Govt response not far away

It wont be long beofre we have the Governments response to the Indigenous Art Inquiry. Much has been said about the inquiry and some of the issues it hopes to address and I plan to speak more about it before and after the findings are realeased so stay tuned.

Govt finalising response to Indigenous art inquiry: Garrett

Posted Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:04pm AEST

Federal Arts Minister Peter Garrett says the Government is finalising its response to a Senate inquiry report on the Indigenous art industry released more than a year ago.

The inquiry recommended a national code of conduct for the industry and a $25 million fund for community art centres.

The National Association for the Visual Arts has renewed its calls for the Government to implement the report's recommendations, amid new allegations of unscrupulous art dealing in central Australia.

A spokesman for Mr Garrett says the Government is providing additional support to Aboriginal art centres, including $250,000 for the Ikuntji community at Haast's Bluff north-west of Alice Springs.

He said there was also $1.5 million in the recent Budget to establish a resale royalty scheme for Aboriginal artists.

The scheme, due to be in place early next year, would provide artists whose works are sold on the secondary art market with an ongoing income.

The spokesman says the Government is also waiting to consider a national code of conduct being developed for the industry.