Articles - 20 January 2005

Australia Council plans for growth

The Australia Council's CEO, Ms Jennifer Bott, announced in December 2004 organisational changes to the Australia Council. The changes included the Community Cultural Development Board, the New Media Arts Board and the creation of a new Arts Development Section to undertake relationships with Key Organisation across all artforms.

The Australia Council's media release states the "reorganisation plans were formulated by a Council task force which considered a wide range of options and consulted with staff over the past six months. The task force, headed by the Council's Deputy Chair, Terrey Arcus, included Council members Michael Snelling (then Chair, New Media Arts Board and then Acting Chair, Visual Arts/Craft Board), Adam Lewis (Community Interest Representative), Ian McRae (Chair, Theatre Board) and Jennifer Bott, Australia Council CEO."

The first open forum to discuss the Council's reorganisation will be convened by dLux Media Arts and ANAT in Sydney at the Paddington RSL on the 24th January 2005 from 6.00pm to 8.00pm. An open forum is planned for each state and territory.

The Australia Council's new groove

The following is an excerpt from Artshub article written by Rita Dimasi and Venessa Paech

The overhaul – which the Council says is designed to put arts back on the national agenda - was spearheaded by a task force headed by the Australia Council’s Deputy Chair, Terrey Arcus. The group spent some time considering options before presenting final recommendations to Council heads for sign off last week.

Key ingredients in the overhaul are as follows:

• The Council’s Community Cultural Development Board (one of nine boards that make decisions about grants) will be axed and funding for projects in this sector will be moved through all arts boards.
• The Council’s New Media Arts Board will be abolished, with its duties dissolved into the Visual Arts and Music Boards.
• A new Key Organisations division will be established to oversee recurrent grants to small- and medium-sized arts companies (whose business plans will now be assessed).
• The Council's governing body will take control of $9 million a year aimed at strategic initiatives (funding previously distributed across the various boards).
• Managerial positions on each arts board will be modified into ‘Director’ positions, extending responsibilities for the role beyond grant management to strategic leadership for the respective sector.
• An Inter-Arts Office will be created to handle hybrid-arts (where artists combine conventional artforms to create new forms of artistic expression) and "triage" new media funding applications to relevant departments and individuals.
• A new Strategy Department will be created to oversee existing policy development and research activties (responding to the needs of the Artform Directors and serving the Executives and Boards).
• A revision of the Australia Council governing body that includes the addition of another community representative appointment (to sit alongside artform appointments, three existing community interest representatives, a deputy chair, chair and Council CEO). All appointments will still require Ministerial involvement and sanction.

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