Dear Members, partners and industry stakeholders,
The Australian Government is developing the next National Cultural Policy, building on Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.
This is an important opportunity to help shape the national policy settings.
The Chamber has prepared a short member resource to support you in preparing your submissions. It summarises key themes from sector consultation and sets out a shared policy argument that you may wish to use.
We strongly encourage you to make your own submissions to ensure there is significant and meaningful West Australian representation.
The Chamber’s central proposition is that Australia does not lack creativity. What is needed now are the systems, investment settings, public understanding, workforce conditions, and audience development strategies that make cultural life visible, sustainable, and central to national life.
The next National Cultural Policy will be stronger if it:
- strengthens implementation and cross-government coordination
- recognises First Nations culture as foundational to Australian identity
- positions culture as civic and social infrastructure
- appropriately supports sustainable creative careers
- invests in strategic cultural demand, audiences, participation and discoverability, in addition to creative production
- recognises arts education as a national capability strategy
- acknowledges Western Australia’s distinct geography, distance, regional and remote communities, First Nations cultural strength, Indian Ocean and Asia-facing relationships, and need for equitable national visibility.
How to structure your submission
Members do not need to address every issue. A strong submission may focus on one or two priorities grounded in your own experience, evidence or community need.
The following structure may be adapted.
State your overall position: Support building on Revive, and strengthening implementation, investment confidence and system design.
Describe the problem from your perspective: instability, access barriers, workforce sustainability, audience development, education, infrastructure, geographic inequity or First Nations cultural authority.
Consider the WA context: Where relevant, explain why WA’s geography, communities and opportunities require national recognition.
Explain why the issue matters beyond the sector: social cohesion, civic participation, education, wellbeing, regional liveability, economic diversification, identity, diplomacy or public trust.
Make recommendations: Provide one or two practical recommendations aligned with the Chamber’s approach.
Submissions can be made through the Australian Government’s Have Your Say page by uploading a document or writing a statement of up to 500 words.
Submissions close at 11.59 pm AEST on Sunday 24 May 2026.
We encourage all Chamber members and stakeholders to make a submission and ensure Western Australian perspectives are strongly represented in the next National Cultural Policy.
We have also drafted a suggested 500-word Member statement that you can adapt for online form submissions. It is deliberately concise and should be personalised with local examples, organisational evidence or community experience.
The Chamber of Arts and Culture WA acknowledges and pays its respects to the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Country throughout Western Australia, and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters, and communities. We also pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures and to Elders both past and present.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
