Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697633954642.pdf (Australia)
21 October 2020 Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts - Inquiry into Australia’s Creative and Cultural Industries and Institutions Introduction GLAM Peak is a group of the peak representative national bodies for galleries, libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, humanities research and other research collections in Australia.

Its mission is to inspire and support peoples’ connections to collections and stories.
Members operate within a co-operative framework to work in partnership towards the goal of improved public access to collections.

Members support the nation’s arts, heritage, education, science and humanities research, and innovation priorities.

GLAM Peak's initiatives include sector-wide advocacy and the federally-funded Digital Access to Collections project.
The major focus to date has been recognising the importance of digital access to collections and carrying out a range of activities in support of this national priority.

These include drafting the national framework for digital access to collections, and developing a suite of tools, workshop materials, case studies and guidelines.
See http://www.digitalcollections.org.au/framework/draft-national-framework GLAM Peak members include:  Australian Academy of the Humanities  Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies  Australian Library and Information Association  Australian Society of Archivists  Council of Australasian Archive and Records Authorities  Council of Australasian Museum Directors  Federation of Australian Historical Societies International Council of Museums, Australia   Australian Museums and Galleries Association  National Archives of Australia  National Film and Sound Archive  National Library of Australia  National and State Libraries Australia  University Art Museums Australia GLAM Peak is also a member of AMaGA’s Disasters - Cultural Response Roundtable – National Organisations which provides advocacy, communication and support through the Australian disaster season on behalf of the cultural and creative arts sectors.
This submission is made on behalf of GLAM Peak and the Cultural Response Roundtable.

Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutionsSubmission 86 Terms of Reference 1.
The direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities of creative and cultural industries and how to recognise, measure and grow them We know from Australian and international studies that arts, culture and heritage make an important contribution to society and to the economy – whether this is through promoting creative thought, encouraging entrepreneurship, activating cultural tourism, or making a significant return on investment in terms of community wellbeing.
We note that the Australian Infrastructure Audit 2019 included social infrastructure: arts and culture for the first time in the national picture.

This is to be commended.

Recommendation 1: That arts and culture should continue to be key components of national, state and local integrated infrastructure planning, recognising that this is fundamental to a healthy and well-functioning society and economy.

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The non-economic benefits that enhance community, social wellbeing and promoting Australia's national identity, and how to recognise, measure and grow them Cultural industries and institutions are important to the lives of Australians in every part of the country.

For example, Australia has more than 1600 central, branch and mobile libraries, with 9.3 million registered members and more than 114 million customer visits each year.

They are a much loved, highly regarded and trusted community resource.
There are over 2,500 museums and galleries throughout the country, most of which are small, volunteer-managed community organisations embedded in their local communities and providing a range of social and economic benefits.

And national and state cultural institutions connect with Australians through such means as digital access, touring exhibitions, research outputs, publications and education programs, as well as on-site visitation.
As the principal repositories of Australia’s unique history, art, heritage and audio-visual collections, GLAM organisations have a central role in connecting Australians with the stories and histories of their communities at a local, regional and national level.

Arts and culture are key contributors to national wellbeing, social inclusion and productivity.
Indigenous peoples GLAM Peak also seeks to strengthen the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Australia’s galleries, libraries, archives and museums through developing a culturally competent workforce; increasing Indigenous employment, engagement and participation; and ensuring culturally appropriate management of Indigenous collections.

This will enhance social inclusion as well as support the economic and social empowerment of First Peoples.
Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutionsSubmission 86 Recommendation 2: That national and state cultural grants programs generate additional funding for reconciliation work between Indigenous communities and the GLAM sector, such as supporting the rollout of Cultural Learning and Competency Training.

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The best mechanism for ensuring cooperation and delivery of policy between layers of government Cultural policy At the Commonwealth government level, the lack of a national cultural policy framework and associated strategic leadership and resourcing has inhibited sector-wide improvements in policy development, productivity and service delivery.
A new framework should set out a coherent Roadmap for Recovery from COVID-19 and future resilience that understands and supports the interconnectedness between industry policies/programs such as tourism, regional development, health and education.

It should include cross-governmental strategies and programs.
Recommendation 3: That the Commonwealth government works co-operatively with other jurisdictions, other departments, and the industry to co-develop a new national cultural policy framework and associated strategies and plans.

Research infrastructure The GLAM sector currently collaborates with the research sector in multiple ways to enable researchers to discover, access, curate and analyse social and cultural data.

This is vital work for a robust and informed nation.
Australia’s national infrastructure plan should include improvements in the way in which researchers across the disciplines access and interact with Australia’s cultural collections in all jurisdictions.

This includes joining up existing platforms and developing new ones that can operate across the research and cultural sectors to support data-driven innovation, training to build research capabilities, and tools that facilitate collaboration across different platforms.
Recommendation 4: That the Commonwealth government accelerates the development of a new plan for collaborative research infrastructure, building on the national success of Trove (https://trove.nla.gov.au/), one of the most visited Commonwealth government websites.

