Corinna Cullen

The Community Affairs Legislation Committee has just published the joint submission I have co-authored with my friend and NDIA co-design colleague, Uli Cartwright, on the NDIS Bill. Our submission addresses: - The lack of co-design for major changes to the primary legislation according to Article 4(3) of the UNCRPD - Destruction of the golden thread between funding, goals and aspirations for a life worth living on an equal basis with others - Parallels with Robodebt culture in the participant experience and the further risks this Bill imposes - Legislating NDIA accountability to participants - Legislating NDIA, DSS and Government accountability in co-design - Our vision for the co-design commitment we need This submission was made independently of our roles as NDIA Participant Reference Group members. However, in light of the following statement published on the DSS website last night regarding NDIA co-design, we wish to set the record straight: “Since the Government introduced proposed changes to the NDIS Act, the NDIA has been working closely with Disability Representative and Carer Organisations (DRCOs), our Independent Advisory Council (IAC) and Participant Reference Group (PRG) to improve their approach and confirm the next set of priority topics for co-design.” We do not know who drafted this FAQ, but we do not believe “working closely” with the PRG is a fair or accurate representation of a one hour briefing the day after the Bill was tabled, a two hour Q&A for us to give our feedback on the proposed legislative changes, and a two hour meeting on the NDIA’s already-formed, already-drafted co-design approach and proposed topics. At this meeting, we asked the NDIA to ask us what we can contribute and how much work we can take on, not to assume we are not up to the task. We go much further in our submission: We ask the Government, DSS and the NDIA to “assume that we can” contribute much more, and to invite people with disability to lead these reforms, including drafting of amendments (or indeed, re-drafting) of this Bill.

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Thanks Alison Croggon for sharing this. We need to hear the ways to find real living wages for artists and in the meantime while we look at big systems. We also have to look at the small structures in existing systems too. The grant making structures that think that a 9% funding rate is a thing that is supporting excellence- it’s a number demonstrating wasted effort, despair and in economic terms lost productivity. Also structures that count artists subsidising their own work as “investment” when we know the market doesn’t financially return on that investment so what we mean is underpayment. And that’s only where the work intersects with grant structures - then there’s all the other disruption and market concentration… but looking forward to hearing this information.

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I am delighted to announce the release of the second recent major study of the Gold Coast film and television industry, A Re-Evaluation of Screen Production on the Gold Coast After COVID-19. The Gold Coast Film Commission funded the study to re-evaluate the size and activity of the film and television production industry on the Gold Coast after the outbreak of COVID-19 between June 2020 and mid-2023. It examines the production activity and characteristics of the local screen ecology; the size and growth of the local film, television and games workforce; and the current capacity of film and television sound stages and production facilities. In terms of state-based film and television production expenditure over the last few financial years, Queensland has been the second largest contributor to the national slate (on average 30%) behind only NSW. The report found that between 2017-18 and 2021-22, production expenditure on the Gold Coast accounted for between 39% and 71%, or almost three-quarters, of Queensland’s total film and television drama production expenditure. Historically, local film and television production has been bifurcated between Brisbane (local production) and the Gold Coast (international and footloose production). In the last five years, and accelerated by the pandemic, the Gold Coast has become the major centralised hub for the making of original screen content created by domestic producers in South East Queensland. The increasing levels of domestic original production shot on the Gold Coast are being driven by: • a small but growing community of producers, production companies and above-the-line creators based on the Gold Coast • Brisbane-based production houses that are growing in capacity and increasingly filming projects on the Gold Coast • the increasing combination of production services and original content creation to create more sustainable business models. Many thanks to coauthors Andrew Couzens, Sue cake, and Peter Innes, and many thanks to industry members Gina Black, Gabrielle Jones, Todd Fellman, Duncan Jones LMGI MAICD, Marcus Bolton, Zoe Ford, Christopher Amos, Jordan Beth Vincent, Enzo Tedeschi, Tracey Vieira MAICD, Luke Sparke, City of Gold Coast, Steve Jaggi and everyone else who contributed. QUT Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice The report is available here:

