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Question and Answer Tracking Details

1563 - Arts - FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR REGIONAL ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

Farraway, Sam to the Special Minister of State, Minister for Roads, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, and Minister for Jobs and Tourism
FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR REGIONAL ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

(1) Will the Government support Councils across New South Wales to ensure local and regional galleries and museums continue to operate free of charge?

(2) What grant opportunities will the Government consider to support regional councils in the operation of regional galleries and museums?

(3) Will the Government support regional councils with the same financial consideration as metropolitan galleries and museums?

(a) How this will be achieved?

(4) Was consultation was undertaken with galleries and museums to discuss the rising operating costs of prior to the 2023-24 Budget?

(5) What is the New South Wales Government’s commitment to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to ensure that they will remain financially viable under rising operational expenses?

(6) How will the Government ensure that reduced funding to organisations, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, will not place undue financial stress to meet rising costs of operation?

(7) Will the community be expected to pay general admission entry fees to visit:

(a) the NSW Art Gallery?

(b) the Museum of Contemporary Art?

(8) Has consultation occurred with the Museum of Contemporary Art in relation to their concerns with underfunding?

(9) What is the Government doing to address rising running costs of the Museum of Contemporary Arts, which according to the Museum of Contemporary Art now outstrip Government income?
Answer -

(1) The NSW Government currently supports NSW regional galleries and museums managed by councils across NSW through a range of funding opportunities. This ensures audiences from across the State have access to NSW's extraordinary museums and galleries.

(2) Council operated galleries are eligible for project and program support though the NSW Government's Arts and Cultural Funding Program. Through this funding program, 15 regional galleries and museums receive multi-year funding to support the delivery of their programs. In 2023 to 2024, this totalled $1,424,500 per annum. This supports organisations from across the State from as far as Broken Hill and Bathurst, to Lismore, Leeton and Albury.

(3) 48 per cent of multi-year funding for Local Government goes to local council-operated regional galleries and museums.

(a) As outlined in 'Creative Communities', the NSW Government's recently released arts, culture and creative Industries Policy, Regional NSW remains a key priority area for funding. The NSW Government has committed to delivering a regional arts, culture and creative industries strategy in late 2024.

(4) The NSW Government undertook consultation between July and September 2023 to support the development of a new Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Policy. This program included eight regional town halls, ranging as far across NSW as Bega, Lismore and Broken Hill. Regional town halls were often arranged with the support of Local Government authorities, including galleries and museums, and engaged closely with the arts and culture sector, including regional galleries and museums participants.

(5) The NSW Government is committed to ensuring that the Art Gallery of NSW continues to be a globally significant art museum based in Sydney. The Government is working with the Art Gallery as part of the FY2025 Budget process to ensure that it is adequately funded.

(6) The Museum of Contemporary Art received a funding increase from the current NSW Government in 2023. This included an annual increase to address rising cost levels until 2027. Other regional art galleries and museums on multi-year funding have not had a reduction in funding to contracted levels.

(7) See answers to a and b.

(a) There is no plan to introduce general admission fees to the Art Gallery. The Art Gallery's major exhibitions will continue to be ticketed.

(b) The Museum of Contemporary Art is an independently governed organisation. The decision on general admission fees is for the organisation. Currently, it does not charge general admission fees.

(8) The new funding arrangement was finalised with the Museum of Contemporary Art in May 2023. Create NSW has met regularly with the Museum of Contemporary Art to discuss its funding concerns and continues to work with the organisation to support an alignment of the ambition of the Museum with a diversification of income.

(9) As a State Significant Organisation, the Museum of Contemporary Art receives recurrent funding from the NSW Government through the Arts and Cultural Program. This funding agreement was renewed in May 2023, with the MCA receiving an uplift that increased their annual core funding to $4,190,040. Under this funding agreement, the MCA will receive an annual 2% increase to this base funding level through to 2027.

In 2023, the NSW Government provided the MCA with an additional $1.2 million through the Rescue & Restart program to support organisational stability. Furthermore, the MCA has been supported through Create NSW Culture Up Late program, and Destination NSW's International Art Series.

In addition, the NSW Government is reviewing other opportunities to support rising insurance costs for international works through an indemnification scheme, which would assist the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Question asked on 1 December 2023 (session 58-1) and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 148
Answer received on 22 December 2023 and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 163

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