Creative Business Wrap – June 2025

Well, if it isn’t June already. The solstice has passed, so the days only get longer from here. The astronomy and design fans among you (and surely there’s a crossover between the two?) may want to check out the University of Wollongong’s Solstice Bench, which casts a perfectly formed shadow but twice a year. Furniture that marks the turn of the seasons! Nifty and nerdy.

Anyway, the end-of-financial-year beckons, and maybe your inbox, like mine, is filling up with EOFY donation drives. I always take a moment to look at which ones are the most compelling and might make me want to click through. Never an easy task, because actually, many of the EDM campaigns are getting better and more sophisticated. Still, as a contribution to the creative industries, or some other worthy cause, a donation beats a last-minute splurge at Officeworks or some such. Why not take a look and see what you can throw some coin at?

Talking of which, applications are now open for Creative Australia’s MATCH Lab program, which I am thrilled to be facilitating again this year. MATCH Lab supports individual artists in building fundraising skills, enhancing their understanding of philanthropy, and ultimately creating sustainable revenue streams for their work. The program offers dollar-for-dollar matched funding up to $10,000, incentivising participants to leverage private sector support. It includes attendance at an intensive two-day “Raising Money for Your Art” clinic in Melbourne, which helps attendees develop their campaigns. I wrote about some of the things I’ve learned through running the program here (with apologies for subjecting you to LinkedIn). And please encourage any interested folk to apply by 5 August.

A few years back, the Irish “Basic Income for the Arts” (BIA) scheme garnered attention as being one of the first to experiment with a universal income for artists. Introduced as a three-year research project, the BIA provides a weekly payment of €325 to 2,000 selected artists, chosen from 8,000 eligible applicants. This initiative responded to an arts sector “on its knees” after pandemic shutdowns and dwindling budgets, where many artists lived precariously. So how’d it work out?

In this article, playwright Lisa Tierney-Keogh shared how the payment was not just financial aid but profound validation, making her feel “seen” and “valued”. But there was a darker side too. Because only some artists were selected for the scheme, it also burdened her with a profound “recipients’ guilt”, and prompted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” culture around who received the payment. Ultimately, though, she argues the “scheme will pay huge dividends in the form of more art, which will grow the tourism industry which will grow the hospitality, service, and retail industries.” The scheme’s up for review in February 2026, so we’ll see if it continues past then.
 

The need for a second film studio in Sydney has been much talked about over the years and it seems to be a step closer to realisation. The NSW government has pledged $100 million to build an alternative to Moore Park’s Disney Studios, as the lack of sound stages threatens Sydney’s status as Australia’s screen capital. Various proposals are on the table, with industry experts stressing inner-city locations due to proximity to essential service providers.

Hand on heart, I’ve always been a bit sceptical of the need for a second studio complex, particularly because there have been plenty of years when the dollar was higher than it is now when studio capacity hasn’t been a problem. But in this article in the AFR (paywalled), Animal Logic boss Zareh Nalbandian puts the problem succinctly: “The Disney studios are great, but guess what? First priority, Disney, They tend to get blocked out for large periods of time whenever there’s a big studio feature in there, and the rest of us find ourselves in warehouses under flight paths, scrambling for adequate production offices and construction and green rooms and parking.”

No doubt there’d be plenty of parking and office space if the options of Oran Park or the Central Coast are picked, but I can’t help but think inner city Eveleigh is more likely to win out. In any case, it would be interesting to see if the proposal will duplicate what’s already available at Disney, or perhaps look at smaller, more affordable spaces which smaller production companies can access.
 

When I hear the term “cooperative” used by creatives, I shudder a little. It usually means a group acting without a formal legal or governance structure and the risks involved are rarely addressed. But in its more formal sense, a co-op is a business owned and governed by its workers, and is a legitimate legal structure in Australia.

This article by Meg Miller for Eye on Design dates back to 2019 and details how Partner & Partners, an NYC design studio, successfully transitioned to a fully worker-owned model, maintaining staff and distributing profits even during the pandemic. The structure created a formal pathway to ownership for employees, offered creative autonomy, and a strong sense of social responsibility, allowing designers to align their work with their values. Worker-owners attest that this model empowers them, reinforcing beliefs about equally distributing power and valuing employees. In an uncertain economic climate, exploring co-operative models could provide stability and ensure that workers feel invested and accountable in their collective success.

If you explore a move to co-operative model, let’s chat. I promise not to shudder.
 

Australia’s fashion industry has long faced significant challenges. With the decline of local manufacturing, only 3% of production now happens onshore. The article by the ABC’s Adelaide Miller highlights how tariff uncertainty has exacerbated this issue, forcing brands like Bondi Born to look for manufacturers offshore. This long-term sidelining of fashion as a significant economic contributor is attributed, in part, to the perception of it as a “women’s industry,” leading to neglect and a lack of large-scale funding needed to bolster local manufacturing.

Despite these hurdles, there’s a concerted push to revitalise local garment manufacturing. The Australian Fashion Council and RM Williams have launched a national strategy aimed at investing in local technology, skills, and machinery to produce high-quality “investment pieces”. For fashion practitioners, this signals an important conversation about valuing local craftsmanship and moving away from competing on cheap mass production.
 

To wrap up this Wrap, here are three recent research reports that are worth taking a look at. First, “Government, Culture and Creativity: It’s about more than just funding“, an Insight Report published in June 2025 by A New Approach (ANA). This report showcases the broad range of actions governments can take, beyond direct funding, to strengthen cultural access and foster robust cultural industries. It identifies eight types of “pro-culture” enablers that facilitate financial inflows, operations, and engagement opportunities. Good to see the demand side of the creative economy getting some attention!

Next, “The Bass Line: Charting the Economic Contribution of Australia’s Music Industry“, is a report from the newly formed Music Australia. This is the first comprehensive, end-to-end analysis of the Australian music industry’s economic contribution, covering local and international music consumed in Australia, and exports. The 2023–24 snapshot reveals the industry contributed an estimated $2.82 billion in direct gross value added (GVA) on estimated revenues of $8.78 billion, with export revenue at nearly $1 billion. All this in the face of venue closures, rising costs, and a loss of skilled workers.

Finally, the “Audience Atlas Victoria 2024” report, commissioned by Creative Victoria, explores the market for arts and culture in Victoria. Based on a survey of 2,876 Victorians, it reveals that 99% of adults in Victoria are in the culture market, representing an estimated 5.08 million individuals. While 2.1 million Victorians attend less than five years ago, 2.6 million plan to maintain their engagement, and younger, culturally diverse Victorians are more likely to increase their engagement. Recommendations include exploring alternative pricing models and rethinking arts memberships to align with evolving audience needs for flexibility and choice.