Helen Garner, Christos Tsiolkas and Charlotte Wood to headline inquiry into state of Australia’s arts sector

A parliamentary inquiry into the state of Australia’s arts sector will hold its first virtual public hearings this week with major Australian cultural contributors including Helen Garner, Dr Charlotte Wood and Christos Tsiolkas appearing at the first hearing.

The Federal Government asked the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts to report on Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutions and, specifically, to hear evidence on the benefits the arts bring to Australia, and the significant impacts that COVID-19 has had on this industry.

Helen Garner is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist who in 2019 won the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.

Christos Tsiolkas is an award-winning Australian author of five novels, including The Slap and Barracuda. Christos is also a playwright, essayist and screenwriter.

Dr Charlotte Wood is the author of six novels and two books of non-fiction. Her latest novel, The Weekend, won the 2020 Australian Book Industry Award for Literary Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal among other awards.

Communications and the Arts Committee Chair Dr David Gillespie says authors, artists, performers, musicians, arts advocates and academics will speak about their experiences of the past year, as well as their visions for the future, at the hearings.

Dr Gillespie advised “I’m pleased that major Australian cultural contributors like Helen Garner, Dr Charlotte Wood and Christos Tsiolkas will be appearing at our first hearing.

“I look forward to hearing from these prominent Australians, and from all witnesses, about the significant contribution the arts makes to our lives, our economy and our way of coping with difficult events.”

In addition to receiving hundreds of formal submissions, the Committee has received nearly 5,000 responses to an online survey on the state of Australia’s arts industry.

Dr Gillespie added “these responses detail the vital role that literature, art, music and more have made to people’s lives.

“Although we are consuming, and perhaps appreciating, the arts more in light of COVID-19 and lockdowns, it has become much more difficult for those who create the content we are consuming so rapidly. The Committee is keen to explore how we can move forward as a nation of artists and arts lovers.”

The terms of reference for the inquiry state that it will look into Australia's creative and cultural industries and institutions including, but not limited to Indigenous, regional, rural and community based organisations.

The Committee will consider:

• 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.

The full programs, and the inquiry’s terms of reference, are available from the inquiry webpage.

Information about the Committee, including membership, may be found on the Committee’s webpage. 

Image (L to R) Helen Garner, Credit: Deakin University; Dr Charlotte Wood. Credit: Chris Chen; Christos Tsiolkas. Credit: John Tsiavis.