Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Arts, Senator Fifield. Can the minister update the Senate on how the portfolio of the arts is supporting the creation of jobs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who seek to maintain connections to their culture?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Smith. I think all colleagues would recognise that Indigenous arts and languages support the wellbeing of Indigenous people, make a contribution to our national economy and promote Australia to international audiences, which is why we continue to invest in the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support and the Indigenous Languages and Arts programs.

At the last election we committed to an additional investment to support the development and use of innovative digital solutions to record and teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Through these programs, we support the operation of 22 Indigenous language centres delivering activities that assist in the revival and maintenance of Indigenous languages, and more than 80 remote Indigenous art centres that are at the heart of our world-renowned Indigenous visual arts movement.

The Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program supports a professional, strong and ethical Indigenous visual arts industry, with strong participation by, and employment for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous art centres provide the infrastructure and relationships that allow artists to create new art, generate income, develop professional skills and connect to the commercial art market. The government has also significantly removed red tape for funding recipients in recent years, and organisations funded by the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program provide professional opportunities for more than 8,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and around 350 Indigenous arts workers. This is an important part of the arts portfolio, and I'm sure all colleagues would agree that this is a good, important and appropriate way for the Commonwealth to support it.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister further update the Senate on the government's support for Indigenous languages?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Indigenous Languages and Arts program invests in projects to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to express, preserve and maintain their cultures through languages and arts. The government has increased the focus on developing and using innovative digital solutions to record and teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, assisting communities to meet their ambitions for language revival.

A major step is the convening of the first National Indigenous Languages Convention on the Gold Coast later this month. The convention will highlight the community-led initiatives and support the use of technology to address the erosion of Australia's estimated 250 original Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and more than 600 dialects. Colleagues may be interested to know that today less than half of these are spoken, and many are in danger of being lost.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a final supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister further elaborate on the connection between the National Indigenous Languages Convention and jobs for Indigenous Australians?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The forum will showcase firsthand how digital technologies are being used to revive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Digital technologies do hold the potential for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to record, revive, maintain, celebrate and share languages today and with future generations. The forum is also intended to encourage partnerships between Indigenous communities, government and technology industry leaders to explore the potential of innovation and digital technology. These investments are helping to open up rewarding career pathways for Indigenous language workers and Indigenous linguists. The government recognises the central role that language plays in culture, and is committed to ensuring that the new possibilities offered by digital technologies can be harnessed to revive, maintain and celebrate Indigenous languages. I should obviously also acknowledge Senator Scullion's deep commitment in this area.