A little bit of recognition goes a long way: what the Federal Government’s Revive policy can teach us about supporting creative practitioners in the academy
Mikhaela rodwell | march 2023
The Federal Government’s recent launched cultural policy, ‘Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place’ allocates $286 million over four years to the creative and cultural sector. And while that’s a modest sum in the overall scheme of things, and there are genuine questions to be asked about how several of the initiatives will be delivered, the reception by the sector has been positive overall.
What can academic leaders learn from the policy about engaging with creative practitioners in the academy? And how could this support our colleagues to grow in their careers and contribute more fully to the life of the university?
Image by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Step 1: Start by acknowledging your creative workforce.
Not least through its very presence the policy acknowledges that the cultural sector exists. Additionally, it does so in a way that accepts and values the diverse intellectual and imaginative contributions the sector makes to our national life along with its substantial economic contribution. Being seen and recognised in this way is a major reason for the policy’s positive reception, as it starts from a position of respecting creative work and understanding its unique demands.
Most universities in Australia have significant cohorts of creative practitioners amongst their academic staff. They are, of course, prominent in disciplines such as art, design, architecture, music, and film, as well as in literature, media and communications, and they are increasingly prominent in areas of the university not normally considered creative, such as in engineering, I.T., and built environment departments where visualisation technology and software development often emerge from creative fields.
The creative practitioners in your institution are a powerful resource for engaging with the public and generating meaning for the wider community, with a set of capabilities that benefit your organisation in myriad ways. Think about how creative practice and creative arts research is recognised broadly in your institution, and the parts of it that you lead. Has your organisation committed to a basic understanding of creative methodologies and capabilities beyond ‘talent’? Does your institution or your department routinely present and celebrate all types of professional success and achievement equally? Are research support schemes inclusive of non-traditional research outputs? It is just as counterproductive for creative work to be invisible in a university as it is for it to be actively undermined or discredited.
Step 2: Be open about limitations, but work towards engagement
Revive is honest about both the present funding limitations and how much work will remain to be done beyond the four-year window it describes. Honesty about limitations is essential to rebuilding trust in a sector that has in the recent past been blind-sided by major funding reversals and on occasion directly attacked. Consequently, the government, through the Australia Council has invited key parts of the sector to assist in determining priority items for immediate action.
There are natural limits to the support universities can provide to creative and cultural practitioners. You’re bound by the KPIs and requirements of your institutions, and money is tight everywhere. Plus, the profile of creative practitioners does not always easily map onto traditional academic pathways, and most of the structures and indicators that facilitate high levels of success in the cultural sector actually sit outside universities, with funding bodies, cultural institutions and museums, and other commissioning organisations. However, if you’ve started the work in step 1 you have also started investing in your people. Ask them to work with you to determine the best forms of support for their work. Creative practitioners are typically highly resourceful, from years of working in underfunded sectors, and will know how to make a little go a long way. They are often highly respected and highly influential members of these sectors, and they maintain these professional connections because they strongly identify with and are motivated by the social and cultural impact their work can have. If you engage with your creative practitioners on their terms and on their turf, you may discover new ways to partner with industry to deliver work with impact.
Step 3: Change governance and administrative policy to change structural inequities
Several of Revive’s aspirations are scaffolded by changes to governance, policy and legislation that address long-term inequities. Updating the public and educational lending rights schemes to include digital publications immediately increases income for professional writers and illustrators. Establishing a dedicated First Nations-led Board within Creative Australia not only directly facilitates autonomy and self-determination of First Nations artists and organisations but is then supported by a Workforce Development Strategy that directly addresses First Nations skills shortages in the cultural sector that prevent productions being fully Iindigenous-led. And updating the methodology used by the ABS will better capture the contribution of the cultural and creative sector and then provide major administrative agencies with better data with which to make decisions.
Clear, simple, and deliverable changes to governance and administrative policies can address inequities in resource distribution, and support pipelines for career development that prevent people from thriving within your organisation. What type of ‘quick wins’ could you implement that would address equivalent structural issues for your people? Do your workload models, procedures for promotion, HDR scholarship assessment, or internal funding schemes privilege certain types of output or engagement over others? Is your reporting framework still using outdated HERDC publication metrics? Does your organisation have an easy way to identify all the creative practitioners working throughout the institution and report on their contribution to the life of the university? Consistent, coordinated administrative support is one way in which a commitment to these creative, professional and theoretical skills is shown throughout an organisation.
In any academic field, career progression relies on academics being able to undertake significant work and, in so doing, demonstrate their success and achievements. We understand that supporting our staff in these ways sets them up for success. And just as the cultural sector exists in Australia, creative practitioners form a core part of universities. As such, they represent an investment by universities in this aspect of Australian life.
What we can learn from Revive is to value this workforce, engage with its skill sets and manage it well, and in doing so build a pipeline for a stronger, more equitable and more engaged cohort, one that can contribute vibrantly to the public life of the country and generate more investment in return.
As a university research manager and arts professional, Mikhaela Rodwell has a wealth of experience delivering innovative programs that help public institutions, arts organisations, artists and designers achieve their goals.
