Creating for the future – South Australia’s new cultural policy consultation

ANA welcomes this opportunity to assist South Australia (SA) with its long-term vision for arts, culture and creativity.

The current focus on arts and culture across Australian jurisdictions helps SA work more closely with governments and embed policy concerning arts, culture and creativity across portfoliosANA anticipates new cultural policies from SA, Western Australia and Northern Territory, and a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into cultural and creative industries, in 2024. This complements the 2023 release of the National Cultural Policy and NSW Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Policy..

In addition, the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for SA (like all Australian states and territories) to build cultural ties within and beyond Australia, attract cultural tourism and develop cultural exports. As her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of SA (and former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) puts it:

‘Successful cultural diplomacy enables us to engage with others, drawing on our soft power, to build awareness of who we are and what we stand for and how we can work together, whether in the arts, or more broadly.’Frances Adamson, “Transcript of Don Dunstan Lecture” (Government House South Australia, November 28, 2023), https://www.governor.sa.gov.au/vice-regal/speeches/don-dunstan-lecture.

Drawing on our published research with middle Australians aged 18 to 75, we welcome the Discussion Paper’s use of the phrase ‘arts and culture’ as an inclusive and accessible phrasing and inclusion of creative industries to form a connected, contemporary policy approach.

ANA resources to assist SA

• Our Chair Rupert Myer AO’s recent Address to the National Press Club where he shared his vision for Australia to become a global cultural powerhouse. He urged the members of National Cabinet to commit to closer collaboration. Specifically, he called for the elevation of the existing meeting of Cultural Ministers to a formalised Ministerial Council reporting annually to National Cabinet.
• ANA’s submission to the federal National Cultural Policy consultation, which highlights ways for Australia to reach its potential as a cultural powerhouse.
• ANA’s recently published Insight Report ‘Accelerate: Reframing culture’s role in productivity’. Productivity is critical to our quality of life but Australia’s measured productivity is growing at its lowest rate in 60 years. This Insight Report shows how arts, culture and creativity can contribute towards solving this problem. Australia has an opportunity to accelerate productivity growth using a cultural and creative lens, delivering value and returns to investors, businesses, workers, and all Australians.
• ANA’s Insight Report ‘To Scale: Mapping financial inflows in Australian arts, culture and creativity’. This report dispels the myth that Australian cultural and creative industries are predominantly financed through government assistance. In fact, the largest proportion of income in the cultural and creative industries was from ‘sales and services’ in 2020-21. These industries earned 87% of income from sales and services, which included things like ticket sales for art and cultural events and royalties from intellectual property to cultural exports and computer software consulting fees.
• ANA’s Insight Report ‘Transformative: Impacts of Culture and Creativity’. This provides a snapshot of current research and findings about the positive impacts of artistic, creative and cultural activity on seven different parts of our lives: society and place; economy; innovation; health and wellbeing, education and learning; international engagement; and culture.