Tabled in Federal Parliament last night (Tuesday 12 May) by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the Albanese Government’s 2026-27 Budget invests $1.1 billion in Australia’s arts and cultural sector, including $22.9 million for new measures.
The $22.9 million is directed towards three very specific initiatives, two of which are infrastructure focused:
- $10.1 million over two years for the Australian National Maritime Museum – to effect urgent repairs and address critical public safety concerns with its wharves, which allow it to display its heritage fleet.
- $9.9 million over three years for the National Film and Sound Archive – to redevelop its specialist storage facility for nitrate-based cultural material (cellulose nitrate-based film stock was widely used by filmmakers until the early 1950s but is highly flammable), with the goal of protecting important cultural heritage and addressing safety and capacity issues.
- $3 million for commemorative activities marking the centenary of Old Parliament House – to acknowledge the history of Australian democracy and the significance of socially inclusive practices and institutions.
The majority of funding is allocated to existing initiatives, including:
- Creative Australia – including for its funding programs, such as those directly supporting individual artists.
- National collecting institutions – including the National Archives of Australia, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, National Gallery of Australia and National Library of Australia, among others.
- Indigenous arts, languages and repatriation – including the Indigenous Languages and Arts program, Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program and Indigenous Repatriation program.
- ARTS8 national arts training organisations – including the Australian Film, Television and Radio School; the Australian Ballet School; Australian National Academy of Music; Australian Youth Orchestra; Flying Fruit Fly Circus; NAISDA Dance College; National Institute of Circus Arts; and National Institute of Dramatic Art.
- Regional arts – including the Regional Arts Fund, Visions of Australia and Festivals Australia.
- Australian screen industry – with direct funding to Screen Australia, Ausfilm and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.
Federal Budget 2026-27 – quick links
NAVA says underlying issues ‘remain unresolved’
Penelope Benton, Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts, welcomed the stability the budget provided but said it ‘does little to address the conditions under which many artists are working’.
‘Artists continue to contend with precarious incomes, unpaid labour and rising costs, while many of the underlying issues affecting the sector remain unresolved,’ she said in a statement.
NAVA noted several measures introduced in the 2026-27 Federal Budget that may positively affect parts of the visual arts sector, including making the $20,000 small business instant asset write-off permanent. In addition to supporting artists and small arts organisations purchasing equipment and materials, this measure may encourage businesses to acquire artworks eligible under the scheme.
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NAVA’s response to the 2026-27 Federal Budget also highlighted the need for ongoing policy development around longer-term reforms relating to taxation, superannuation and artists’ incomes.
‘Visual artists and arts workers continue to navigate insecure incomes, unpaid labour, rising living costs and limited access to long-term financial security,’ the statement continued.
‘Recent analysis from A New Approach’s The Big Picture shows federal per capita expenditure on arts and culture has fallen to its lowest level on record, while a growing proportion of cultural spending is directed toward infrastructure rather than the people who produce and sustain creative work.’
This is borne out again with most of the $22.9 million in new measures in the 2026-27 Federal Budget going towards infrastructure.
Ultimately, NAVA welcomed the Federal Government’s continued investment in Australia’s arts and cultural sector, but said reform must also address the economic conditions of arts work, such as via tax reform, superannuation, artists’ incomes, AI regulation and long-term support for the small-to-medium sector.
‘As consultation begins on the next National Cultural Policy, there is an opportunity to focus more directly on the economic conditions of arts work and the sustainability of arts careers,’ Benton said.
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Theatre Network Australia acknowledges ‘constrained fiscal environment’
Amrit Gill, CEO of peak body Theatre Network Australia, tells ArtsHub: ‘Theatre Network Australia acknowledges the release of the 2026-27 Federal Budget in what is clearly a constrained fiscal environment. In this context, it is encouraging to see that overall Commonwealth investment in the arts remains stable. This continuity provides an important foundation for a sector that continues to recover, adapt and contribute significantly to Australia’s cultural, social and economic life.
‘However, we note the absence of new targeted measures for the performing arts, particularly for independent artists and small-to-medium organisations, who are the primary drivers of artistic innovation, employment and audience engagement across the country.
‘Without additional support, the gap between what is resourced and what is needed will continue to widen.’
TNA’s statement emphasises that rising costs across the sector, intensified by global economic pressures, are placing increasing strain on artists and organisations, and that funding levels are not keeping pace with inflation, demand or the complexity of delivering work in this environment.
‘This risks undermining the resilience and sustainability of the very parts of the sector that generate new work and nurture diverse voices,’ says Gill, adding that TNA is also concerned about the potential impacts of changes to the NDIS.
‘Disabled artists, and the organisations that support their practice, are vital to a thriving, inclusive cultural landscape. Any reduction in support risks limiting access, participation and equity within the arts,’ she says.
‘We urge the Federal Government to consider more targeted investment in the performing arts and to ensure that policy settings support a vibrant, sustainable and inclusive sector into the future.’
Chamber of Arts and Culture WA says Federal Budget shows the sector has work to do
Rick Heath, Executive Director of the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA, tells ArtsHub that the Federal Budget is ‘a clear sign of the work we as a sector need to do to better communicate how arts, culture and the creative industries contribute to government priorities, such as social inclusion, productivity, wellbeing, liveability and broadening opportunity’.
He continues: ‘With headline inflation forecast to vary between 5% and an optimistic 2.5%, the $14 million increase to Creative Australia’s bottom line is positively indicative of investment that is, at a minimum, not regressing (setting aside 1.2% population growth).
‘There’s little doubt in my mind that the Minister and the Office for the Arts value arts and culture. The challenge now is less about whether culture matters, and more about building deeper understanding across government of how investment in arts and culture contributes to the outcomes governments are trying to achieve.
‘You can value a garden because it’s beautiful. But understanding a garden means recognising everything it contributes – shade, habitat, cooling, food and wellbeing – while also understanding what it needs to thrive over the long term: water, healthy soil, sunlight, care and time.
‘The same is true of arts and culture.’
Heath believes the sector needs to embrace the creative challenge of changing the government’s narrative from ‘value’ to ‘understanding’.
He concludes: ‘With consultation on the new National Cultural Policy closing in just 10 days, we need to build deeper policy understanding of how arts and culture can deliver on national priorities – and why sustained investment across government portfolios is necessary to realise those outcomes (and in doing so, provide the stability the sector needs to thrive).’
