Alan Eggleston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Committee, Indigenous Art: securing the future. Australia’s Indigenous visual arts and craft sector, together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the document be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I seek leave to have my tabling statement incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

The indigenous arts industry has grown from very small beginnings to now involve some estimated 6000 artists producing work valued at more than $500 million per year, the uniqueness and quality of which is recognised around the world.

Even though about 70% of Australia's indigenous people live in the big cities and larger regional towns of Eastern Australia and in the southwest of WA most of the artists working in what is regarded as the indigenous arts sector live and work in the more remote parts of Australia in the Northern Territory, Queensland, the Kimberley and the Pilbara in Western Australia

As I said, indigenous art has now become renowned around the world as a very special and unique art form representing the life and stories of the indigenous people of the more remote parts of Australia.

Unfortunately while the industry has now become quite large there have been concerns expressed about exploitation of indigenous artists by unscrupulous people and of the need to provide improved resources and assistance to the indigenous communities from which the artists come to ensure that the artists are able to conduct their work more effectively. Also there has been a growing view that there should be a system providing authentication of indigenous art so that purchasers can be confident that works of art they purchased are genuinely the work of the artists who it is claimed produced them.

In view of these concerns the previous Minister to the Arts, Senator the Hon Rod Kemp, in August 2006 had the Senate refer to this committee an inquiry into the indigenous visual arts and crafts sector with particular reference to:—

• the current size and scale of Australia's indigenous visual arts and crafts sector
• the economic social and cultural benefits of the sector
• the overall financial cultural and arts artistic sustainability of the sector
• the current and likely future priority infrastructure needs of the sector
• opportunities to strategies and mechanisms that the sector could adopt to improve its practices capacity and sustainability including to deal with unscrupulous or unethical conduct
• opportunities for existing government support programs to indigenous visual arts and crafts to be in to be more effectively targeted to improve the sector's capacity and future sustainability and
• future opportunities for further growth of Australia's indigenous visual arts and crafts sector including through development of international markets

Over the 10 months since then the committee has visited art centres in the Kimberley, Darwin, Alice Springs and in Sydney, held seven hearings in Canberra, Kununurra, Darwin, Alice Springs and Sydney and received submissions from 89 different individuals and organisations.

As it is said in the introduction to the report the committee is extremely grateful to the many artists and workers in the sector who took the time to show the committee the industry and to talk about it and about the issues confronting the industry.

The committee was honoured by the opportunity to meet with and in some cases hear from artists in their communities and to receive evidence from a wide variety of people whose commitment to the cause of indigenous art was plain for all to see and very impressive.

The committee made 29 recommendations the most important of which in my view at the least were:

Firstly, that $25 million be provided by the Commonwealth to establish an infrastructure fund to assist indigenous visual arts and craft. The $25 million was to be made available over a period of five years and the fund should be administered by the Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts.

Secondly, the committee recommended that as a matter of priority the ACCC be funded to increase its scrutiny of the Indigenous art industry, including conducting educational programs for consumers as well as investigation activities, with a goal of increasing successful prosecutions of illegal practices in the industry.

Thirdly, the committee recommended that the Commonwealth introduce appropriate legislation to provide for the protection of indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights.

Fourthly, the committee recommends that, once the Indigenous Art Commercial Code of Conduct has been developed, the Commonwealth undertake a project examining and making recommendations regarding further initiatives to enhance the integrity of the Indigenous art market. This work could include, but need not be confined to considering:

• what role governments might play in giving effect to an industry code of conduct; and
• whether further steps should be taken toward a system of dealer accreditation.

The committee recommended that further consideration be given to whether a label or trademark for indigenous art and craft should be introduced, drawing on lessons learned within the industry and from the schemes in Canada and New Zealand.

It drew attention to the role of art collections in providing leadership in the indigenous art market through acquisition and display policies.

The committee also made recommendations concerning improving the running of Art Centres which were seen as playing a crucial role in fostering indigenous art especially in remote locations and in addition expressed the view that the needs of urban based indigenous artists should not be overlooked nor be excluded from eligibility to access funding programs.

This enquiry has been very interesting and satisfying to have been involved in and the committee hopes that it will as the title suggests help secure the future for indigenous visual art and craft in Australia.

I would like to thank the members of the committee for their assistance in this inquiry.

I like to thank all the witnesses and submitters who contributed to the inquiry and most importantly I would like to thank the Secretariat in particular the Secretary to the committee, Dr Ian Holland, for the enormous amount of work they together put in to this inquiry and in assisting in the writing of this report.

Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the very important report of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts which Senator Eggleston has just tabled, after many long labours by the committee stretching over many months. Senator Eggleston, as everyone in this chamber would know, is the very distinguished chair of the committee. I would personally like to congratulate him on the leadership that he has shown in bringing the report through many tortuous shoals and finally delivering, as my remarks will show, what I think is an excellent report. I have a special interest in this report because in my previous position as Minister for the Arts and Sport I proposed that the Senate conduct this very important inquiry. On stepping down from the ministry in February this year, I was appointed to this committee—which was a rather curious development, I have to say—and was able to take part in the finalisation of the report.

In my view the committee has done its work very effectively, and I too would like to compliment my colleagues from all sides of the chamber and the committee secretariat under the leadership of Mr Ian Holland. This report provides a very important analysis, I believe, of the state of the industry and its future potential. The report starts off by suggesting that Australian Indigenous art is the story of the flowering of one of the world’s greatest contemporary movements in art. I think that is a true statement. There is no doubt that the demand for Australian Indigenous art continues to grow, both domestically and internationally. The question the committee had to address was: how can the Indigenous community, and indeed the wider community, build on this very strong base? The report makes recommendations in a range of areas concerned with arts centres and the infrastructure which is needed. It also deals with important issues such as governance and training for those arts centres and the individuals who work in them.

Amidst this great success, however, there is, as the report points out, growing concern about the sustainability of the sector and in particular the unethical business practices within it. I believe that the report has come at a crucial time in the history of the sector. It deals frankly with issues of unethical conduct and examines closely how the future of the industry, as the title of the report itself indicates, can be secured. The report makes recommendations across a wide range of areas. There is a long discussion on the issues around a code of conduct, which the report supports, increased activity for the ACCC and, of course, further education programs. The ACCC provided a very interesting submission earlier this month. This is published in appendix 4 of the report. I think the ACCC has done an excellent job in its submission for those who want to get a feeling for the complexity of this issue, the legal problems which are involved, and how we work our way through these to find the best way forward. I congratulate Graeme Samuel and his officers for the interest that they have shown. It makes the point that law enforcement is, whilst very important, only one of the strategies which need to be followed to deal with many of the issues in the sector. As I indicated, some other strategies would include education, provision of resources and infrastructure, and more support for Indigenous artists. This is in general the approach followed by the committee. The committee makes a very wide range of proposals for the sector. I believe these proposals are sensible and practical.

The funding requests which have been made in the report are appropriate. There is no doubt that we need to provide increased support for arts centres; there is also no doubt that we need to provide a significant capital program for arts centres. We need to make sure that arts centres adopt best practice. We need to assist arts centres. There are business programs which can assist arts centres to work towards a position where some of them will not need government assistance, and there are a number of very fine examples included in this report. The $25 million infrastructure fund which the report calls for will provide a significant boost to the sector. The report also calls for additional ongoing funding for arts centres.

Interestingly, one of the proposals in the report is for the establishment of a specialised arts centre in Alice Springs. This is one of the areas where the report specifies some work in progress and suggests that a proposal should be developed for an arts centre in Alice Springs that artists from the outlying areas can visit and live in in a safe and secure environment. I think such a proposal, provided it can be done with the cooperation of the major stakeholders, is very sensible. I would like to see this report moved on in a very smart and expeditious way. As I said, the funding requests are not large but they are important. They will be particularly important to the sector.

At the moment, almost every other day issues to with Indigenous communities are on the front page of our newspapers and in the first couple of items on the TV news. Indigenous arts is one of those areas where there are many good news stories, where very important things are happening. The Indigenous community can help build on Indigenous arts to provide a very important source of revenue to the artists and communities involved in the years ahead. It is important that we deal with the problems in the sector. I do not think this report will solve all those problems, but it will facilitate a significant step forward being made. We have proposed a more significant role for the ACCC. We would expect that, where criminal conduct is involved, the relevant territory and state governments become more effective in their own policing arrangements.

Government senators, including me, differed with others in a couple of areas. That is spelt out in the report and it will not come as a surprise to many people. Prior to my joining the committee, a great deal of work was done by a range of senators, and I thank them for their very conscientious work. As I said, it was a pleasure and a privilege to be involved in such an important report, which I hope will have widespread positive consequences for the future of the Indigenous arts industry. I commend the report to the Senate.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I likewise believe that this report of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts is an extremely important report. I think many important issues are discussed in the report—far too many for me to touch on now, so I will touch on some of the critical ones. It is obvious that this is a critical industry for Aboriginal Australians. It provides one of their few opportunities for economic development. Aboriginal arts play a central role in cultural maintenance and are also a window into Aboriginal culture for other Australians—and, for that matter, for the world, because the international market is growing. The industry has huge economic, cultural and social benefits for the community. I believe it is of particular importance in addressing social and health issues.

Arts centres are clearly essential infrastructure in many communities, particularly rural and remote communities. There are a great variety of arts centres. There is no one label that you can have for what arts centres should be; their roles vary widely. They are not just arts centres. They play a multitude of roles, including those in the social, cultural and economic development of communities. They face many great challenges, which are outlined in the report, such as staffing issues, governance and infrastructure support. Some centres are able to provide greater economic benefits to communities than others and have much more independence. They are of great value to the community and, with a relatively small investment, they can play an even greater role.

I am pleased that the No. 1 recommendation in the report very strongly recommends increased funding. I strongly urge the government to take that on board. The other issues that came to light are that urban Indigenous artists are often ignored and that there is a massive role for education and training and a huge need for increased funding and resources in that regard.

Although the report was unanimous, there are two areas in particular on which I think government and non-government senators had some varying views. I will come back to those in a minute. I would particularly like to point out recommendation 11, because the changes to CDEP were identified through the report as being of critical importance to arts centres. Recommendation 11 states:

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth pursue the conversion of CDEP-funded positions in art centres into properly funded jobs, taking an approach similar to the 2007-08 Budget initiatives in other portfolio areas; and that this initiative be independent of future NACIS program funding.

This is particularly important, because, for arts centres in regional areas where CDEP is being phased out, there are many staffing positions that are supported through CDEP. This is having a critical impact on those arts centres and on communities. In fact, there was an article in the media today about the impact of the winding back of CDEP in Broome. I visited an arts centre in Broome, where I heard firsthand about the impact that rolling back CDEP is having on people in that centre and the impact it will have on that centre. So I am very pleased that we have got a recommendation that looks at covering the conversion of CDEP funded positions in arts centres. I think that is extremely important.

The other area in particular that I would like to touch on is the permit system. You will see in the report that the non-government senators believe that the evidence presented to the committee was overwhelmingly in favour of retaining the permit system. Several witnesses wrote and spoke in favour of the permit system, and none spoke against it. No dealers or collectors argued for the relaxation of the permit system. The permit system was one area that was brought up in a number of communities. They brought it up particularly in relation to what are commonly called ‘carpetbaggers’ in the trade. A number of witnesses thought that the retention of the permit system was important to be able to control carpetbaggers coming into the community and what they saw as ripping off artists.

What became evident during the inquiry was that there is some unscrupulous activity going on in this sector and artists are under a great deal of pressure. I very strongly support the recommendation around the Alice Springs arts centre, because I believe that that is a way of helping to protect artists. There are a number of recommendations that address these issues and I think they are very important recommendations.

The other area where there is some difference of opinion is on resale royalties. We differ from some of the government senators on that issue. The other recommendation that I would like to point out to people—because I think it is particularly important—is recommendation 24:

The committee recommends that as a matter of priority the government introduce revised legislation on Indigenous communal moral rights.

That issue is very important and came up a number of times.

I congratulate the secretariat and thank them for all their support. This is a very important report and I hope the government takes on board these recommendations very quickly and does not wait as long to respond to it as has been its record on a number of other committee reports. In view of the time, I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.

Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to provide some comments on the tabling of the report Indigenous art: securing the future. I was a replacement for Senator Lundy on the Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts for the purposes of this inquiry. I want to start by recognising the work of the secretariat. When reports are tabled, we often get to the end of our contributions in this chamber and forget to acknowledge the tireless work that we expect of committee secretariats, and the efforts that they undertake. I express our thanks to Dr Ian Holland, Peter Short, Dr Andrew Gaczol, Joanna Woodbury, Jacqueline Hawkins in particular and Mrs Dianne Warhurst.

This has probably been a longer inquiry than most of us who put it up originally had wanted it to be, but this secretariat managed to produce quite a number of position papers on issues that were raised in this inquiry. Since we received the first draft only two weeks ago, there has been a substantial amount of work in rewording a lot of it and rewriting a lot of the recommendations. That demands a large effort on the part of the secretariat, and minimal and very fast turnaround times. I want to place on record that their hard work and their efforts do not go unnoticed and are much appreciated.

I want to make some initial comments about Senator Kemp’s recollection of how this report and the inquiry came into being. I do not want to dwell too long on the politics of this, but a number of us had been pushing for a while for an inquiry into this sector. People may remember that I and, if I recollect correctly, some of the minor parties put up terms of reference in this chamber. That was at about the same time that Senator Kemp, who was at that time the Minister for the Arts and Sport, was circulating terms of reference among the industry. At the end of the day, we conceded to the wording that the government wanted. As they have the numbers in this chamber, we probably did not have much choice, but I do think we could have got this inquiry under way a lot sooner than we did.