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The impact of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural industries The impacts upon the creative and cultural industries, organisations, workers and volunteers and audiences have been profoundly disruptive, and damaging in many cases.
Detailed accounts of the effects and strategic responses are outlined in submissions from GLAM Peak members and other professional bodies.
The Parliamentary Friends of Museums Libraries and Galleries, co-chaired by Senator James Paterson and Luke Gosling OAM, MP, is supported by and encourages the work of GLAM Peak and demonstrates an understanding that our cultural organisations are vital at Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutionsSubmission 86 this time of national crisis and recovery.
The Friendship group is keen to promote the innovative ways in which our nation’s cultural sector has responded to the immense disruption of COVID-19.

From developing virtual and behind the scenes tours of museums and art exhibitions, to school, university and public libraries supporting students and educators through mobilising remote access to essential learning materials, the sector has been outstanding in its desire to serve the community.
In a recent public statement, Senator Paterson said that while this has been a tough time for the sector, it has shown its willingness to step up, and its role now in helping the country recover and rebuild cannot be overstated.

Luke Gosling added that arts and culture have immense value to how we identify as Australians as well as to how we create new opportunities and a stronger economy.
Cultural organisations have a significant role to play in the preservation of community identity and in community rebuilding.

Undertaking digitisation projects that would provide digital access to collections is one of the most urgent and effective responses to the recent pandemic, on top of the season of natural disasters, that governments could support.
Recommendation 5: That the creative and cultural industries and organisations are actively included in Recovery and Resilience planning and programs, with specific funding and support for digitisation of collections.

Sustainability The cultural collections sector understands the need to work towards sustainability in all its forms.
To that end, GLAM Peak has recently adopted relevant priorities in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as set out in the United Nations’ Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030.

See https://bit.ly/35bv8UP Recommendation 6: That all levels of government and the philanthropic sector support the implementation by GLAM Peak organisations of the relevant goals, strategies and performance measures set out in the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Avenues for increasing access and opportunities for Australia's creative and cultural industries through innovation and the digital environment.

This sector is both a resource for innovation and creativity, and a basis for learning and knowledge production on many levels.

GLAM Peak seeks to improve public access to, and use of, cultural collections, with a special focus on digital collections, from creation to preservation.
Providing digital access is the most effective way of ensuring Australian arts, scientific collections, and heritage, in all its many forms, can be discovered and enjoyed by audiences throughout Australia and worldwide.

There are many stories about the positive impact digital access has had on the lives of individuals and there are a number of examples of how digital access has led to important scientific and policy outcomes.
GLAM Peak has developed a national framework for digital access to Australia’s cultural collections.

The patchwork development of digital accessibility to collections nationwide Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutionsSubmission 86 needs now to be steered and funded in a coherent and efficient way, following this national framework.
A national program could support state and territory programs through policies, plans and funding programs guiding and supporting local initiatives, and feeding into a national picture.

In some cases, national sector approaches will be most effective, for example across the university sector.

To achieve this, we advocate for the development of state-wide Digital Access Plans for each state’s cultural collections.
Currently, NSW, WA and Tasmania are developing plans, which should be given long-term infrastructure funding support.

Recommendation 7: That the Commonwealth Government develops and resources a National Investment Plan for digital access to cultural collections.
The Plan would support and encourage: - the adoption of national, state, territory and local government digital access to collections strategies and plans, which link to a national collaborative research infrastructure plan, - dedicated funding for digitisation and digital access at every level, - initiatives to help build the capacity of smaller and regional, remote, community and Indigenous cultural institutions, - support for state digital collections platforms, and - steady support for the National Library of Australia’s Trove platform.
For 2018/19, the Commonwealth Office for the Arts reported that 11% of objects in our national collections had been digitised.

While the proportion of objects available to the public online is increasing (from 6.1% in 2014/15 to 8.7% in 2018/19) there is clearly a significant amount to do, to fulfil their national obligations and capitalise on opportunities.
This work is also critical in terms of better natural disasters mitigation but also in providing better online content during other times of crisis, such as the current pandemic and the anticipated “COVID normal” times ahead.

The work requires significant additional investment funding from the Commonwealth Budget.

This need for new funding comes at a time when our national cultural institutions are required to reduce their spending year-on-year to meet the demands of the ‘Efficiency Dividend’.
Recommendation 8: That the Commonwealth government provides significant increased funding over the next four years to accelerate the digitisation programs of work by the national cultural institutions and provides exemption for national cultural institutions from the Efficiency Dividend, which is so damaging for these small Commonwealth government agencies.

Conclusion Arts, culture and heritage are vital for individual and community identity and wellbeing.
Australia’s creative and cultural institutions are critical providers and enablers of community participation, learning and enjoyment.

They are also critical contributors to national and regional economies and are key drivers of successful cultural tourism and regional Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutionsSubmission 86 Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutionsSubmission 86