Arts sector reaction to the release of the National Cultural Policy has been, unsurprisingly perhaps, very positive, with company leaders praising the spirit of the announcement and the recognition of the centrality of the arts to Australia’s economy and identity.

“Anyone who saw Novak Djokovic prostrate and weeping after winning the Australian Open will have a glimpse of the relief and vindication that many in the arts are feeling,” said Belvoir Artistic Director Eamon Flack.

“Like it or not, the arts live and die by Federal policy, and for well over a decade there’s been much more dying than living going on for the arts. So when a Prime Minster got up and recognised the arts not just in a general sense but in a whole lot of specific detail it doesn’t just feel like basic good government, it feels like survival. Maybe even the possibility of genuine cultural and artistic thriving.”

“This is a good policy – detailed, ambitious, imperfect, determined, transformative. Of course, it doesn’t solve everything it needs to solve. The next few years will continue to reveal serious structural problems in the arts. But what was put in place is something that can grow and change and...