Three out four Australians sought out arts and culture during the pandemic to improve their mood and quality of life. Now more than ever, arts and culture are an essential part of our everyday lives. Yet the pandemic also revealed that without clear policies, the industries left out of the policy framework, including the arts, are quick to become the first and worst hit sectors, leaving the practices and livelihoods of thousands of artists and arts workers at risk.

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An arts and cultural policy, or National Cultural Plan, is essential if we are to start taking arts and culture seriously. Included as one of NAVA’s #VoteForArt key policy priorities, the need for national arts policy or plan has united 15 national arts and culture peak bodies in the lead up to the federal election. A strategic vision for arts and culture across the three tiers of government could stimulate long-term sustainability for arts and culture by working toward a set target.

Australia has been without a formally defined arts and cultural policy or plan at the federal level since the launch of the National Cultural Policy –...