ARTS AND SPORT
Expansion of Regional Arts Fund including Creative Volunteering — No Limits
The Regional Arts Fund has been expanded with additional funding of $5.4 million over four years from 2004‑05, bringing the total programme funding to $16.1 million over the period. This is supporting a larger number of creative arts projects, addressing unmet demand, assisting the professional development of more regional artists and extending the programme into remote and isolated communities around Australia. The additional funding has also enabled Creative Volunteering — No Limits, the national arts and museums regional volunteer skills programme, to be continued as an element of the Regional Arts Fund. Creative Volunteering provides accredited training to upgrade the skills of volunteers working in the arts and collections sectors.
Young and Emerging Artists Programme
The Young and Emerging Artists Programme initiative has been administered by the Australia Council since its introduction in 1996 and in 2005-06 will receive $1.25 million. It has successfully assisted Australian artists, in all art forms, at the formative stage of their careers including artists in rural and regional areas. With the initiative’s current funding ending in 2005-06, additional funding of $2.5 million will be provided to continue the programme through to 2007-08.
Playing Australia
Playing Australia is the Australian Government’s national performing arts touring programme. It is designed to assist the touring of performing arts across state and territory boundaries where this is currently not commercially viable and there is a demonstrated public demand. Most of the productions include regional or remote venues in their tours. In 2005-06, approximately $5.8 million will be allocated for this programme.
Festivals Australia
Festivals Australia is an Australian Government grant programme designed to assist the presentation of arts and cultural activities at Australian regional and community festivals. The emphasis is on supporting projects which add to the quality and diversity of the arts and cultural programming of festivals. The Australian Government will provide $1.5 million for the Festivals Australia programme in 2005-06, including an additional $500,000 provided in the 2005-06 Budget to extend the programme to support artists’ residencies in regional areas. The additional funding will be used to enable performing and visual artists and writers to assist communities to tell their own stories in a culturally relevant way and to present these stories in a community celebration or festival. This initiative will enable more communities in regional Australia to access funding for cultural projects associated with a broader range of festivals or significant community events.
Big Screen
The Australian Government will provide additional funding of $6.9 million over three years from 2005-06 to the Screen Culture Initiative with Big Screen being a component of this.
Big Screen is a touring film festival showcasing new and iconic Australian films in regional Australia. Big Screen is a major part of the Australian Film Commission’s screen culture programme, which provides opportunities for Australian audiences to access screen content throughout Australia, with a particular focus on regional Australia.
Since its inception Big Screen has attracted audiences in regional Australia in excess of 80,000 people. An average of 18 venues are visited each year, some for a second or third time, with a large proportion of new centres added each year.
Refundable film tax offset
The refundable film tax offset (the offset) is an incentive for large budget film productions to locate in Australia. In establishing the offset, the Australian Government recognises the economic, employment and skills development opportunities that large scale productions bring to Australia — and to Australians working in the film industry. The key criterion to access the offset is a minimum level of qualifying Australian expenditure of $15 million on the production.
Since it was introduced in 2002, the offset has encouraged many large budget productions to locate in Australia.
A number of these productions have based location shooting in rural and regional Australia, providing considerable economic and employment opportunities. The latest Superman film, Superman Returns, for example, is providing a major economic boost to both Gunnedah and Tamworth in NSW.
Libraries Australia
Libraries Australia is a new online service provided by the National Library of Australia. It is currently available to the public through most libraries but will be freely available directly to the public anywhere that they can access the Internet from January 2006. It provides access to about 38 million books, pictures, music, maps, and personal papers that are held by over 1,000 Australian libraries. This service also provides a range of options to allow users to obtain a copy of the items that they find through Libraries Australia.
Contemporary Music Touring Programme
The Contemporary Music Touring Programme is an Australian Government grant programme designed to assist individual Australian musicians and groups to tour Australia, including rural and regional areas. It provides wide access to the popular arts sector and reaches regional and rural audiences through touring. It also provides opportunities for emerging artists to gain performance experience and broader exposure. The programme will receive $250,000 in 2005-06.
Slim Dusty Heritage Centre
Funding of $500,000 will be provided in 2005-06 (as part of a total Australian Government funding of $1.5 million) towards the construction of the Slim Dusty Heritage Centre in Kempsey, NSW. The Centre will house a museum relating to the life and music of Slim Dusty. It will also include a gallery, concert facility and exhibition space, conference and seminar facilities and a recording studio.
