The Northern Territory (NT) Arts Strategy 2024-2034

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 the inclusion of creative industries to form a connected, contemporary policy approach.

ANA’s research shows that middle Australians think arts and culture help people coming to Australia to understand the nation’s diverse identity; it also shows they value First Nations cultural and creative practice in AustraliaKate Fielding, Aakanksha Sidhu, and Angela Vivian, “Intergenerational Arts and Culture: Lessons across Middle Australia” (A New Approach (ANA), October 2023), 9..

To assist the NT, we are pleased to share relevant ANA resources, including a transcript of our Chair’s recent National Press Club Address.

ANA resources to assist the NT

• Our Chair, Rupert Myer AO, addressed 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. A Ministerial Council would help the NT work more closely with other governments and embed policy concerning arts, culture and creativity across portfolios, building on the significant policy momentum on arts and culture right across the country. ANA anticipates new cultural policies from NT, Western Australia and South Australia, 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.

• 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 recently published Analysis Paper, ‘Intergenerational Arts and Culture: Lessons across Middle Australia’  and visual summary factsheet. This draws on a three-year focus-group study across the country, including the NT, exploring attitudes towards arts, culture and creativity amongst middle Australia. This paper summarises the themes across our three previously released Insight Reports focused on middle Australia.

• 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. For not-for-profits of the ‘Advancing Culture’ subtype, sales and services income is the largest component (47% in 2017-18) of the income mix, however our analysis shows this was significantly disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic (goods and services comprised 27% of total revenue in 2019-20).

• 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.