Up to $250,000 to recognise the importance of visual communication

Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan and Ministers for Education, Science and Training, Dr. Brendan Nelson today announced a national review into arts, craft and design education in Australia.

We are pleased to announce that our portfolios will provide up to $250,000 in funding towards a national review of visual communication and visual arts, craft and design in Australian educational institutions.

The review will investigate:

• teacher preparation programmes
• State and Territory visual arts curriculum within schools
• participation in museum and gallery education
• University courses in the visual arts and
• approaches to teaching art and design at TAFE

Visual literacy is a fundamental skill, increasingly as important as language and numeracy. We use it in our jobs, in our personal development and in our creative lives.

It is vital for everyone in the community to have the skills necessary to read and interpret information presented through modern visual mediums including computer systems, video phones, television, advertising and film.

This review will help ensure visual communication skills are developed and nurtured within the Australian education system.

A full proposal for this review is being developed by the Department of Education, Science and Training, the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, and the Australia Council in consultation with the visual education group of the National Visual Arts and Crafts Network (NVACN) and the National Association for the Visual Arts(NAVA).

The Australian Government's support of this review is another example of its commitment to foster creativity through our education system.

The review will also complement the Review of School Music Education which was announced in March by Dr Nelson and Senator Kemp.