Antisemitism guidelines flagged for arts organisations and funding

Senior federal public servants say discussions are under way to explore possible guidelines and codes of conduct preventing arts funding supporting antisemitism or racial vilification.

Senate estimates also heard on Thursday that Australia’s representation at the Venice Biennale cost the federal arts agency, Creative Australia, about $1.7 million.

This includes $977,000 for production costs, $200,000 for project management, $180,000 for opening and other media events and $413,000 for the artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, including commissioning fees and flights to Venice for the six-month-long exhibition.

Creative Australia defended the spending as appropriate for the size of the work, the length of exhibition and the prestige of the show, and said costs had been offset by $841,000 raised in donations.

“It is a big exhibition, it is on the world stage, it is a showcase for Australian artists, and it probably is, in terms of what Creative Australia does, it’s pretty much the only direct exhibition we put on, and we put it on because we are the commissioner of the Australian pavilion,” CA’s executive Tim Blackwell said.

The hearing also heard antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal favoured extending a code of conduct introduced by Sydney Theatre Company (STC) and other state-based theatre companies to federally funded cultural organisations.

“The task set for us is to identify whether conditions within funding agreements and within funding guidelines could be strengthened in relation to anti-semitism specifically and racial vilification more broadly,” arts department secretary Jim Betts said.

“We are keen to explore all options and … provide advice to the minister, who operates at arm’s length from individual funding decisions himself, as to how we can best give effect to the special envoy’s recommendations without compromising other things that we would all like to protect including legitimate freedom of artistic expression and a diversity of voices recognising the overwhelming need to make sure that Jewish Australians and other Australians feel safe from racial vilification.”

Coalition senator Sarah Henderson referred to “many shocking examples of artists facilitating or promoting antisemitism”.

Henderson also specifically referred to the decision by University of Queensland Press (UQP) to scrap publication of a First Nations children’s book illustrated by Matt Chun.

Chun had authored an online newsletter about the Bondi Beach terror attack, in which 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed, titled: “We Don’t Mourn Fascists”. A number of authors subsequently quit UQP following the decision.

Henderson also raised broader concerns around literature festivals and peer-review panels, arguing that public funds should not support individuals promoting divisive views, or who organise petitions against Jewish artists.

The senator said she had written to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, asking it to devote a block of hearings to the arts and culture sector.

Betts said standard Commonwealth funding agreements automatically terminate grants if a recipient violates state or federal laws. Because broader federal anti-vilification laws did not pass parliament, the department must draft any guidelines.

Without statutory backing, Betts warned that junior public servants within the department or Creative Australia would be forced into the dangerous position of arbitrating highly subjective and nuanced artistic expressions.

“I can see us back in some future version of Senate estimates, where we are debating whether a particular example of antisemitism was or was not egregious,” Betts remarked during the hearing. “I’m not saying it’s not intractable, but I’m saying it’s difficult, and we need to think it through carefully so we don’t have unintended consequences.”

Furthermore, any new policy must respect the strict “arm’s-length” principle. By Creative Australia’s founding act, the arts minister cannot directly intervene in individual funding decisions or defund specific creators. Instead, the department is examining how the minister can issue broader policy expectations or general governance requirements to Creative Australia.

The department is also reviewing a recommendation from the special envoy to re-establish a dedicated Jewish Arts and Cultural Council to advise the government on cultural vibrancy initiatives. Officials indicated that social cohesion and the elimination of all forms of racism and antisemitism will feature prominently in the forthcoming National Cultural Policy review. At a meeting with Jewish artists in April, Betts said minister Tony Burke had indicated that an advisory body could be created as part of that process.

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