A Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia’s Creative and Cultural Industries and Institutions has been called by the Minister for Communications and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP.
Ausdance encourages you to make a submission by the closing date, 22 October 2020.
The Terms of Reference for the inquiry are:
- The direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them.
- The non-economic benefits that enhance community, social wellbeing and promoting Australia’s national identity, and how to recognise, measure and grow them.
- The best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between layers of government.
- The impact of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural industries; and
- Avenues for increasing access and opportunities for Australia’s creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment.
Your submission can take several different forms. You can write a letter, a short statement or provide a substantial paper. You can choose to fill out the committee survey or you can choose to share your thoughts in an audio-visual format.
Every voice put forward helps to produce a more informed appreciation of public opinion. Information provided through your submission may be referred to and included in the report compiled by the parliamentary committee, whose members may use the findings to influence public policy and spur governments into action.
Do note that to make an influential parliamentary submission you will need to provide information that addresses the Terms of Reference. If your submission is irrelevant it is likely to be dismissed.
Remember, your audience is the parliamentary committee. Arguments should motivate them to consider the positive potential of your suggestions through the perspective offered, and convince them to embrace the rationale that has shaped it. The submission should illuminate the opportunity they have to show leadership in government to benefit the people of Australia.
A constructive submission won’t continue to list the problems of the past, but will offer ways to learn from them by suggesting how to shape a better future. Try to position your arguments to maintain the integrity of the situation, bearing in mind their relevance to the government's agenda.
It’s not a requirement to address everything in the Terms of Reference. If you know of other people who would offer something relevant to the inquiry and further contextualise or support the arguments you’re making, let them know about it and encourage them to make a submission too.
Here are some helpful resources:
- Submissions that have already been published by parliamentary committees.
- The Politics of Dance – an action plan (Ausdance National)
- ArtsHub’s eight arguments to include in your submission. (Dr Jackie Bailey also shares language to use that is relevant to the Federal Government).
- Creating Our Future: National Arts Participation Survey.
- A New Approach: Insight Reports.
- Tips for writing a submission by Penelope Benton (NAVA)
- Information about how to make a parliamentary submission.
If you come across other resources that you find helpful, please do share them with others!
Act today to shape the future you want to see tomorrow!