Attendees at the recent annual Tasmanian sector gathering hosted by Performing Line Tas were given a presentation by Arts Tasmania on the breakdown of levels of state financial investment in the arts, and updates on what this meant for future investment.

“In the week following Sector Day, the Arts Tasmania announcements confirmed that while we can celebrate those 11 organisations securing multi-year funding, it is not all merriment. With the static pool of funds impacted by increases to many organisations and nearly $400,000 separated out for a new project category, a group of organisations that had secured a total of over $1 million in funding in the previous year received no funding.

“Crucial to the breakout conversations that followed was the need for sector-wide action to address a much needed uplift in budget and the introduction of indexation for arts in the state budget. It was recognised that, while a competitive grant process is important to maintain quality, building the knowledge, infrastructure and audiences for a company takes time, and more is lost from our community than just the program for that year if an organisation closes due to lost funding.”

Lesley Graham, Artshub (28 Nov, 2023)

TNA provided input and assistance to the incredible research, work, and rallying of Cathryn Williams (DRILL General Manager) to put together a submission to the Tasmanian State Budget Community Consultation, which she shared with other Tasmanian organisations.

Importantly, data from that ABS indicates that in 2021-22 Tasmania had the lowest Arts expenditure per capita of any state or territory. The Tasmanian government invested $4.90 per capita ($27.9m total) into the Arts, which was $1.73 lower than the combined national investment of $6.63 per capita.

The submission recommends:

1. An increase to arts and cultural investment via Arts Tasmania’s grant programs, providing the equivalent of indexation on “organisations” funding since 2021-2022 of $920,000.
2. Ongoing annual indexation for Arts Tasmania’s grant programs.
3. Renewed investment for the Tasmanian Strategic Touring Fund of $220,000 per annum.

Read TNA’s submission in full here.