The New Year began with an unexpected change to the National Anthem, a move described as tokenistic by First Nations Australians, and was followed by the distribution of $1.4 million to First Nations arts organisations and artists via the Australia Council’s Cherish fund.
January also saw $5 million donated to Sydney Festival by Peter Freedman AM, the largest philanthropic gift in the festival’s history; the latest cuts to JobKeeper caused widespread alarm sector-wide; and the Federal Government allocated over $9 million to four ‘systemically significant’ Australian arts organisations in the first tranche of its Arts Sustainability Fund.
