Australia's Cultural Institutions and the Efficiency Dividend: Not a Pretty Picture
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Abstract
The Commonwealth government has a significant responsibility in collecting, maintaining and exhibiting Australian and international art and cultural artefacts to both educate and inform the public and preserve our political, social and cultural history.
There are a number of cultural agencies within the Commonwealth Government. These include the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the National Archives of Australia (NAA), the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), the National Library of Australia (NLA) and the Australian War Memorial (AWM). This paper briefly reviews the effect of Commonwealth funding practices on the operation of these agencies and concludes that the policies and practices of the last two decades have significantly damaged Australia’s cultural agencies – something which the Rudd government must remedy in order to secure Australia’s heritage and renew our focus on the arts.
There are a number of cultural agencies within the Commonwealth Government. These include the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the National Archives of Australia (NAA), the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), the National Library of Australia (NLA) and the Australian War Memorial (AWM). This paper briefly reviews the effect of Commonwealth funding practices on the operation of these agencies and concludes that the policies and practices of the last two decades have significantly damaged Australia’s cultural agencies – something which the Rudd government must remedy in order to secure Australia’s heritage and renew our focus on the arts.
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