With so many artists excluded from both JobKeeper and JobSeeker during the Covid-19 crisis, the sector suffered another blow with the announcement by the Federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan, that tertiary fees would be substantially increased for Humanities and Creative Arts courses.
The Minister's announcement did not contain much detail, so we asked whether he would clarify the percentage increase for the Creative Arts. 'We understand fees for ‘creative arts’ will rise by 13%, from $6804 to $7700 over three years, but we are unable to find more accurate information in the Minister’s speech to the National Press Club. However, it is clear that Humanities & Social Science degrees will rise by 113%'.
We also asked the Minister to define ‘creative arts’, i.e. did it mean arts training courses such as those offered in Dance at QUT and the University of Melbourne (VCA)?
We now have a response from the Minister, and will be following up shortly with input from dance course directors and the Ausdance network.