Getting serious about Australian music

Our live music scene is internationally renowned but threatened at home, a situation Dr Ianto Ware is keen to address.

Our live music scene is internationally renowned but threatened at home, a situation Dr Ianto Ware is keen to address. 

When the then Arts Minister Simon Crean launched the National Cultural Policy on March 13 this year, one small but significant detail in the document may have escaped all but the most keen-eyed of observers.

Along with promises to develop a National Arts and Culture Accord and reform the Australia Council’s purpose and governance arrangements, Creative Australia also promised to appoint Australia’s first National Live Music Coordinator, someone who could ‘work closely with the sector and government on local regulations that limit opportunities for live music in urban areas.’

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts