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GOVERNMENT FUNDING

In 2008-09, government funding for cultural activities totalled $6,772.5m, with state and territory governments providing almost half (45% or $3,033.7m), the Australian Government contributing 38% ($2,584.5m) and local government making up the balance of 17% ($1,154.2m).

Recurrent expenditure accounted for 87% ($5,911.2m) of cultural funding by all levels of government in 2008-09, while funding for capital expenditure accounted for the remaining 13% ($861.3m).

Total funding for cultural activities by all levels of government in Australia increased by $491.4m (7.8%), from $6,281.1m in 2007-08 to $6,772.5m in 2008-09. This resulted in a 5.4% increase in the value of funding per-person, from $295.75 in 2007-08 to $311.77 in 2008-09.

Apart from direct funding, the Australian Government also provides assistance through tax concessions such as the Cultural Gifts Program, which offers tax deductions to encourage the donation of items of cultural significance to public art galleries, museums and libraries. According to the 2008-09 Annual Report of the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), 652 donations were made to the program in that year with a total value of $82.9m.

4.1 CULTURAL FUNDING BY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT - 2008-09
			Value of funding	Percentage of total
			$m	%
Australian Government(a)
	Heritage
		Art museums	91.5	1.4
		Other museums and cultural heritage	266.0	3.9
		Environmental heritage	207.0	3.1
		Libraries	60.0	0.9
		Archives	105.4	1.6
		Total heritage	729.8	10.8
	Arts
		Literature and print media	31.2	0.5
		Music performance	59.3	0.9
		Drama	28.3	0.4
		Dance	21.6	0.3
		Music theatre and opera	24.0	0.4
		Other performing arts	7.0	0.1
		Performing arts venues	-	-
		Music composition and publishing	0.7	-
		Visual arts and crafts	33.4	0.5
		Design	0.2	-
		Radio and television services	1 391.1	20.5
		Film and video production and distribution	115.5	1.7
		Multimedia	6.2	0.1
		Other arts	136.3	2.0
		Total arts	1 854.7	27.4
	Total Australian Government		2 584.5	38.2
State and territory government
	Heritage
		Art museums	175.2	2.6
		Other museums and cultural heritage	338.3	5.0
		Environmental heritage	1 397.0	20.6
		Libraries	337.4	5.0
		Archives	65.9	1.0
		Total heritage	2 313.8	34.2
	Arts
		Literature and print media	18.9	0.3
		Music performance	58.8	0.9
		Drama	30.1	0.4
		Dance	18.2	0.3
		Music theatre and opera	16.9	0.2
		Other performing arts	34.6	0.5
		Performing arts venues	241.2	3.6
		Music composition and publishing	0.5	-
		Visual arts and crafts	41.1	0.6
		Design	4.9	0.1
		Radio and television services	1.7	-
		Film and video production and distribution	122.7	1.8
		Multimedia	5.9	0.1
		Other arts	124.2	1.8
		Total arts	719.9	10.6
	Total state and territory government		3 033.7	44.8
Local government
	Art museums		55.2	0.8
	Other museums and cultural heritage		34.5	0.5
	Libraries		727.5	10.7
	Performing arts		87.6	1.3
	Cultural or arts services n.e.c.		249.5	3.7
	Total local government		1 154.2	17.0
Total			6 772.5	100.0
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) The Australian Government refers to the federal government. It does not refer to the aggregate of state and territory governments, nor does it include local government.
Source: Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2008-09 (cat. no. 4183.0).