Funding the arts

How to fund and strengthen Australia’s major performing arts companies was debated and discussed by the Alliance Federal Council with Arts Minister Peter Garrett this afternoon. Many of Australia’s major companies are struggling, while others are financially stable.

The meeting discussed the extent to which financial viability was the result of programming and planning decisions by the companies themselves or the result of inadequate funding in the first place — including the failure to adequately index the funding levels set by the Nugent Review in 2000.

The government is currently undertaking a cultural policy review and one of the things it will be looking at is how to sustain major performing arts companies.

Simon Collins from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra raised the particular concerns of orchestras which are facing particular pressures and talked about the difficulties of assessing “success” or failure” by simplistic financial measures. Garrett acknowledged these particular challenges and agreed that success for performing arts companies was a complex mix of considerations: financial, governance, cultural, innovation.

However, he said it was important to take account of achievements to assess how funding should be allocated.

Equity Director Simon Whipp pointed that there were organisations that were doing all the right things by any definition of success, but were still struggling financially.

Garrett agreed that that was the case and said that that was one of the balances that had to be considered in decided where to go with funding.

The Alliance Council has committed to continuing working for adequate funding for the major performing arts companies and the Minister agreed to continue to engage with the Alliance on our concerns.