Drama Tuesday - Change government – change the nation - National Cultural Policy
/
The change of the Australian government after the election in May is starting to play out in cultural policy development.
It is a welcome sign that a consultation process has started.
A new National Cultural Policy is needed to establish a comprehensive roadmap to guide the skills and resources required to transform and safeguard a diverse, vibrant and sustainable arts, entertainment and cultural sector now and into the future.
Our starting point will be Creative Australia, the national cultural policy launched by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2013.
This new policy will be shaped by the diverse voices of the Australian arts, entertainment and cultural sector around the 5 goals of Creative Australia which have been distilled to the following pillars:
First Nations: recognising and respecting the crucial place of these stories at the centre of our arts and culture.
A place for every story: reflecting the diversity of our stories and the contribution of all Australians as the creators of culture.
The centrality of the artist: supporting the artist as worker and celebrating their role as the creators of culture.
Strong institutions: providing support across the spectrum of institutions which sustain our arts and culture.
Reaching the audience: ensuring our stories reach the right people at home and abroad.
We are seeking views on these pillars.
How you can voice your opinion
There are 2 ways for you to tell us what you think:
1. Making a submission
Make a submission by filling in the National Cultural Policy submission template (https://www.arts.gov.au/documents/national-cultural-policy-submission-template) or preparing your submission in an alternative format.
To ensure timely processing of your submission, please limit your submission to no more than 3 pages or 5 minutes.
Please include:
contact name
organisation name, if applicable
contact details, including telephone number, postal and email addresses
confirmation of whether or not your submission can be made public (published) or kept confidential.
All submissions need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility in order to be made public. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being published. Please ensure you do not include any personal information that you do not want to be published.
If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.
Upload your submission using the form below, or email your submission to culturalpolicy@arts.gov.au
2. Attending a town hall event
At one level, I am concerned that the starting point appears to be the 2013 Creative Australia—National Cultural Policy (https://www.arts.gov.au/documents/creative-australia-national-cultural-policy). There is a need to recognise that almost a decade has passed. Huge social upheavals have taken place – including the changes to education and social life as a result of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. Participation in the Arts has changed. Schools and arts education face significant recalibrations as a result of economic, social and educational policies. Recycling is not enough.
I have made a submission which I am happy to share.
Rather than attempting to address all the issues of a National Cultural Policy, I have focused on Arts Education (unsurprisingly). I have done this by focusing on the 4th pillar of the policy document:
