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Handed down on Tuesday, the Victorian State Budget includes $106.6 million earmarked for the creative industries. This is a decrease from the 2016-17 budget, which injected a total of $152 million in new funds into the state’s arts and cultural sector.
Much of the funding is earmarked for maintenance and upgrades of existing cultural infrastructure, including $40 million on major maintenance works and behind-the-scenes upgrades at Arts Centre Melbourne (including replacing the State Theatre’s decades old flying system, as well as security systems and other core infrastructure); $5 million to revitalise State Library Victoria’s Russell Street precinct and other public spaces; and $5 million for a first stage redevelopment at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).
