It's time to pay artists a living wage

An industrial award must be established for artists and art workers to earn a liveable wage, writes Leya Reid.

THOUSANDS of artists and arts workers including internationally renowned artists Tony Albert, Abdul Abdullah, Ali Baker, Joan Ross, Louise Zhang, Vipoo Srivalasa, Sally Smart, Tom Mùller and Nici Cumpston, have signed a petition calling on the Federal Government to include a legislated industrial award for the visual arts, craft and design sector in the new national cultural policy.

The #RecogniseArtistsAsWorkers campaign on Change.org was launched by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) last week ahead of the much-anticipated launch of the Federal Government’s new National Cultural Policy later this year.

Since the campaign’s launch, the open letter has collected more than 5,700 signatures and counting.

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Sydney-based sculptor Lionel Bawden commented on the petition:

"Artists are workers. Some of the most dedicated in the country. It is time to recognise them".

Melbourne-based installation artist Mikala Dwyer added:

"As generous as artists are, we can’t live on nothing. Societies need the tools of imagination now more than ever. Artists are essential workers. We need recognition and a basic living wage."

The longitudinal studies by Professor David Throsby on the economic circumstances of arts practitioners over the last three decades indicate that the level of visual artists' and craft practitioners’ incomes continues to drop significantly, and that a substantial proportion of practitioners are earning below the poverty line.

Many visual artists and arts workers are underpaid, with little opportunity to negotiate their fees and wages. The lack of regulation, continuity and clarity through a legal framework for the visual arts means many employers, employees and artists themselves, find it difficult to determine and negotiate appropriate rates of pay for their work.

While artists and arts workers in the performing arts sector are covered by legal minimum pay rates and standard working conditions outlined in the Live Performance Award 2020, visual artists and arts workers are not.

NAVA continues to have primary responsibility for setting payment standards through the NAVA’s Code of Practice for Visual Arts, Craft and Design. Yet, the recommended fees and wages outlined in the Code continue to be voluntary, not mandatory. Governments and their funding bodies do not mandate these fees and therefore NAVA is unable to enforce the payment of adequate fees for artists and freelance arts workers.

This leaves the door open for exploitation in many forms: from the underpayment of artists by government-funded arts organisations, to the use of digital content without appropriate remuneration. Without an award, most artists and arts workers will also miss out on any increases to fees and wages gained through enterprise bargaining and award processes decided by the Commission.

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Rather than establishing a legal framework in the new National Cultural Policy, NAVA has heard of discussions to include an ombudsman-type structure within the Australia Council for artists and arts workers to report payment complaints against federally-funded organisations.

This proposal will not only draw arts funding away from artists to duplicate the function of the Fair Work Commission, but will contribute to division within a precariously underfunded sector. Besides, it will do nothing to legislate the adequate payment of artists and arts workers for their work across the entire sector.

Perth-based artist, curator and writer Gemma Weston commented:

"An award rate for artists will enshrine best practice standards for arts institutions nationally, and will ensure artistic programs developed by institutions are both ambitious and realistic."

A founding principle of the new national cultural policy framework is recognising artists as workers. When visual artists and arts workers ask to be paid for their work, and paid decently, it is because the people behind the artworks and experiences that audiences across Australia love, deserve to be compensated for their time and labour.

It is time for Arts Minister Tony Burke to honour his commitment to support artists as workers and celebrate their role as the creators of culture.