibilities and support workers. We are currently seeking input through an open survey, and encourage Members to contribute.
The RMIT-led Visual Arts Work research project provided important new data on artists’ working conditions. NAVA is using this evidence to strengthen our advocacy, including in cultural policy and workforce reform.
NAVA advocated for better pay for arts workers in the Fair Work Commission review of the Amusement, Events & Recreation Award. We contributed evidence and Member feedback to ensure the realities of gallery, museum, technical and studio-based work are understood. The outcome is still pending.
In 2025 NAVA was a strong voice in sector discussions on artistic freedom and institutional responsibility, including around the Venice Biennale. Recognising the challenges that many organisations and independent practitioners face, we began discussing new resources to support crisis preparedness, communication and risk management.
Internally and externally, NAVA continued to build a more equitable and accountable organisation. We launched our Disability Action Plan, progressed actions in our First Nations Policy and Reconciliation Action Plan, and contributed to cross-sector bodies including the Arts & Disability Code of Practice Steering Committee and the Arts Strategic Workforce Advisory Group (SWAG) through Services & Creative Skills Australia (SaSCA). We also continued our involvement with the National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE), joining concerns about further cuts to arts education.
NAVA's learning program supported artists nationally, with a strong focus on embedding the Code of Practice in day-to-day work. In NSW, supported by Create NSW, we strengthened partnerships in Western Sydney and regional areas, including the Area Coded series delivered with Utp and artist-led workshops with Arts Mid North Coast. First Nations-led programming also expanded through an Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) funded program, which enabled NAVA to meet with artists and arts workers at events including the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) and Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF), and to commission new Code resources authored by First Nations artists and writers.
Looking ahead to 2026, NAVA will continue deepening its tax reform advocacy and prepare a strong submission to the next National Cultural Policy consultation. We will further our cross-artform collaborations on AI and copyright, embed new Code content on parenting, carers and support workers, and support the implementation of payday super and any outcome of the Fair Work Commission Award review. NAVA will also monitor institutional changes across universities, galleries and arts organisations, broaden our learning program, develop a new strategic plan, share a new Constitution for Member consideration, roll out a new CRM to improve the Member experience, and ensure that Member feedback continues to inform every area of our work.
To every Member, supporter, partner and collaborator - thank you. Your feedback and participation helps guide NAVA’s work and reinforce its impact.
If you haven’t already, please join or renew your NAVA Membership for 2026. Your support makes this work possible.
Image credit
Graphic recording of NAVA workshop by Crystal Tate. Know Your Worth: Artist Fees and Wages, co-hosted by NAVA and Arts Mid North Coast, May 2025. Photo by James Lander.
ID: A close-up of a tablet on a desk displaying a colourful illustrated summary of NAVA’s Code of Practice. A hand holding a stylus is drawing parts of the digital illustration, which includes icons, arrows and phrases such as “Code of Practice,” “pricing your labour,” “change takes practice,” and “tax + income + super.” A Code of Practice postcard with an illustrated arts scene sits on the table in the background.
