You would have to be an expatriate or dead not to know that there’s an election coming up, but don’t switch off. Now is a good time to be making active approaches about policy commitments that the visual arts sector wants from all political parties.
While Labor has launched its New Directions for the Arts policy early in September, at the time of writing, the Coalition has not yet told us what new things they have in mind. NAVA is looking forward to seeing the detail and financial commitments of Labor’s policy but is feeling positive that many of the main issues for the visual arts sector are on the table.
Royalty for Artists
In particular, visual artists are enthusiastic about Labor’s firm promise to introduce a Resale Royalty scheme on secondary sales of their artworks. Though this had been recommended by the government commissioned Myer Inquiry, last year artists expressed their frustration and disappointment when the federal government rejected the idea. This rejection followed many months of evidence gathering from all parts of the industry, including the fact that it has been adopted right across the European Union. In a recent article in the Australian Financial Review, the Arts Editor Katrina Strickland quoted reservations by some London art dealers about its impact on their businesses, but also noted conversely that London is enjoying a resurgence as the global art market leader.
Visuacy
A group of people with a keen interest in the issue of visual education is arguing that the rapidity of technological change demands that all 21st century children must learn to be skilled visual communicators. Both political parties have expressed willingness to consider the recommendations of the government commissioned National Review of Visual Education, due to be completed in the next few weeks. The lobby group – the Visual Education Roundtable - is calling for visual education to be a stand alone subject for all children up to year 10, along with a radical rethink of the training needed by art teachers. One promise made by Labor is artist in residence provision in schools and universities targeted to areas of need.
Artists into Work
It is still early days but on the last day of parliament, we heard the first sally of critique from the Treasurer, calling into question Labor’s ArtStart commitment to assist artists on welfare to try to use their skills to generate income. In its arts policy, Labor has promised start-up assistance for emerging professional artists and changes to Centrelink rules and work for the dole criteria. The Treasurer was reported as saying that artists on pensions had plenty of time to do their art and questioning whether conforming to the job search obligations would “get in the way of (producing) the next Mona Lisa”.
Income generation is a very hot issue for artists with a variety of proposed measures awaiting a political response. This includes NAVA’s call for $3 million per year to be allocated for the payment of artists’ exhibition fees. In addition, to help artists gain commissions and provide their expertise in a wide range of projects NAVA is seeking a commitment for the expansion of work agencies around the country similar to those currently operating in Tasmania, WA and Queensland. Whoever wins the election, NAVA will be keen to work with them on a broad range of artists’ income generating strategies.
This text appears in a regular monthly column NAVA writes for Arts Hub, the online home for arts workers. To read the full column, click here to visit Arts Hub News, Analysis and Comment.
