The NSW Government has established a body of 11 industry stakeholders to advise on its 10-year cultural policy, which Arts Minister John Graham says is well underway.
APRA AMCOS executive director Nicholas Pickard and Blackfella Films producer Darren Dale are among the inaugural members of the Creative Communities Council, which Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron and Sydney Fringe festival director Kerri Glasscock are overseeing as inaugural chair and deputy chair.
They are joined by Arts & Cultural Exchange executive director Anne Loxley, state librarian Caroline Butler-Bowdon, Blowfish Studios co-founder Benjamin Lee, MEAA chief executive Erin Madeley, ARIA head of policy and advocacy Julia Robinson, Eastern Riverina Arts’ Tim Kurlowicz, and Elizabeth Mildwater from the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality & Sport.
It comes more than 12 months after Graham first announced the policy, releasing a discussion paper and conducting a series of consultations before unveiling the Creative Communities strategy in December last year. Herron, Glassock, and Dale were previously on a ministerial advisory panel that reviewed the feedback before the policy announcement.
According to the government, 19 specific initiatives, and 23 per cent of the initial commitments have now been implemented from the policy, which comprises five core principles — prioritise First Nations culture; embrace the arts, culture, and creative industries; advocate for the value of culture; support sustainable growth; and take our creativity to the world and bring the world to our stories.
Included in the policy was a commitment to make Screen NSW more independent and strengthen its capacity, the development of a business case for a second major film studio in the state, and a pledge to strengthen ties with AFTRS and NIDA.
In an update this week, the government noted its allocation of $35 million to the Made in NSW Fund in the June budget, and ongoing investment to provide certainty for the Post-Production and Visual Effects rebate scheme. It also flagged the launch of a three-year NSW Screen and Digital Games Strategy, to be unveiled shortly.
“I am pleased we have made inroads across a number of key areas over the past few months – and there is much more good work in the pipeline – but there is more to be done to ensure that our artists and creative workers are not squeezed out of our cities,” Graham said in a statement.
“In the consultation, we undertook across the state in developing the Creative Communities policy, funding and regulatory reform was consistently raised. We heard two things; people wanted more certainty and less paperwork. We will deliver on both.”