HECS-style payback mooted for arts grants

Successful artists would have to pay back government grants under a suggestion by Liberal Senator Ian McDonald.
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Image via Pixabay

The suggestion came on ​the ninth and final day of the public Senate hearings into the impact of the 2015 Commonwealth Budget decisions on Arts funding.

The two-day Senate hearing heard submissions from some of the big guns including Philanthropy Australia, the National Association of Visual Artists and the Arts Law Centre. All emphasised the potential damage caused by the loss of $105 million over four years to the Australia Council and the move to disproportionately supporting major organisations through the National Program for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA) at the expense of small-to-medium organisations.​

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina