The first meeting of the Creative Australia Advisory Group was held in Sydney on Friday 20 February. The group consists of distinguished representatives from Australia's arts community whom the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts invited to come together to develop, discuss and debate new ideas for the sector.
In attendance were the Minister, Cate Blanchett, Professor Julianne Schulz, David Gonski, James Strong, Cathy Hunt, Dr Julian Meyrick, Marcus Westbury, Elizabeth Ann McGregor, Sandra Levy, Adam Simpson (via teleconference) and Mark Tucker. There were apologies from Professor David Throsby and Wesley Enoch.
Items discussed included a national cultural policy, private sector support for the Arts and support arrangements for artists. The group will continue to work together to generate recommendations for further developing the arts sector in Australia and further strengthening Australia's cultural identity.