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by Erica Martin

The cultural sector, particularly the performing arts, has undergone enormous change over the last ten years to meet the growing demand to tour performances, increase audiences, incorporate new technologies and remain competitive in attracting corporate sponsorship.

To face these challenges the major performing arts companies have made some difficult decisions - restructuring to remain viable in business terms without compromising their artistic integrity.

To assist the major performing arts sector, the Commonwealth Government has announced an inquiry with the aim of assisting companies remain financially healthy, artistically vibrant and broadly accessible.

The Major Performing Arts Inquiry, the first of its kind in Australia, was announced by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, in mid-December last year.

The inquiry is chaired by Dr Helen Nugent, who is not only passionate about the arts but also has a long history of involvement in the cultural sector, in addition to her business experience.

Dr Nugent is the former Director of Strategy at Westpac. She resigned as a director of Opera Australia to chair the inquiry, and also stood down as Chair of the Major Organisations Fund of the Australia Council (and Deputy Chair of the Council) for the duration of the inquiry.

'The inquiry will result in a set of strategic options for the future, together with an approach for implementation, which hopefully all parties can commit to and are able to work with,' Nugent explains.

'This is a very important inquiry for the performing arts sector. It is a well recognised fact that it's becoming harder and harder for performing arts companies to survive, let alone thrive in today's economic climate.'

The wide ranging inquiry follows on from the Managing for the Future report commissioned by the Australia Council's Major Organisations Fund in 1998. The report identified a number of crucial factors affecting the sector, including rising costs, constrained box office growth particularly in the smaller states, oversupply of venue capacity in some capital cities, increased competition for corporate sponsorship, and relatively static base funding from all levels of government.

'A main focus will be the sector's ability to respond to the forces of change - both global and local - which are having an impact on long-term stability and development,' Nugent says.

'A key to the success of this inquiry is consultation - we are talking to performing arts companies, State and Territory Governments, venues and funding bodies to establish the main areas of concern for the future.

'By working together we can ensure a sustainable future for the performing arts in Australia - without stifling the creative challenges available to artists embarking on new works.

'We are also committed to a rigorous analysis of the facts as the basis for developing our options.'

The inquiry will report to the Government in August and its findings will also be discussed at the next meeting of the Cultural Ministers Council.

Contact

Peter Young, Major Performing Arts Inquiry Task Group 02 6271 8280 or email peter.young@dcita.gov.au, or visit www.dcita.gov.au.

Other members of the inquiry committee, chaired by Dr Nugent are:

Mr David Gonski, a Sydney solicitor and a principal of the corporate advisory firm, Wentworth Associates. A chairman of Hoyts Cinemas and a director of a number of public companies, Gonski wrote the Government's 1997 review into the Government's support of the Australian Film Industry, and is President of the Art Gallery of NSW.

Mr Michael Chaney, Managing Director of Wesfarmers, director of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited and Gresham Partners Holdings. He is a Board Member of the Business Council of Australia and a Trustee of the Art Gallery of Western Australia and Patron of the West Australian Ballet.

Ms Catherine Walter, Director of National Australia Bank, Orica, the Australian Stock Exchange, and the Melbourne Business School. She was previously on the Board of The Australian Ballet School and has stood down as a member of the Major Organisations Fund to be a member of the inquiry.

• Document ID: 11459 |
• Last modified: 5 February 2008, 6:04pm