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7.4 SETTING THE SCENE TO RESPOND
POTENTIAL APPROACHES
Potential actions to address the three central issues include:
1. Management — identify resources, money and
programs to
(a) provide skills upgrading for people in CBOs to take
on management responsibilities; and
(b) recruit and retain people with management expertise.
2. Career self-employment — develop a national coordinating/delivery
mechanism to oversee and propose
responses to self-employment issues:
(a) social benefits (health care, retirement); and
(b) skills development (especially career management
skills).
Both could use a nationally recognized framework of courses
and corresponding certification/accreditation, and thus an
increased sense of professionalism and identity.
3. Effective career-long learning — rigorous study of existing
training in the areas of management, non-culture skills
and technology as well as culture-specific skills, to
(a) identify weaknesses around content and delivery
for the specific features of the sector; and
(b) propose solutions, including a framework of courses
and a method of certification/accreditation.
In almost every case these options will require concerted
coordination and partnering with those in other sectors of
the economy (e.g. regarding self-employment issues) and
with individual disciplines in the cultural sector (regarding
existing models).
CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING THE
MEANS OF THE SECTOR TO RESPOND
The sector is characterized by:
• high degrees of career selfemployment
(three times the
national average) with many of the
creative and performing occupations
having between 50%–90% of
the labour force in this category;
• many organizations are “microbusinesses”
with limited dedicated
management capacity;
• a limited appreciation of human
resources issues and the value of
lifelong learning;
• a limited infrastructure to provide
access to training, including information
about training opportunities
and training delivery, and
limited training customized to the
realities of the sector;
• a highly diversified range of
occupations, businesses and
organizations;
• a highly dispersed labour force;
• the sector is not seen as contributing
necessary “products”
and it and its human resources
issues are not recognized by society
at large nor potentially relevant
public programs at all levels
of government;
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