Have you signed the defunding petition

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking your support. 

What will you lose if Craft Australia is lost to the Australian craft and design sector. 

 The ramifications of not having a national peak organisation representing the craft and design sector are significant.

•  There will be no visible national portal to represent the work of the many artists, designers, gallerists, curators, writers and researchers working in this field.

•  Australia will be the only OECD country without a dedicated agency to advocate and promote the work of this area of practice.

• The many initiatives that Craft Australia has been advocating for that link craft and design with innovation and industry will be lost.

•  Substantial digital content about this sector will be lost, creating a significant knowledge gap about our cultural traditions.

How you can help: 

1. Sign our petition
2. Forward to petition to friends and interested parties 
3. Write to the Visual Arts Board, Chair: Ted Snell email 
4. Write to the Minister for the Arts Simon Crean MP contact details
5. Write to the Shadow Minister for the Arts George Brandis SC contact details
6. Write to your local Minister

What people are saying

The following are example of open letters to the Arts Minister, The Hon Mr Simon Crean and local ministers.

Crafts downgraded by the Australia Council again

Helmut Lueckenhausen

In a review of 40 key organizations 12-13 September, the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council decided to bring a 40-year history of national and international advocacy for the Australian craft design sector by CA to an end. Others have written, and will continue to draw attention to the issue of the inadequacy of the process, even in accordance with the Australia Council’s own published procedural guidelines. Read more

 OPEN LETTER: Why would you defund a cultural institution? 

Ray Norman 

 RE: Why would you defund a cultural institution?

Firstly, it must be said that neither you personally, nor your ministry, are seen as having defunded Craft Australia – an Australian Cultural Institution – but the 'institution' has nonetheless been defunded by the Australia Council's Visual Arts Board (VAB) [1] and ultimately in your name – albeit at arms' length. Read more

LETTER TO A LOCAL MEMBER: An expression of dismay!

Marion Marshall
I am writing to register my dismay that Craft Australia the National peak organization for the Crafts has been given notice that it will be defunded by the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council.
As a craftsperson (a gold and silversmith) who has operated her studio and gallery for 37 years, successfully building a creative business which has employed and trained 19 people.  Read more

To send your letter in response to the defunding of Craft Australia more information  
Read submissions about the defunding of Craft Australia  Read more 
Comments on the petition Read more

Sign the Petition

  Dear friends and supporters of Craft Australia,

Since we were notified on 12 October that the organisation will not receive any more program funding from the Visual Arts board of the Australia Council beyond the end of December 2011, we have had overwhelming response in support for Craft Australia. We thank you for this amazing show of strength for craft and design practice.  Responses have come from our readers and supporters from all over the world.

We are sending you this update to keep you informed of the developments in our campaign to save Craft Australia and how you can continue to help us.  

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Make your voice heard in support for craft and design. 

• Spread the word, pass this notice on to your friends and networks, get them to do the same.
• Sign our online petition. The more people that sign, the stronger our argument for the importance of a national craft and design organisation.
• Write a comment on our blog, tell us how this will impact on you.
• Write a letter to the Visual Arts Board and tell them what you think, please send us a copy as well so we are all on the same page
• Write a letter to the Arts Minister, the Hon. Simon Crean MP
• Write a letter to your local government member

With your help we can show that craft and design matters.

Again, thank you for your ongoing support; we will keep you informed of our progress.

Catrina Vignando

General Manager

Related links

Sign our petition

Follow the Story  

CA, Presidents letter to the Visual Arts Board
Review Committee letter 

Save Craft Australia

  Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking your support. 

What will you lose if Craft Australia is lost to the Australian craft and design sector. 

 The ramifications of not having a national peak organisation representing the craft and design sector are significant.

•  There will be no visible national portal to represent the work of the many artists, designers, gallerists, curators, writers and researchers working in this field.

•  Australia will be the only OECD country without a dedicated agency to advocate and promote the work of this area of practice.

• The many initiatives that Craft Australia has been advocating for that link craft and design with innovation and industry will be lost.

