Just a few years ago, the arts sector anticipated each budget night with trepidation: unexpected, substantial cuts had become the norm, and even budgets without any funding changes were greeted as good news.

This year, Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ budget speech described an Australia of “confidence, compassion, and creativity [toward] the future we make, together”.

There’s more than $150 million in new 2024-2025 commitments, and $216.6 million over four years (then an ongoing $59.9 million per year) to fund the national cultural policy, Revive. 

But the sector’s not in a celebratory mood. The recently released Artists as Workers report puts it all into perspective: half of all Australian artists earn less than $10,000 per year from their creative practice, artists’ average incomes haven’t budged in 40 years, and housing and cost of living pressures are making more and more artists pessimistic about their future prospects. The size of the treasurer’s nation-building challenge only continues to grow.

Let’s take a closer look…

>>> Read on at Crikey

IMAGE: A person standing in front of ‘Snakes and Ladders⁠’ (2024, oil on canvas, 183 x 152cm) by Amber Boardman at her 2024 Melbourne Art Fair exhibition (image: AAP/James Ross for Crikey).