After vociferous objection by the arts community, Federal Arts Minister Mitch Fifield announced that the Catalyst funding program, established by former Arts Minister George Brandis, would be abolished and $80.2m returned to the Australia Council over the next four years. The Catalyst program removed almost 15% of the Australia Council’s budget and resulted in loss of funding to more than 60 small to medium sized arts organisations. The department will retain $2 million per year to support organisations not funded by the Australia Council and will continue to administer the Visions of Australia and Festivals Australia initiatives.
Risky Business…
Our next Creative Matters edition on RISK will include a special section of your responses to the following questions: 1. How does the