•  Substantial digital content about this sector will be lost, creating a significant knowledge gap about our cultural traditions.

How you can help: 

1. Sign our petition
2. Forward to petition to friends and interested parties 
3. Write to the Visual Arts Board, Chair Ted Snell email
4. Write to the Minister for the Arts Simon Crean MP contact details
5. Write to the Shadow Minister for the Arts George Brandis SC contact details
6. Write to your local Minister

MEDIA RELEASE

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

The Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council announced in October that it would defund Craft Australia, the national peak organisation for the craft and design sector.  Without its financial support Craft Australia will be forced to close by December 2011 and its significant 40 year legacy will be lost. The network of Australian Craft and Design Centres, (ACDC), support Craft Australia in seeking to revoke the Visual Arts Board, (VAB) decision.

Craft Australia believes the decision by the VAB is unjustified and was made without proper consultation either with Craft Australia or the craft and design sector. The decision has not followed due process or due governance and is in breach of its own documented guidelines. Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking immediate interim funding from the Australia Council.

Robert Reason the President of Craft Australia said:

“The interim funding would allow Craft Australia to restructure in a responsible manner and manage its significant heritage assets and active programs appropriately. It would also send a clear message to the craft and design sector that the Australia Council and through it the Australian Government remains committed to the preservation of our cultural heritage”.

He also said,

“Craft Australia delivers a dynamic and diverse program that promotes and supports Australian craft and design practice nationally and internationally.”

Craft Australia’s website, www.craftaustralia.org.au, has over 1 million unique page visitors annually and provides access to events, exhibitions, and commissioned articles on craft and design. The organisation also engages with readers so they can actively respond to issues through Craft Australia’s social media sites on twitter, facebook and the CA blog, www.craftaustralia.blogspot.com

Some of Craft Australia’s recent achievements in support of the sector include the newly  established craft + design enquiry online journal, an international forum for practice based research; the Selling Yarns conferences for contemporary Indigenous craft and design practices and attracting funding to digitise its unique collection of images.

Significantly, Craft Australia ensures that the craft and design sector has a voice on national decision making organisations such the Australian Design Alliance (AdA), ArtsPeak, the National Visual Arts Craft Network (NVACN) and the Council for Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, (CHASS).

Without a national organisation there can be no concerted advocacy position for the Australian craft and design sector. This could leave the sector vulnerable to further erosion of funding.

For more information about the decision to defund Craft Australia, contact

Robert Reason, President of Craft Australia on 02 6273 0088.

Sign the Petition

For more details on the Save Craft Australia action please see the Craft Australia website www.craftaustralia.org.au

Craft Australia Defunded

Dear friends and colleagues,

On Thursday, 12 October, Craft Australia was officially notified that it has been ‘defunded’: it will receive no more triennial funding from the Australia Council for the Arts beyond the end of 2011.

While Craft Australia and the broad constituencies it represents and supports would dispute this decision, the result effectively means the organisation has no funds to operate beyond 31 December 2011. This decision comes at a point when the sector is poised to make some significant developments in relation to craft, design, innovation and the creative industries, and in which Craft Australia has played and would have continued to play a significant role.

More information about how you can help Craft Australia will also be sent to you next week and will be posted on the Craft Australia website and Blog.

Catrina Vignando
General Manager
21/10/2011

Craft Australia Defunded

Dear friends and colleagues,

On Thursday, 12 October, Craft Australia was officially notified that it has been ‘defunded’: it will receive no more triennial funding from the Australia Council for the Arts beyond the end of 2011.

While Craft Australia and the broad constituencies it represents and supports would dispute this decision, the result effectively means the organisation has no funds to operate beyond 31 December 2011. This decision comes at a point when the sector is poised to make some significant developments in relation to craft, design, innovation and the creative industries, and in which Craft Australia has played and would have continued to play a significant role.

More information about how you can help Craft Australia will also be sent to you next week and will be posted on the Craft Australia website and Blog.

Catrina Vignando
General Manager
21/10/2011