Community sport and recreation facilities
The Australian Government has supported many community sporting initiatives in urban and regional areas across the nation. 2005-06 will see the continuation of the three-year $37.9 million commitment announced in last year’s budget.
These funds are part of the Australian Government’s commitment to building active, healthy Australian communities.
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Government’s sport policy, Backing Australia's Sporting Ability — A More Active Australia (BASA), launched in April 2001, provides the parameters for the Australian Sports Commission’s programmes and initiatives. BASA provides a particular focus on continued achievement in high performance sport; greater grass roots participation in sport for all ages; excellence in sports management; and continuing to work towards a drug free sporting environment.
On 29th June 2004 the Prime Minister announced the Building a Healthy, Active Australia initiative — a $116 million package over four years to tackle the problem of childhood obesity. Of this package some $90 million will go towards the Active After-School Communities Programme over a four year period from 1 July 2004.
The Bundanon Trust
In 1993, Arthur and Yvonne Boyd donated their art collection and historic properties, situated on the Shoalhaven River near Nowra in New South Wales, to the nation for the cultural enrichment and enjoyment of the Australian people. The Bundanon Trust is responsible for developing and managing the properties, and has developed programmes and facilities to create the ‘living arts centre’ envisaged by Arthur Boyd.
The Bundanon Trust is the only national cultural institution that is located in a regional area, with the vast majority being located in either Canberra or Sydney.
The Australian Government provides ongoing financial support for Bundanon of approximately $1 million per annum. In 2005‑06 this includes a draw-down from the Investment Fund originally established by the Australian Government.
Collections Australia Network (CAN)
In 2005-06 the Australian Government will contribute $240,000 to CAN with state and territory governments contributing a further $130,000.
Collections Australia Network, formerly Australian Museums and Galleries On-line (AMOL), is a website that provides access to cultural heritage held in museums, galleries, libraries and archives all over Australia. The website is aimed at improving online services for small to medium and regional collecting organisations enabling them to expand into the online environment in a more effective manner. The site also allows participating institutions to remotely upload, add, delete and modify their webpages, news items, exhibitions, events and collections. CAN is a Cultural Ministers Council project, a joint initiative of the Australian Government and state and territory governments in partnership with the Australian cultural sector.
Community Heritage Grants Programme
The Community Heritage Grants Programme provides grants of up to $10,000 to support preservation projects undertaken by community organisations such as local historical societies, public libraries, Indigenous and migrant community groups, which hold cultural heritage collections of national significance. The Australian Government is providing an additional $800,000 over four years from 2005-06 for the programme. The programme is funded on an annual basis by the Australian Government through the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts; the National Library of Australia; the National Archives of Australia; the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Film Commission. The programme has operated for ten years and has distributed over $1 million.
Visions of Australia
In 2005-06 the Australian Government will contribute $1.9 million to the Visions of Australia touring exhibitions programme.
Visions of Australia is a national touring exhibition grant programme which assists touring exhibitions of cultural material across Australia. It provides assistance to cultural and community organisations to assist with exhibition touring costs and for project development. The programme aims to make cultural material accessible to Australians in regional and remote communities as well as those in metropolitan and capital city venues.
National Archives touring exhibitions
The National Archives develops exhibitions utilising records from the collection for exhibition throughout Australia. It's A Dog's Life! Animals in the Public Service, Beacons by the Sea: Stories of Australian Lighthouses, Unexpected Archives and Just Add Water: Schemes and Dreams of a Sunburnt Country will travel throughout regional Australia in 2005-06.
National Gallery of Australia travelling exhibitions
The National Gallery of Australia’s (NGA) travelling exhibitions are a vital part of the NGA’s strategy for providing access to national collections and enhancing enjoyment of the visual arts in regional and remote Australia.
In the period from the programme’s inception in February 1988 to March 2005, 6,244,165 people have taken the opportunity to visit 92 exhibitions at 481 locations in every state and territory in Australia, as well as 15 international locations. In addition, three suitcase exhibitions have been to approximately 348 schools and community groups in remote and regional Australia.
In 2005-06, $500,000 will be allocated to travelling exhibition programmes.