The fifth National Local Government Cultural Forum was held in Hobart, 18 March 2015.
The bi-annual meeting brings together cultural policy and planning representatives from the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), its member state and territory associations and capital cities. The Cultural Forum meeting also incudes the Commonwealth Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council for the Arts. The objective is to increase the capacity of local government to strengthen the arts and cultural development in their communities.
More information, including the Terms of Reference and previous communiqués, is available on the website of the Cultural Development Network.
National Local Government Cultural Forum Meeting, 18 March 2015, Hobart, Tasmania
The fifth meeting of the Cultural Forum considered progress on the priority areas agreed in previous meetings. The key agreed activities are as follows.
The Cultural Forum will:
- Develop an agreed set of core data that conveys the measurable contribution of local government to the cultural life of Australia. This will address the current lack of local data and ensure aggregated data better conveys the role and contribution of arts and culture in local government. The eight Australian capital cities will continue to lead this initiative. It was agreed that once an initial dataset is defined then additional councils could be invited to test the collection methodology and contribute their data.
- The Cultural Forum will aim to contribute a national report on local government arts activities in the next publication of Arts Nation by the Australia Council. This will provide an overview of the collective contribution of local government to the arts in Australia. These indicators could potentially be used by councils to measure the value of activities in their areas.
- Continue to research cultural development projects with five sample councils (Tiwi Island Shire, Southern Midlands Council, Ipswich City Council, Maribyrnong City Council and Mandurah City Council) to develop and trial an online cultural development projects management and recorder service that connects to existing council systems and aggregates key input, output and outcome data.
- Propose a further period of support from the Australia Council for the Arts and develop a strategic plan for the Cultural Forum beyond 2015.
The Cultural Forum has identified a 2016 to 2018 objective to extend the reach, quality, profile and understanding of local government’s contribution to Australia’s cultural life.
The members of the Cultural Forum acknowledge and thank the out-going Chair, Hon. Fred Chaney, AO, for his consistent support and leadership as the inaugural Chair of the National Local Government Cultural Forum.
The National Local Government Cultural Forum is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body, and managed by the Cultural Development Network in cooperation with the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA).
Further information, contact the Cultural Development Network: John Smithies john.smithies@culturaldevelopment.net.au or +61 3 99250974.