the-Ninth-Wave

The Ninth Wave by The Farm and Co3 Contemporary Dance. Photo by Jess Wyld.

Festival of Outback Opera

Festival of Outback Opera by Opera Queensland. Photo by Glenn Hunt.

Auto Cannibal

Auto Cannibal by Australasian Dance Collective and Beijing Dance LDTX,
Choreographed by Stephanie Lake. Photo by Jade Ellis.

Zoom

Zoom by Patch Theatre. Photo by Matt Byrne.

Trash Talk

Trash Talk by The Strangeways Ensemble. Courtesy of Merrigong Theatre Company.

So long suckers 2

So Long Suckers by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Photo by Simon Pynt.

Curious Legends

Curious Legends

Black Cockatoo

Black Cockatoo by Ensemble Theatre. Photo by Prudence Upton.

Whoosh

Whoosh by Sensorium Theatre. Photo by Peter Foster.

River Linked Live Virtual Concert

River Linked Live Virtual Concert. Photo by Abram Rasmussen Photography.

HOTA Home of the Arts

HOTA Home of the Arts. Courtesy of venue.

The Butch is Back

The Butch is Back by Reuben Kaye. Photo by Rebekah Ryan.

Our brief commentary on the Federal Budget

  |   News

Contemporary Music funding – excellent! A much needed and most welcome uplift of $30.9 million in new funding will amplify Australia’s music industry. The Australian Music Industry Package is designed to bring more live music to Australian communities including an increase in tour funding ($500K per annum).

What we found the most exciting was to see $2.7m over five years from 2019-20 to establish a national Indigenous Contemporary Music development program – this will go a long way to increasing the representation across our stages. $85.0m for an Aboriginal Arts and Cultures Gallery in Adelaide will also serve as a great initiative.

There’s also an additional $8 million for maintenance and capital works projects at Australia’s National Collecting Institutions and seed funding of $10 million over four years to establish the National Library of Australia’s (NLA) Digitisation Fund.

Sure, it wasn’t exactly what we’d hoped for but it’s a good step forward and the Government should be congratulated for some solid pluses in an environment in which the broad community benefits of the arts are not widely valued.

A Media Release Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Mitch Fifield, on the 2019-20 Budget can be found here.