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Budget 2021-22
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Reviving our cultural and creative industries through sustained support

26 August 2021

Elise Archer MP

Minister for Arts

The Tasmanian Liberal Government is a strong supporter of our cultural and creative industries that enrich the lives of all Tasmanians, support thousands of jobs across the State and add millions to our economy.

That’s why we have committed over $12 million in support to the sector during what has been a very challenging 18 months for artists and arts organisations, and we have worked hard to deliver a suite of support, stimulus and recovery initiatives to get our industry back on its feet.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we acted quickly and announced our Cultural and Creative Industries stimulus package in March 2020. We have continued to deliver significant support to the sector ever since with a range of new and ongoing support, stimulus and recovery initiatives, and we recognise how important it is to continue to build confidence and momentum within the industry.

And that’s exactly what we are doing, with the 2021-22 Tasmanian Budget injecting an additional total commitment of $5 million for arts funding over the forward estimates, which includes:

  • $1.2 million per year to support Tasmanian arts organisations, reflecting a 50 per cent increase in annual funding available to support our vibrant artists to engage and inspire audiences, and to deliver certainty and confidence for our cultural and creative industries; and
  • $200,000 to support Tasmanian freelance artists through the Creative Support Small Grants program, which will help our freelance artists to get back to work in the ‘gig economy.’

This funding is in addition to the $4.5 million in stimulus support announced in March 2020, where we provided a further $500,000 for arts organisations, as well as $1 million to support the reactivation of our Live Performance sector, and $3 million for Screen Tasmania’s Screen Innovation Fund, an initiative of our Government, to further showcase Tasmania as a destination for film and production in our burgeoning screen industry.

This builds on our $2 million ‘share-the-risk’ Live Performance Support program, as well as building on the $4 million allocation in the 2020-21 State Budget which enabled the establishment of new programs and initiatives to support organisations, performers and artists to recover, form partnerships and produce new work.

Our Government knows that continued momentum and confidence is critical to the ongoing growth and development of our State’s arts sector, and our suite of initiatives have been specifically developed to support an incredibly diverse sector and ensure that our artistic industries can continue to engage, challenge and inspire Tasmanian audiences, as well as national and international markets into the future.

This Budget delivers on our commitment to provide sustainable support to the cultural and creative sector so that it can continue to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, securing the industry’s future.