Australia's Ahead of the Game: Cashing in On Cultural Capital

In a recent issue of the Australian, Rosemary Sorensen digs into the new plans for Australia to develop creative industries, specifically "the arts" so that it can provide a basket of things that people need in one form or another, including (ahem) money.

"It has been seen only as an economic benefit, but there is the idea now that benefit is a quadruple bottom line, not just economic. It must also capture social equity, social justice and sustainability."

Underlying all this is of course it being rather strategic move overall for the benefit of the country, sense of the quality of life, coupled with cultural tourism and attracting interesting businesses by having interesting cities.

The plan laid out in the article by Brad Haseman, professor in the creative industries faculty of the Queensland University of Technology, and called Creative Nation, outlines why the country needs to develop a coherent cultural policy. Bravo for them, but the article is a little thin on how there going to do this, except for the government pledging 17 million Australian of four years for an Creative Economies innovation Centre, perhaps an excellent start, if research becomes action.