Create NSW
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 13 May 1971 (Ministry of Cultural Activities) 3 March 2006 (Arts NSW) |
Preceding agencies |
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Jurisdiction | New South Wales |
Hauptsitz | 323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executive |
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Parent Department | Department of Premier and Cabinet |
Child agencies | |
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[update], 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.[1]
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.[2] 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.[2] 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.[3]
On 15 June 1988 a Ministry for the Arts independent of the Premier's Department was established.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6]
2017: Create NSW
Create NSW was created via an amalgamation of Arts NSW and Screen NSW on 1 April 2017.[7]
From the appointment of Troy Grant as the minister in 2014[citation needed] 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[update] held by Don Harwin, has been administered through the Department of Premier and Cabinet.[8]
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:[9]
- 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.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11]
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;[12] 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.[13]
Agency executives
Name | Titel | 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 | ? |
References
- ^ "Ministry of Cultural Activities". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ "Division of Cultural Activities (1976-1984) Office of the Minister for the Arts (1984-1988)". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- ^ "Ministry for the Arts". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ "Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ "Arts NSW". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ "who-are-arts". Create NSW. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 [NSW] (159)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 7-8. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ a b Fairley, Gina (28 June 2019). "Rethinking NSW Arts Funding to put the sector first". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "The Arts in NSW: State cultural institutions". Arts NSW. Government of New South Wales. 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ "The Arts in NSW: Major performing arts organisations". Arts NSW. Government of New South Wales. 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ "The Arts in NSW: Major festivals". Arts NSW. Government of New South Wales. 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ "The Arts in NSW: Visual arts and craft organisations". Arts NSW. Government of New South Wales. 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
External links