Published 5th July 2011
Last week, Arts Minister Simon Crean joined Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Senator Jan McLucas to announce $500,000 Australian Government funding for Arts Access Australia, the national peak body for arts and disability.
Arts Access Australia is thrilled by the announcement, which is a positive step in the implementation of the National Arts and Disability Strategy.
Mr Crean said the funding would support and promote the work of AAA in improving access and participation in the arts by people with disability.
“This is a very exciting announcement for the arts and disability sectors,” he said.
The funding will allow AAA to grow and facilitate the national arts and disability network, as well as to introduce a range of new initiatives.These include a national Art Prize for artists with disability and a national Access Award to recognise best practice by arts and cultural organisations.
Arts Access Australia is hopeful that this funding will help leverage more of the $24 million the network has been campaigning for sincethe Cultural Minister’s Council introduced the National Arts and Disability Strategy nearly two years ago.
The National Arts and Disability Strategy outlines the actions necessary to increase the low level of cultural participation by the 20% of Australians with disability. A significant investment is essential to realise these ambitions by directly addressing the barriers to participation.
AAA is hopeful that other states and territories will follow this example, as well as that already set by the Tasmanian Government, by committing their own funds specifically towards achieving the outcomes of the NationalArts and Disability Strategy.
For more information on
Arts Access Australia go to www.artsaccessaustralia.org
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