Cuts to the Australia Council will end the “monopoly” of the peak arts body and broaden access to funding, the attorney-general, George Brandis, told parliament on Thursday.
Brandis, whose portfolio takes in the arts, was responding to a question on the nearly $114m worth of cuts made to the Australia Council in Tuesday’s budget.
The organisation will face efficiencies worth $3.6m over four years.
A further $110m worth of money earmarked for the Australia Council will be diverted to a new initiative, the National Program for Excellence in the Arts, which will be administered by the arts minister.
Brandis said the announcement of the new initiative drew an “extremely enthusiastic” reaction from arts organisations.
“What this does ... is it broadens access,” he said. “The Australia Council will still be the principal arts funding body in Australia. It will be responsible for 88% of arts funding.
“No one thinks that monopolies are a good idea.”
The Australia Council has lost 13% of its funding between 2014 and 2015.
“The announcement in the budget ... included measures which will significantly impact the work of the Australia Council on behalf of the arts sector,” chair Rupert Myer said, adding that the board will be giving “full consideration” to the funding cuts before responding further.
Brandis said the diversion of funds meant there was no “significant reduction in arts funding overall”.