We initially wanted to have this report completed in time for this year’s budget, but that was not to be. We now have it before us, and I hope that it is not shelved and forgotten by either party in the lead-up to the election this year. There are recommendations in here that commit to resourcing the sector, which I believe could be done now. I do not think they need to wait until next year’s budget. I would be looking to see, hopefully, this government respond to this report as quickly as possible.

This report is about anything but Indigenous art. This report is about proving to the Australian public and reaffirming to the industry that Indigenous art can be, and is, a very vibrant and economically viable industry for Indigenous people in this country. We heard that there had been some calculations that in the Central Australian area the industry was worth about as much as the cattle industry. But, when we look at the protection, the kudos and the national recognition that the cattle industry obtains, in comparison the Indigenous art industry has a long way to go.

This inquiry proved to me that there are Indigenous people in this country who paint to eat. It is as simple as that. When they are in abject poverty and are starving, they know that they can make a quick quid by producing a canvas, which they will sell at any price possible—usually not at its worth—in order to survive, if not that day then that week. These are some of the most talented artists that we have in this country. What we need to do as a nation is to pick up those artists and take them out of this poverty cycle by ensuring that they are supported, that the industry is well resourced and that they are painting.

This country and the international market want the product for its value. Indigenous artists need to be paid the thousands and thousands of dollars that their art is commanding on the market. I am not suggesting that it is not happening—it is happening in some cases. but there are art centres, such as the Papunya Tula industry, that have never received any government funding. In the course of this inquiry I was privileged to go out to Kintore and be part of the opening of their new art centre, which was totally funded by the work generated by the Indigenous artists of Papunya Tula. They are the tall poppies of the industry. We want to ensure that all of the other artists in the industry rise to that standard, but they will not do so unless everybody gets on board with resources and support.

I want to draw people’s attention to some of the major recommendations in the report. I think the most crucial one is that we make substantial statements about the benefits of art centres in communities. They play a pivotal role. This week, when this nation is uncovering the story in the Northern Territory of child sex abuse, art centres can play a major role by providing safe havens for families and providing them with economic opportunities. Art centres are places where Indigenous people can go in order to retain their culture, paint their culture, tell us about their culture and be adequately paid for the work that they produce. If we are to move people off the poverty merry-go-round that we sometimes keep them on—and I deliberately say ‘we’—then we have to be serious about committing resources to the arts industry.

Labor have suggested that $25 million be put towards the infrastructure of art centres so that people do have decent rooms with plenty of space for them to stretch canvas, mix paint and paint canvases that are huge in size. We suggest that the Indigenous commercial code of conduct that has been running in the industry for a very long period of time be finished. I say to the people in the industry: get on board and sign off on this very quickly, because Indigenous artists are waiting for it to happen. In respect of our recommendations about the code of conduct, we suggest that everybody opts in and makes sure that the industry operates under that code of conduct.

There is a huge role for the ACCC. I want to acknowledge and pay tribute to the ACCC for picking up what they perceive are possible breaches of the Trade Practices Act during this inquiry. They have already identified unconscionable conduct from some of the submissions. I thank the ACCC for acknowledging that there can be breaches of federal legislation in this industry. Finally someone is going to step up to the plate to have a really good look at this and make sure that the carpetbaggers that we talk about in this industry are brought to task. Perhaps we can do this is by strengthening the ACCC’s scrutiny of the industry through successful prosecutions and by educating Indigenous artists about their roles.

We need to ensure that urban Indigenous artists are not kept out of the loop and that they are actually recognised. We make a recommendation based on an Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health initiative last year, whereby they fully funded CDEP positions in Aboriginal medical services. There is a recommendation in the report that the Commonwealth, through the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, pursue the conversion of CDEP funded positions into full-time properly funded jobs. That will bring a stop to the poverty cycle in communities.

In conclusion, I want to draw people’s attention to the two areas where we have disagreed. The Labor Party believe we should get on board and implement a resale royalty regime as quickly as possible. We do make a comment that, during the inquiry, there was overwhelming support for keeping and retaining the permit system in the Northern Territory. Our comments in that regard are contrary to those of the majority of the committee in the tabled report.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will speak for one minute as Deputy Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I think it is appropriate that I also acknowledge the report, which is a very significant one. I want to pay particular tribute to the secretariat, who did a lot of work with a large amount of material, a lot of differing views and a number of hearings, and to those senators who worked very hard to pull the report together while trying to maintain what was pretty close to unanimity. I certainly acknowledge that a number of them put a lot more work into the report than me; however, I certainly followed it as an issue of importance for a range of reasons.

When I was Chair of the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee, that committee wanted to explore this area but could not get agreement from the then minister. Hence it is ironic that the minister himself later decided to have an inquiry into this area. So we got the inquiry it is a valuable report and I urge people to examine it closely. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.