Create NSW

Create NSW

Agency overview
Formed	13 May 1971 (Ministry of Cultural Activities) 3 March 2006 (Arts NSW)
Preceding agencies	Ministry of Cultural Activities (1971–1975) Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation (1975–1976) Cultural Activities Division (1976–1984) Office of the Minister for the Arts (1984–1988) Ministry for the Arts (1988–2006) Arts NSW and Screen NSW
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Headquarters	323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney
Minister responsible	Hon. Don Harwin MLC, Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts
Agency executive	Chris Keeley, Executive Director
Parent Department	Department of Premier and Cabinet
Child agencies	Art Gallery of NSW Australian Museum Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Sydney Opera House Trust State Library of NSW Screen NSW
Website	https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/

Create NSW, a body created from amalgamation of Arts NSW (ANSW) and Screen NSW, is an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for administering the government's policies that support the arts, artists and the various cultural bodies within the state of New South Wales in Australia. As of May 2020, the executive team includes executive director Chris Keeley and Screen NSW head Grainne Brunsdon. The agency advises the Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts, presently Don Harwin MLC, who is ultimately responsible to the Parliament of New South Wales.

History

Arts minister role

The role of an "arts" minister, overseeing the management and support for all cultural activities in New South Wales, before the early 1970s was an unheard of concept in politics. However, by the early 1970s, various governments in Australia recognised the need for a steering authority for state support for the arts. In response, premier Bob Askin appointed George Freudenstein as the first Minister for Cultural Activities on 11 March 1971. On his appointment Freudenstein requested the establishment of an organisation to enable him to carry out his responsibilities and the Premier agreed. On 13 May 1971 the Ministry of Cultural Activities was established, taking over responsibility for various legislation and bodies that had previously been under the purview of the Department of Education, including the Archives Office of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, State Library of New South Wales, Australian Museum, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney Observatory, the Advisory Committee on Cultural Grants, NSW Film Council, and the Sydney Opera House Trust. In the case of the opera house, the Ministry had responsibility for its completion and final official opening on 20 October 1973.

With Freudenstein's departure on 3 January 1975, a new Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation was appointed and on 6 January 1975, the Ministry of Cultural Activities was replaced by the new Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation. This arrangement lasted until 14 May 1976 when the new Labor Government of Neville Wran transferred the responsibility for cultural activities to the Premier's Department. This became the Cultural Activities Division under the administration of the Premier himself. This situation continued until 1984, when Wran established the Office of the Minister for the Arts within the Premier's Department and commissioned himself with the title of Minister for the Arts.

On 15 June 1988 a Ministry for the Arts independent of the Premier's Department was established.

2006: Arts NSW created

This Ministry for the Arts was abolished on 3 March 2006 and its responsibilities were moved to the new Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation. Arts NSW became the new dedicated division for the Minister, and it transferred to "Communities NSW" in July 2009 and then the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services from 4 April 2011.

2017: Create NSW

Create NSW was created via an amalgamation of Arts NSW and Screen NSW on 1 April 2017.

From the appointment of Troy Grant as the minister in 2014 until a government restructure in April 2019, Arts NSW and then Create NSW was within the Department of Justice. Since then, the portfolio of the Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts, as of May 2020 held by Don Harwin, has been administered through the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

On 28 June 2019, Harwin announced a revamp to the process of application, assessment and delivery of NSW arts funding. The main differences, largely driven by the findings of the 2018 NSW Arts Summit, Arts 2025, were:

• a streamlined approach that consolidated the existing 14 funding rounds into two annual calls for funding;
• a reduction in the assessment criteria for funding applications from 26 to 3; and
• replacement of the cross-sector peer review panels by ten new "Artform Assessment Boards".

In addition, the requirement that an organisation had to receive project funding for three consecutive years in order to qualify for annual funding was dropped.

Role and activities

The NSW Government’s arts portfolio is divided into Arts NSW, Screen NSW and the NSW cultural institutions – the Sydney Opera House, the State Library of New South Wales, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Australian Museum.

The NSW performing arts sector includes 11 of Australia’s major performing arts organisations. These companies are internationally renowned and have a commitment to excellence in performance, working in the fields of dance, theatre, opera, orchestra and chamber music including The Australian Ballet, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Bell Shakespeare Company, Belvoir, Musica Viva Australia, Opera Australia, Sydney Dance Company, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Sydney Theatre Company.

Arts NSW provides support for major cultural festivals including the Biennale of Sydney, the Sydney Festival, the Sydney Film Festival, and the Sydney Writers' Festival; and some of Australia’s leading visual arts organisations including the Artspace Visual Arts Centre, the Australian Centre for Photography, d/Lux/MediaArts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Object: Australian Design Centre.

Agency executives

Name	Title	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
C. G. Meckiff	Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Activities	1971	1975
	Under Secretary of the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation	1975	1976
Evan Williams	Director of the Division of Cultural Activities	1976	1984
	Director, Office of the Minister for the Arts	1984	1988
	Secretary of the Ministry for the Arts	1988	2001
Roger Wilkins	Director-General of the Ministry for the Arts	2001	2006
Bob Adby	Director-General, Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation	2006	2007
Peter Loxton (acting)		November 2007	February 2008
Carol Mills		February 2008	2009
Mary Darwell	Executive Director, Arts NSW	2008	?

External links

• Official website