Restore Federal Government Funding to Roebourne Art Group

Until the end of the 2011/12 financial year, Roebourne Art Group - which supports indigenous artists working in the Pilbara - received funding from the Australian Federal Government under what is now called the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) program.

However since the Group resolved to introduce a true partnership model wherein management of the Group is shared between a white Administrator and an Aboriginal Co-ordinator, the Federal Office for the Arts has indicated that this does not fit "the model" created in Canberra, some 5,000 km away.

When RAG refused to revert to the old management structure, in which a white person held sole authority over the workings of an indigenous organisation, the Government ceased its funding support.

With the art market in decline and indigenous art in particular being very difficult to sustain, Federal Government support is more vital today than ever before. Without this funding, the future of Roebourne Art Group is in grave jeopardy and the many benefits it brings to the indigenous communities of the Pilbara may disappear.

For an expert analysis of the many benefits of indigenous art centres, see: http://www.dia.wa.gov.au/Documents/ReportsPublications/Art_centre_report.pdf

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