Appendix G. Summary of major inquiries into and reviews of Australian arts and cultural sectors
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Appendix G. Summary of major inquiries into and reviews of Australian arts and cultural sectors

Table of Contents

Appendix G.1. Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Crafts in Australia (Kym Bonython, chair). 1975. The Crafts in Australia. Volume 1. Report. Canberra: AGPS.
Appendix G.2. Industries Assistance Commission. 1976. Assistance to the Performing Arts. Canberra: AGPS.
Appendix G.3. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Expenditure (Leo McLeay, chair). 1986. Patronage, Power and the Muse: Inquiry into Commonwealth Assistance to the Arts. Canberra: Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Appendix G.4. Department of Communications and the Arts. 1994 Creative Nation: Commonwealth Cultural Policy. Canberra: AGPS.
Appendix G.5. Review of the Australian Film Industry (David Gonski, chair) 1997. Canberra: DCITA.
Appendix G.6. Major Performing Arts Inquiry (Helen Nugent, chair). 1999. Securing the Future. Major Performing Arts. Final Report Sydney: Australia Council.
Appendix G.7. Australia Council. 2000. Australians and the Arts. A Report to the Australia Council from Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. Overview. Sydney: Australia Council.
Appendix G.8. Cultural Ministers Council. 2002. The Report to Ministers on an Examination of the Small to Medium Performing Arts Sector. Canberra: DCITA.
Appendix G.9. Report of the Contemporary Visual Arts and Crafts Inquiry (Rupert Myer, chair) 2002. Canberra: DCITA.
Appendix G.10. Review of the National Museum of Australia. Its Exhibitions and Public Programs (John Carroll, chair). 2003. A Report to the Council of the National Museum of Australia. Canberra: DCITA.
Appendix G.11. Review of Australia’s Symphony and Pit Orchestras (James Strong, chair). 2005. A New Era – Orchestras Review Report Canberra: DCITA.
Appendix G.12. The Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Indigenous Art, Securing the Future: Australia’s Indigenous visual arts and craft sector (Senator Alan Eggleston, Chair) (June 2007). Canberra, The Senate.

Appendix G.1. Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Crafts in Australia (Kym Bonython, chair). 1975. The Crafts in Australia. Volume 1. Report. Canberra: AGPS.

The Bonython report into the crafts in Australia was the first inquiry into this sector. It was announced by Coalition Prime Minister William McMahon in 1971 and continued under the Labor prime ministership of Gough Whitlam. The committee presented its report in 1975. During this period, craft practice in Australia had undergone significant growth and recognition including the establishment of a Crafts Board within the Australia Council for the Arts in 1973.

The aim of the enquiry was to:

  • enquire into the present general state of the crafts in Australia as a professional activity;

  • report on the organisation, distribution and development of the crafts in Australia; and

  • report and make recommendations to achieve the above objectives.

As there was little information about craft activity, workers, training or marketing, the committee undertook extensive surveying, interviews and fieldwork to establish some baseline information about the contours of the sector. This work remains the most comprehensive study of crafts in Australia to date.

The key issue identified by the committee was:

That there is almost no understanding on the part of the community as to what the crafts are or what their role should be. They have been regarded principally as hobbies in Australia rather than as professional pursuits with a significant part to play in the economy.

As a result, the report continued, there was a lack of training pathways; accreditation processes; disparagement by the artistic community; lack of supplies of quality materials; parsimonious attitudes by the buying public; and lack of interest by the design-related industries. In Aboriginal communities — even though crafts are recognised as part and parcel of indigenous culture — the committee observed that Aboriginal people ‘have become alienated from their crafts’ and require government assistance to redress this situation.

Accordingly, the committee made a comprehensive suite of recommendations having the specific object assisting the crafts ‘to develop effectively in this country’ by improving the provision of relevant services and conditions while removing impediments to growth and sustainability concerning. These embraced a wide range of matters including: training; professional standards; publicity; sales tax and customs duties; supplies; selling and exhibiting; craft centres; country needs; industry and industrial design; craft organisations; aboriginal crafts; migrant craft; and community and leisure.

Although this broad package was not implemented in full, it has provided the framework within which the craft sector in Australia has been transformed as acknowledged in the Myer report into the Visual Arts and Crafts sector in 2002.

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Appendix F. Government expenditure (Commonwealth, state and local) on the arts in Australia ($ million)  Home  Appendix G.2. Industries Assistance Commission. 1976. Assistance to the Performing Arts. Canberra: AGPS.