2022 : A new year begins for The Childers Group

Another year commences and the Childers Group will continue its advocacy for the arts and culture in Canberra and the Region. The last 2 years have been extremely difficult for local artists and we are confident that the arts will once again flourish.

2022

• We have had our first meeting for the year with Arts Minister Tara Cheyne :
• Areas covered included her Statement of Ambition and the development of a new arts policy (our last policy is from 2015). This process will be driven by artsACT and will include targeted and detailed consultation with the arts sector, KAO’s, education institutions, ACT Business. It is hoped that the process will be concluded over 6 weeks. The Minister’s Creative Council has new members and they will play a strong role. The Minister asked Childers to look at possible vehicles that could assist in delivering her Statement of Ambition ( well received by the arts sector ) with a particular focus on Strategy 3 : Promoting our Arts and Culture.
• Minister Cheyne mentioned that this year’s ACT Budget will be brought down on 2^nd August and urged ACT artists and organisations to give their input through the Have Your Say webpage.
• 2022-23 Budget Consultation – https://yoursayconversations.act.gov.au/2022-23-budget-consultation
• We have also met with Jo Clay, Greens arts spokesperson and had a wide-ranging discussion about issues facing the arts coming out of Covid19 and lockdown. Jo also stressed the importance of artists and organisations partaking in the Budget Consultation process as mentioned above. She stressed that the short Budget Survey is an excellent and quick way to get involved.

Our work in 2021 :

• we met with Arts Minister Tara Cheyne, Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, Shadow Arts Minister Lawder, Greens arts spokesperson Jo Clay plus Assembly members : Michael Pettersson, Mark Parton, Peter Cain and Jonathan Davis
• we attended regular monthly meetings of The Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum : https://www.tlforum.com.au/tourism-advisory-forum
• continued our meetings with Kate Fielding, CEO of A New Approach ( national arts and culture think tank based here in Canberra) https://newapproach.org.au/
• continued meeting with the Chair of the Ministers Creative Council
• lodged our Budget Submission with ACT Government for the 2021-2022 budget ( Childers has been doing these submissions since 2013)
• continued our strong partnership with the Cultural Facilities Corporation
• continued liaison with Music ACT
• Childers members have played an active role in the Canberra Artists Action Group (CAAG)
• Childers members have played an active role in National arts advocacy
• Lobbied federal politicians around issues with Jobkeeper and Jobseeker programs