Budget 2023-24: the sector responds

Live Performance Australia, the National Association for the Visual Arts and other peak bodies respond to Tuesday’s Federal Budget.

While responses to the Albanese Government’s second Budget, handed down on Tuesday, have been mixed – with charities such as Mission Australia recognising ‘small positive steps but not enough to end housing and [the] homelessness emergency’ – overall, reactions from the arts sector have been positive.

On Twitter, cultural commentator and academic Ben Eltham described the 2023-2024 Budget as ‘the best Federal Budget for the arts and culture in more than a decade’, while Screen Queensland’s Acting Chief Executive Belinda Burns told the ABC the Government’s proposed increase to the tax rebate for Australian-filmed international productions was ‘a total game-changer’.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts