National Association for the Visual Arts

one of several forms of support and acknowledgement, which togethercan give artists the means and incentive to conduct their practice.The Throsby and Hollister report 3 provides the extremely worryingevidence that over at least the fifteen year period of the surveys, visualartists’ incomes have been steadily dropping, and comparatively morethan the average wage earner. While this was also true for other creatorsuntil the early 90s, the incomes of professionals in other artform areasbegan to rise again. Sadly this is not the case for visual and craft artists.In 2000/1, the most recent period surveyed, 22% of visual artists and 19%of craft practitioners earned less than $10,000 income from all sources.The median income of visual artist was $22,900 with $3,100 coming fromtheir art practice, and $22,600 for craft practitioners with $8,200 comingfrom their craft practice. With median expenditure on visual arts practiceof $4,400 and $7,000 for craft, many creators are making very smallprofits, if any. When artists’ incomes are compared with those of otherfull time employed professional people earning a median income of$48,900, the difference becomes starkly clear. Artists are earning lessthan half the income of the average professional.Alongside this, the auction market has significantly increased its profitsover the last 10 years (as detailed in the DCITA discussion paper)indicating that the improving art economy can well afford to make acontribution to artists’ financial viability.3. Who do you consider should be the principal targets of aresale royalty arrangement and why?The principal targets of the resale royalty arrangement would be allAustralian artists whose artistic works are resold and their heirs. Just asany one else’s heirs have the right to benefit from their benefactors’ability to build their estates, so too should the heirs of artists who havemanaged to achieve financial success.NAVA is of the view that the royalty right should not be based on needalone, but is a right similar to moral rights and should be viewed as anentitlement for all visual artists and craft practitioners regardless of theirchosen medium of expression. Some suggest that the right should onlyapply to Aboriginal artists, however this is not a view shared by NAVA,3 ibid