Community, country and sector: fighting for change

On 12 May 2014, the Australia Council for the Arts – and the broader Australian arts sector – reeled in shock as then Minister for the Arts George Brandis announced he had reallocated $104.8 million over four years from the Australia Council’s budget to a new arts funding program, the National Program for Excellence in the Arts (later renamed Catalyst).

The subsequent chaos this inflicted on the Australian arts sector – including the cancellation of funding rounds and a significant decrease to funding for independent artists and the small-to-medium sector, all while the major performing arts companies were insulated from the cuts – has been well documented.