Today the government is announcing significant improvements to the way the Australian Government supports Indigenous arts, languages and culture.
The redesigned funding programs will provide greater security for funded organisations, streamline reporting, reduce red tape, improve flexibility and fund a broader range of art forms.
The Australian Government will invest approximately $40 million annually through two programs. These programs merge the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support, Indigenous Culture Support and Indigenous Languages Support programs and the Indigenous Employment Initiative.
The Indigenous Languages and Arts program will fund organisations that support the revival and maintenance of Indigenous languages, and provide career opportunities and pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language workers. This program will also support projects that celebrate and promote Australia’s distinctive and diverse Indigenous culture and art, and contribute to a strong sense of cultural identity and pride through languages and the arts.
The Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program will continue to support a national network of Indigenous-owned art centres and industry service organisations in the production, promotion and marketing of Indigenous visual art. The program will now also provide support for art centres to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts workers. This investment will reinforce the ongoing development and growth of this internationally renowned sector.
Operational funds for art and languages centres and service delivery organisations will be delivered through targeted grants from 1 July 2015. A competitive round for Indigenous Languages and Arts grants will open in mid-2015 for arts projects that celebrate Australia’s Indigenous cultural and artistic expressions.
These programs will contribute to the Government’s Indigenous Affairs priorities and help to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians through more effective and efficient funding.
Program guidelines are currently being finalised. In the interim, more information about the program redesign is available on the Ministry for the Arts website http://arts.gov.au.