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The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) has released its Federal election report card calling on all of Australia's political parties to commit to investing in the arts.

Commenting on the Association's call, NAVA Executive Director, Esther Anatolitis stated "this election year, NAVA calls on all parties to Invest in artistic courage.

"When we reflect on the state of Australia’s culture in 2019, this has been a deeply concerning election campaign, with personal slurs and poor behaviour capturing headlines and displacing policy debate."

NAVA’s report card takes the Coalition to task for its lack of cultural leadership and some regressive policies, advising that the Liberals and Nationals earn ticks for arts education initiatives and disability employment targets, they also get crosses for pledging $498 million to redevelop the Australian War Memorial and $50 million towards a Captain Cook statue on the site of First Nations peoples’ first encounter.

Anatolitis stated "these commitments celebrate the culture of colonial and military Australia, creating enduring symbols that foster pride in conflict and conquest as definitive of the Australian identity."

Meanwhile, Labor and the Greens both earn ticks for their commitment to restoring Australia Council funding to 2014 levels.

She added "such investment is urgent given the decline in artist incomes, career prospects and numbers, as evidenced via Australia Council research."

The Australian Labor Party also earned ticks for supporting TAFE and public schools, strengthening artists’ rights and industry standards, and commitments to gender diversity and First Nations’ representation, while the Greens were applauded for policies addressing games development, artists in schools, and a living wage for artists.

NAVA acknowledged that Labor will be launching a comprehensive arts policy on Saturday 11th May, and welcomed representatives of all parties to make public commitments or contact NAVA directly.

NAVA’s report cards are compiled using publicly available campaign information and election commitments made to date by the three major parties.

The Australian Federal election is being held on Saturday 18th May 2019.

Click here to view NAVA's 2019 election report card.

Top image: NAVA's Arts Action Day.

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