4147.4.55.001 - Culture and Recreation News, Mar 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/03/2008   
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INFORMATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

After intensive consultation with government arts agencies, peak bodies, community arts networks, city councils, regional bodies and researchers across Australia, the Information Paper: Arts and Cultural Heritage - An Information Development Plan, 2008 (cat. no. 4915.0.55.002) was released on the 14th March. This paper is available to download free of charge from the ABS website.

Outlined in the IDP is an agreed set of priority policy research questions. The plan assesses current data sources and research work relevant to each question and where possible identifies actions or directions for further research. The ABS and the Cultural Ministers Council Statistics Working Group (CMCSWG) will be keen to look for opportunities to work collaboratively with other agencies to address identified research needs.

The IDP will help the ABS and CMCSWG ensure that their future work programs are relevant and will hopefully contribute to the development and monitoring of government policies and programs. It is also envisaged that the IDP will assist other research and funding bodies to develop their projects and directions. In this way, we hope to better address the needs of people and organisations in the arts and cultural heritage field and produce flow-on benefits for the public.

To help progress some of the research directions identified in the IDP, CMCSWG plans to hold a 'research symposium' later this year. The aim is to bring together a diverse group of people (representing a range of arts/cultural heritage areas) who have demonstrated expertise in research and data analysis in the field of arts and cultural heritage, and who are likely to be able to contribute to actively pursuing research priorities of interest to government.

The IDP will be subject to regular review to identify changes in policy priorities and data needs.

If you have any questions about the IDP, or would like to be involved in the research symposium please contact Jenny Dobak on (08) 8237 7317 or email nccrs@abs.gov.au.