Annual Report 2015–16

 Image: Flow. Installation by Robert Hogarth at the South Australian Living Artists Festival

The 2015-16 Australia Council for the Arts Annual Report was tabled in the Federal Parliament on 18 October 2016. The report delivers the first full year of activity under its Strategic Plan, A Culturally Ambitious Nation and provides details of a significant and challenging year for the Council.

2015-16 Annual Report summary:

$173.8 million invested in grants and initiatives for artists and arts organisations ($14.6 million in individual artists and $159.2 million in arts organisations) and an additional $15 million in the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy (VACS) and other government initiatives.

The Australia Council supported 716 individual artists, 650 organisations and 7,234 new artistic works.

20% of successful applicants to the Council’s grants program were new applicants.

175 organisations supported by multi-year funding through the Key Organisations program and the Major Performing Arts framework and more than 400 artists and organisations supported to work internationally in over 50 countries, enhancing Australia’s profile and developing global markets.

More than $50 million invested in individual artists and small to medium organisations through grants programs and strategic development initiatives and more than $100 million invested through the Major Performing Arts (MPA) framework.

$25.8 million invested in regional Australian artists to foster artistic vibrancy and access to the arts, enriching the lives of 1.9 million people through attendance at performances, exhibitions, school activities or workshops.

Audience attendances reached 15.7 million (12.8 million nationally and 2.9 million internationally) which supported the work of individual Australian artists and organisations, with many projects finding new markets and audiences.

Read the full report in PDF (7.7MB) and RTF (1MB)

Read the fact sheet here.