Cultural policy in Australia : key themes in the governance of the arts

These observations are the starting point for this chapter which examines the ways in which key aspects of the remit of contemporary cultural policy in Australia are being imagined. It is particularly concerned with how the themes of the economy, education and culture are framed including their intersections with other policies. To this end, the chapter considers a recent cultural policy framework from each of the three levels of government in Australia: the former Federal Labor Government’s Creative Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2013); the NSW Arts and Cultural Policy Framework (Arts NSW, 2015) of the conservative Liberal-National Party Government; and City of Sydney’s Creative City: Cultural Policy and Action Plan 2014–2024 (2014). Specifically, the chapter aims to do three things: first, examine the ways in which the triad of culture, art and creativity are positioned in the selected policies; second, ask how these three policies frame arts education and training; and third, consider the importance (or otherwise) of a creative industries agenda. My intention is not to examine the detail of particular programs, funding schemes and initiatives, nor is it to provide an exhaustive analysis of each of the policies, such endeavours would clearly be beyond the scope of a single chapter and the policies are intended to be emblematic rather than highly specific. The task then is to consider particular discourses, assumptions and expectations that are implicit in the policies, and to provide some insights into the limits of policy and the contexts within which contemporary cultural production is occurring. This work is important because before arguments regarding the need or otherwise for cultural policy can be made, it is necessary to have a sense of what cultural policy aims to achieve and whose interests it seeks to support. I turn first to a brief consideration of the background to cultural policy and the role played by different levels of government in Australia in its development and operation.