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**23.9% or 1 in 4** 😔 According to the current Australian Early Development Census data (2021), this is the number of children in our local region who are considered to be Developmentally Vulnerable (in the bottom 10th percentile) in 2 or more of Early Childhood Development Domains. Almost DOUBLE the SA average of 12.7% and second highest region in SA after the APY Lands 😢 It is going to need a whole of community approach to improve the future outcomes for our children, young people and ultimately the wider community. #ourchildrensfuture #ourfuturecommunity #australianearlydevelopment

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Pulling all of my governance reading together for my move back to Naarm/Melbourne reminded me that the golden rule of arts, cultural and non-profit governance (spoiler: there is no golden rule). Here’s a quick extract from my latest ‘and another thing’ vlog (full version and archives available via my Patreon at link in bio). #Governance #ArtsGovernance #Boards #ArtsBoards #RethinkingArtsGovernance #KateLarsen

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Exciting Update: Motion for a Select Committee on Live and Local Creative Venues Did you know we are seeing live music venues lost in SA (and across the nation) at an unprecedented rate since Covid? Last week, I introduced a motion calling for a Select Committee to be established to investigate and report on South Australia’s live and local venues. Why This Matters: Live and local venues are the heartbeat of our creative culture in Adelaide, from our live music to our art galleries. They are more than just physical spaces, brick and mortar; they fuel creativity, build community and offer vital opportunities for emerging artists. Yet, these venues are facing unprecedented challenges. South Australia’s venues are closing at an alarming rate, with 27% fewer licensed live music venues since 2018. We have the second highest venue closure rate of states in Australia. It is crucial that we take action before it is too late. What the Committee Will Do: - Investigate Loss: We must understand the reason behind the recent decline of live local venues in South Australia. - Understand the Cultural Impact: We know that these venues are important. This Committee will provide an opportunity to take a deep-dive into the cultural, social and economic contributions that live venues bring to our community. - Assess Infrastructure and Supports: We will assess what exists and what is needed to support and protect our venues and our local talents who rely on them. Our creative ecosystem in South Australia is in crisis – the fight must not end with the Cranker. Let’s work together to give culture the home it deserves! 

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A useful new report from A New Approach (ANA) looking at arts and culture funding in Australia. With inquiries at federal and state level at the moment looking at local government sustainability/funding there are some really interesting figures looking at the breakdown between levels of government, subsectors and capital/ongoing expenditure. There's some positive news there as well, with funding, still down over the long term, starting to grow again - which in a time where communities are looking for joy and social cohesion and creativity and all the things that make life worth living, is good to see:) #LibrariesTransform #Libraries #Research

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Saturday morning research reading. Heard, Bartleet and Woolcock. Exploring the role of place-based arts initiatives inaddressing social inequity in Australia: A systematic review. Aust J Soc Issues. 2023;58:550–572. Image Simon Berger. Abstract The arts remain largely absent from place-based policy, planning and programming in Australia, despite a long history of working in place-based ways to create positive social change in communities. This systematic review aimed to address this absence, by providing a synthesis of evidence about the role that place-based arts can play in advancing social equity and addressing social disadvantage. Findings reveal a potential for the arts to create change across individual, community and societal levels, yet empirical evidence to support this potential is weak. Stronger evaluation frameworks that can support capturing the impact of localised place-based arts initiatives for translation into policy and practice are discussed. https://buff.ly/3Ta43Lz

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Failure is the status quo at the moment when it comes to Australian arts, cultural and non-profit organisation’s response (or lack of response) to Palestine as a governance, risk and crisis management, duty of care and financial issue. My conversation with Helga Svendsen for the Take on Board podcast is online today with more. #Governance #ArtsGovernance #Boards #ArtsBoards #RethinkingArtsGovernance #KateLarsen #TakeOnBoard #TakeOnBoardPodcast #Palestine

