2025 Federal Election Campaign

The Government is due to call the Federal election very soon, and we need your help to ensure that arts and culture stays on the agenda. TNA is supporting members to make contact with their MPs and candidates to make sure they know about the cultural assets in their electorate, highlight the important role arts and culture has in Australian society, and seek a commitment from all parties for stronger investment in the arts workforce and audience development.

Engaging with your MP or Senator is a powerful way to ensure that arts policy remains a priority. Politicians are more likely to act when they hear directly from their constituents. Below are practical tips for emailing, meeting with, and influencing politicians to support arts investment and policy improvements.

The Message

TNA is calling on the Federal Government to invest in three key areas that will secure fair pay, career pathways, and participation in the arts for all Australians.

You can read about these in more details in our 2025-26 Federal Budget Recommendations.

1. Fair Pay and Sustainable Careers for Artists

Tax-free status for arts grants and fellowships to alleviate financial stress for independent creatives.

Reform to Public Benevolent Institution (PBI) status so more arts organisations can offer competitive salaries.

Why? The average income for artists is 26% below the national workforce average, with half earning less than $10,000 from their creative work. Without action, skills shortages and workforce attrition will continue to threaten the sector.

2. A Stronger Performing Arts Touring and Regional Development Sector

Double the investment in the Playing Australia program to ensure regional and remote communities continue to have access to high-quality live performances.

Why? Costs for touring have risen 30-50% since the pandemic, yet investment hasn’t kept pace. Without stronger support, many regional Australians will lose access to live performance altogether.

3. Future-Proofing the Sector by Investing in Young People’s Access to the Arts

An Arts Access Subsidy for Schools to fund student excursions to theatres, galleries, museums, and festivals.

A Creative Schools Program (modelled on Sporting Schools) to embed arts experiences in school life and connect schools to artists and organisations in their communities.

Reinstate ArtStart to help young artists transition into sustainable careers.

Why? Participation in the arts among young people is declining significantly. From 2017-18 to 2021-22 attendance at cultural venues dropped from 94% to 80%, and attendance at performing arts events almost halved, from 57% to 31%. If we don’t act now, Australia’s next generation will have fewer pathways into the arts—impacting our sector’s long-term sustainability.

How You Can Help

1. Contact Your MP and Senators

MPs and Senators need to hear from their constituents. Here’s how to get started:

Use one of our email templates. We've created a series of email templates to help you advocate for stronger investment in the arts, whether you’re an independent artist, an arts worker, or part of an organisation. Don't forget to personalise it with your story!
Request a meeting: check out our Tips for Engaging with Politicians.
Talk about these recommendations in your community and online.

2. Engage with Election Candidates

As election candidates are announced, ask them where they stand on arts funding. Even if they aren’t in government yet, they could be soon! Just this simple question posed to candidates can indicate to them that their constituents care about the arts and prompt them to consider their stance/policy.

3. Spread the Message

Share your advocacy efforts online and tag us! Let’s make sure the arts sector is heard loud and clear in this election.

Advocacy Toolkit

TNA has some resources for beginners getting into advocacy for the first time.

Who to contact - an overview and guide on figuring out how each level of government works, what they are responsible for, and who to contact when.
How to contact them - a brief and practical overview of which politician you should consider contacting, and how to find them.
Which contact method - suggestions on what works best; meetings, phone calls, letters or emails?
What to say - tips on what to include in your correspondence, and how to make your message more effective.

Other Resources

Voting in Australia - Slideshow by The Australia Institute on how voting works, how to vote and voting considerations.
Find your electorate - If you're not sure which electorate you're in, use this tool.
Find your MP and candidates - Finding your incumbent MP is easy; you can look them up here. Finding your other candidates though is a little less straight forward and requires just a little bit of searching. Major parties list their candidates and contact details (Labor, Liberal, Greens), and there is a Wikipedia page that has a well updated table. For independents, if you know their name you can search for a website or social media. If you get stuck, let us know!
Creative Australia electorate profiles - An interactive tool providing data on arts and culture in each of Australia’s Federal electorates; very useful for sharing with your MP!
TNA Quick Facts - We have pulled together some key facts and stats that you can use in your advocacy (with sources!).
Creative Australia Audience Data & Advocacy Tools - Brand new interactive dashboards the provide very useful and specific data on behaviours and attitudes towards the arts in Australia.
TNA databases - TNA has a couple of databases that might be useful in identifying some of the companies (assets) in your electorate, such as the Performance with/for/by Young People Companies and Circus & Physical Theatre Companies databases.