REVIEW OF THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL MAY 2012 - Creative ...

Comparison of government arts expenditure as a percentage of GDP 9Australia Canada New ZealandExpenditure $740 million $2.079 billion $235 millionTotal % of GDP 0.084 % 0.156% 0.198%oThe Council’s limited discretionary funding and the growing numbers of grant applications mean thatthe pool of ‘unfunded excellence’ is growing – and may represent a mismatch between the needs ofthe sector and the level of Australian Government support.Recommendations: Funding RequirementRecommendation 6In order to facilitate implementation of the new purpose for the Council, the Review recommends thatthe Australian Government provide additional funding of $21.25 million per annum to the Council tocover current funding pressures and changes to its purpose as follows:1. Research and Advocacy – The provision of this additional funding will be tied to a KeyPerformance Indicator as agreed with the Minister. Funding is to be used by the Council todevelop a detailed and systematic data collection program for the benefit of the AustralianGovernment and the sector as a whole (much the same as that undertaken by Screen Australia,including an annual ‘state of the industry’ report). Additional funding of $1 million per annumwould enable this work to take place.2. The Council to act as a funding generator – the Council’s role in developing funding to the artsfrom the sector could be enhanced through the addition of a ‘commercial’ funding programallowing the Council to develop new models of funding for the sector, such as micro-loans andmatching programs. Additional funding of $3 million per annum would enable the Council toestablish a pilot program rolling out new models of funding.3. MPA contestable fund – top-up funding to the Council of $1.25 million per annum as the AustraliaGovernment contribution to establish a $2.5 million excellence funding pool available to MPAorganisations on a competitive basis, to reward outstanding performance in fulfilling MPA goalswith criteria to be determined as part of the opening up of the MPA organisations to broader peerreview.4. Unfunded excellence – As discussed above, the Council has identified significant levels ofunfunded excellence among its current application base. On the basis of estimates that unfundedexcellence for the Council is about $15 million, this Review proposes top-up funding of thisamount to meet this growing gap in the sector.9 Source: GDP levels are from 2009-10 World Bank figures; Government of Canada 2009-10 Estimates Part I and II;New Zealand Government, 2009-10 Arts, Culture and Heritage Vote (estimates). Relates to federal funding and doesnot include state and territories in Australia nor the spend in the provinces in Canada.22