The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.
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It is responsible for funding arts projects around Australia, formulating and implementing policies to foster and promote the arts in Australia. The Council also advises governments and industry on arts-related issues. Each year, the Australia Council provides over 1700 grants to artists and arts organisations. In addition, it supports strategies to develop new audiences and markets for the arts both in Australia and overseas. The Australia Council itself, is funded by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts from 2007.
The Australia Council was formed in 1973 by the Whitlam government[1] and was given statutory authority in March 1975 by the Australia Council Act. The Council's predecessor, the Australian Council for the Arts was established in 1968 by Prime Minister John Gorton as a division of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Council then incorporated other government projects, such as the Commonwealth Literary Fund and the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board. It operates in co-ordination with the various state government agencies.[2]
The Australia Council is composed of seven boards, each board has seven members including a chair. An exception is the MPAB which has eight members. The seven boards are:
Several online initiatives have been funded by the Australia Council including: