POLICY SUMMARY

To read the full details of the Greens NSW Arts Policy click on the orange download button on the right.

The arts are an integral part of people’s lives, and NSW has an amazing collection of musicians, writers, painters, actors, designers, sculptors, dancers and filmmakers.  An important social goal of any society should be to increase local community participation in artistic, cultural and intellectual life.

Living as an artist and working in the arts takes a lot of dedicated work, often with little to no pay. We want to see our next generation of emerging artists better supported by dedicating more public funding to small projects and individual artists at the grass roots level, which is where our artists are nurtured.  That's why the Greens strongly support government grants for individual artists and financial assistance for exhibitions, performances, publications, and recordings. 

We are diligent in parliament to prevent any legislative or administrative action that limits, on political grounds, freedom of expression in works of art.

The Greens NSW will work to:

  • Increase substantially the total funding of arts organisations in NSW
  • Simplify applications for government funding by artists and community groups
  • Democratise and broaden the consultation base for funding decisions
  • Implement the recommendations of the National Aboriginal and Islander Cultural Strategy, 1997, including supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural industries, developing the links between those cultural industries and the tourism industry; and implementing prison art programs
  • Set up programs in schools and in community and youth centres for visiting writers, artists and musicians
  • Ensure that day-to-day access to all public museums and art galleries is free
  • Protect the provision of live entertainment in pubs and clubs
  • Provide limited funding for community radio and television; and
  • Amend/or rescind NSW legislation that limits artistic expression by furthering or complementing the Federal Government’s “Sedition” Laws.