Hundreds of live music venues have closed. A string of once-popular festivals have been cancelled. Australia’s artists continue to be desperately underpaid.
The cost-of-living crisis has left our creative sector for dead, despite 73% of Australians saying the arts had improved their quality of life during the pandemic.
Art pays its way. It doesn’t just create joy and happiness for Australians and overseas visitors; it creates jobs and economic growth – on a shoestring budget compared to other industries.
The Australia Institute has written a submission to the NSW government ahead of its Art of Tax Reform summit next week.
Key recommendations:
- Collect tax properly to pay for arts funding.
- Lobby the federal government to reform the GST so it keeps up with economic growth, as it was originally designed to do.
- Increase coal royalties and end fossil fuel subsidies in NSW.
- Introduce Youth Cultural Passes, similar to the $200 Dine & Discover vouchers during COVID.
- Introduce a Book Bounty, like the national bounty which was scrapped by the Howard government after 28 successful years.
- Make art prizes and grants tax free.
“The cost of living crisis has had a devastating impact on the arts,” said Skye Predavec, Anne Kantor Fellow at The Australia Institute.






