First Nations Arts will support and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts practice, enhance sustainable career pathways for young First Nations people in the arts, and increase opportunities to grow First Nations audiences.
It will be overseen by the First Nations Board, which will allocate funds to support and invest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and promote best practice in First Nations cultural protocols and principles.
First Nations First is pillar one of the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.
From 2024, Revive establishes a dedicated First Nations Board to:
First Nations First recognises and respects the crucial place of First Nations stories at the centre of Australia’s arts and culture.
Since 1973 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders have brought a guiding voice on matters relating to First Nations arts and culture and to the broader arts and cultural sector. This has been through Creative Australia’s (formerly the Australia Council for the Arts) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board and the First Nations Arts and Culture Strategy Panel.
We build upon the wonderful legacy of those who have come before us with the establishment of the First Nations Board on 9 September 2024. The Board members are appointed by the Australian Government’s Minister for Arts.
If you or someone you know would like to be considered for appointment to the First Nations Board, you can complete an expression of interest form at the Office for the Arts website here. If you have any questions relating to the form, please contact appointments@arts.gov.au.
Read more here.
