Australia Council's latest funding supports more female artists

The latest funding round announced by Australia Council for the Arts saw strong outcomes for female artists, particularly in music, with 56% of grants awarded to women or groups including women. This is particularly encouraging in light of the Council’s recent research report Making Art Work which found that on average female artists earn 25% less than male artists and earn 30% less from their creative work.

Australia Council CEO Tony Grybowski said that this funding round would benefit local and international audiences with a large number of live performance projects being successful.

“Many of the projects funded include international components which will expand artistic and commercial opportunities for Australian artists and strengthen our international reputation for producing great art and artists, as well as sharing Australian stories with global audiences,” Mr Grybowski said.

The $6.4 million funding in the October core grants round will support 118 individual artists, 27 groups, and 51 arts organisations.

Making Art Work: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia by David Throsby and Katya Petetskaya is the sixth in a series carried out independently over thirty years by Professor Throsby at Macquarie University, with funding from the Australia Council. The series tracks trends in the lives and working conditions of Australian artists over 30 years and identifies challenges and opportunities for artists’ careers into the future.