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Great topic Melbourne Press Club. Australian Associated Press (AAP) Factcheck and global factcheck outlets came to our aid in 2022 to set the record straight when it came to incorrect claims on social media about 'sudden arrhythmic death syndrome' or 'sudden adult death syndrome' and COVID-19 vaccines. As an organisation that prides itself on providing evidence-based information, this was really concerning for our Institute, not to mention the researchers at the coalface dealing with the brunt of this. One option is not to engage but in this case, there was an avalanche of misinformation. And, as per the discussion today, it was of a consequential nature and there was evidence to show it was false. The learning for us in this situation when facing such a significant amount of dis/misinformation, which quickly took on a life of its own on social media, was to proactively reach out and engage with factcheck organisations as one lever to help set the record straight. Interested in the views and experiences of others? Catherine Butterfield Christine Elmer SCMP MAICD Melea Tarabay Ursula McGinnes

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All around Australia, artists are sparking social change, working with communities to tell their stories, tackle big issues and create common ground. You may be familiar with Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD), a specialist art form where professional artist facilitators work with communities to co-create projects with purpose. However, many Australians are not. Research shows that of all the artforms, our population has a particularly limited understanding of the benefits of CACD. This new resource launching today collates a selection of local case studies to showcase the inspiring work led by CACD artists. As Australia grapples with a civic crisis, their work has never been more needed. Head to the resource to see why we think CACD projects deserve a bigger profile, and dive into: - How Milk Crate Theatre used devised theatre to facilitate social inclusion for people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness - How All The Queens Men curated a lavish party to facilitate pride, celebration and visibility for LGBTIQ+ elders - How Carclew addressed isolation amongst youth in regional South Australia through facilitating the opportunity for emerging young writers to develop their own monologues - How Jiva Parthipan and the NSW SERVICE FOR THE TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION OF TORTURE AND TRAUMA SURVIVORS (STARTTS) engaged with place-making and cross-cultural understanding through a creative experience along the Georges River in Casula NSW Spoiler: the impacts are profound. Click the link below and scroll through the digital resource: 'When Art Sparks Change'. Resource: https://lnkd.in/gsyRb-Cq Thank you to Creative Australia for their assistance, the practitioners who participated in the creation of this resource and to the many partners involved in each of the projects profiled.

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Congratulations to Intopia for another fun and informative Global Accessibility Awareness Day Melbourne event! My key takeaways: - Irith Williams – design research needs to involve those with an actual lived experience. Being trauma-informed is vital for designing for vulnerable communities. - Cathy Basterfield – plain English isn't enough for a significant percentage of Australians with low literacy. Despite digital literacy gains in Australia over the past few years, there is a significant gap for First Nations people. - Andrew Nevins, CPWA – please provide a tab index on your website! Although browsers have improved, a tab index will ensure all important parts of a page are focusable and accessible by keyboard. - Allison Ravenhall – Apple has introduced data charts/graphs for iOS apps, which are made more accessible to blind and vision-impaired by signifying increases and decreases in a trendline through raising and lowering pitch audibly (see https://lnkd.in/gw9Ar5VW) - Michelle Chu – design for everyone means getting out of your bubble (with particular emphasis on those in positions of power!) #gaad

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I recently attended the launch of the report on the 'State of the Housing System 2024' in Sydney, by the Minister for Housing and Homelessness. The report was the culmination of a lot of hard work from the recently established National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, and the conclusion of my short consultancy with Treasury (at the Office of the Council). It was a real privilege to have worked with such a great team on this. I’m happy to say the report avoids making the quantum leap of quick, neat solutions to the complex knot of policy problems bound up in availability of housing in Australia. But it does clearly articulate what needs to change to improve housing supply and affordability in Australia, and the broad church of actors who are implicated in catalysing this change. I’m also happy to say it was cited liberally in the 2024 Budget Papers. Over and above the findings of the report, it is clear to me that – as with so many other complex challenges Australia is facing at present – change will require a whole of nation effort, not unlike the other great social transformations of our past. This is a matter of understanding and engaging the power structures which underpin the political economy of Australia’s housing crisis, and the collective action problems which lie in the path of its redress. This in turn will require us all to work together to bridge the yawning gap of mutual distrust and dismissal that is public discourse in this day and age. Inevitably this must begin with our own mental models and mindsets, and the organisational cultures through which we work. 

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📖 A new chapter begins for Australian libraries with the launch of an innovative project on transitioning to Official RDA 🔍 NSLA, AIATSIS, ALIA ACORD, CAUL and CAVAL announce the beginning of a project to scope collaborative solutions to the implementation of Official RDA in the Australian library context. RDA (Resource Description and Access) is a major international cataloguing standard and the preferred descriptive standard for contributions to Trove, a collaboration between the National Library of Australia and hundreds of partner organisations around Australia. Official RDA replaces Original RDA, which has been a standard since 2013 and is being retired in May 2027. Official RDA is aligned with 21st-century technology and ensures that our rich data is more functional outside of library catalogues. Official RDA also enables library data that is responsive to First Nations collection description. 🗓 Over the next three months, a national project to understand the use, challenges, and resources of transitioning to Official RDA within the Australian library sector will be led by Melissa Parent. Melissa is an experienced cataloguer with expert knowledge of Official and Original RDA, and led the implementation of Original RDA at RMIT University in 2013. She has been engaged in RDA development since then, serving on ACORD (formerly ACOC) and ORDAC, including a term as the regional representative to the RDA Steering Group. Melissa is working with a steering group of representatives from NSLA, AIATSIS, ALIA ACORD, CAUL and CAVAL. It is expected that this work will reach the entire Australian library sector, including public, academic, school, health, law and special libraries, as well as agencies that provide metadata to libraries. 💡 How you can contribute? Beginning in July, Melissa and the RDA Steering Group will begin to contact representatives and staff of most libraries in Australia, either by written survey or with a request to participate in a 60-minute consultation (online). The data gathered will help us to understand how RDA is being used nationally, and how different institutions within our sector are resourced to transition to Official RDA before May, 2027. 🔗 To receive updates about the survey or to receive an invitation to participate in consultations, please sign up to the mailing list on the NSLA website: https://lnkd.in/g4U59wcB Updates will also be provided through the newsletters and social media channels of NSLA, AIATSIS, ALIA ACORD, CAUL, and CAVAL.

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The latest Countess Report monitoring gender equity in the visual arts sector has found that male artists are much more likely than women to have their art acquired by state galleries or be represented by commercial galleries. The National Gallery of Australia had among the highest representation of women artists as a result of its national program of exhibitions and programs referred to as Know My Name. Women dominated art prizes, winning 4 out of 6 richest prizes, in 2022, but men received a higher amount of prize money on average. Among Australia’s major museums, female representation was at the lowest level across all gallery types, with the exception of the Museum of Contemporary Arts which achieved 50 per cent gender equity.

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"Copyright Agency cultivates, nurtures and supports the community of Australian authors, publishers and artists who create the rich, high-quality books that shape young people's first and vitally important experiences with English language, literacy and literature. Their work shapes young readers' knowledge of and experiences within the world, and gives them a guidebook for shaping the future. It enables teachers to provide meaningful English and literacy instruction grounded in quality texts. Keeping this community thriving is essential. Copyright Agency supported PETAA to connect aspiring writers in primary schools with published Australian authors. This helps not just deepen awareness of and appreciation for Australian publishing and artists, but also shows young people the power and potential of stories and storytelling. This future-focused commitment to developing writers and showcasing quality Australian work – while supporting Australian teachers and schools – is commendable. Copyright Agency protects, promotes, and supports creative industries, keeping the creative heart of Australia alive for new, old, and returning readers." - Megan Edwards, CEO of Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) #copyrightagency #50for50 #50yearsofsupportingcreators #supportingpublishers #50thAnniversary #CopyrightAgencyTurns50 #copyright

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We appreciated the invitation for libraries to contribute to the Australian government's COVID-19 response inquiry - looking particularly at science communication and the related issues of information, including mis and dis information during the pandemic. Libraries play an important role, from being public spaces where people can engage and learn through to supporting digital connectedness and science and media literacy. It's good to see these issues being considered by government to ensure we have a supportive and strong response for the next major challenge. You can read the summary of the roundtable here: https://lnkd.in/ds8pmBwd #LibrariesTranform #Libraries #MediaLiteracy

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