The Minister for the Arts is a

Minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign or ...

in the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

who has responsibilities for the administration and support for the arts in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The portfolio was abolished in 2019 and merged into the portfolio of

Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts The New South Wales Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts was a Minister of the Crown, minister in the Government of New South Wales who had responsibility for administering legislation and polic ...

; and reinstated in December 2021. The current Minister for the Arts is

Ben Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intell ...

, who also serves as the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and as the Minister for Regional Youth, appointed with effect from 21 December 2021. The minister assists the lead portfolio minister, the

Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade The Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibilities for sponsoring and supporting enterprise, trade, and international investment in the state of New South Wales, Austra ...

, Alister Henskens who was appointed with effect from 5 August 2022. Together the ministers administer the portfolio through

Create NSW Create NSW is a government agency of the Government of New South Wales, that falls within the Enterprise, Investment and Trade cluster. The agency was created on 1 April 2017 from an amalgamation of Arts NSW (ANSW) and Screen NSW. Create NSW is ...

(formerly Arts NSW) within the

Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade The New South Wales Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade, a department of the government of New South Wales, delivers services that promote enterprise, investment, trade, hospitality, racing, arts, tourism and sport in the state of New ...

, as well as a range of additional government agencies. Ultimately, the minister is responsible to the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

Office history

The role of an 'arts' minister, overseeing the management and support for all cultural activities in New South Wales, before the early 1970s was an unheard of concept in politics. However, by the early 1970s, various governments in Australia recognised the need for a steering authority for state support for the arts. In response, premier Bob Askin appointed

George Freudenstein George Francis Freudenstein (26 December 1921 – 22 October 2007) was an Australian politician. He was a Country Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1959 to 1981, representing the electorate of Young. He served various ...

as the first Minister for Cultural Activities+ on 11 March 1971. This coincided with the appointment of the first federal minister with a responsibility for the arts on 10 March and a Minister for Cultural Affairs in Western Australia on 3 March 1971. Premier of Victoria

Rupert Hamer Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as the 39th Premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981. Early years Hamer ...

commissioned himself with a ministry of the arts in 1972 and South Australia followed suit on 18 September 1979. On his appointment Freudenstein requested the establishment of an organisation to enable him to carry out his responsibilities and the Premier agreed. On 13 May 1971 the "Ministry of Cultural Activities" was established, taking over responsibility for various legislation and bodies that had previously been under the purview of the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, including the Archives Office of New South Wales,

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle Hill. Although often de ...

Sydney Observatory The Sydney Observatory is a heritage-listed meteorological station, astronomical observatory, function venue, science museum, and education facility located on Observatory Hill at Upper Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers P ...

, the Advisory Committee on Cultural Grants, NSW Film Council, and the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

Trust. In the case of the opera house, the Ministry had responsibility for its completion and final official opening on 20 October 1973. With Freudenstein's departure on 3 January 1975, a new Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation was appointed and on 6 January 1975, the Ministry of Cultural Activities was replaced by the new "Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation". This arrangement lasted until 14 May 1976 when the new Labor Government of

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

transferred the responsibility for cultural activities to the Premier's Department. This became the "Cultural Activities Division" under the administration of the Premier himself. This situation continued until 1984, when Wran established the "Office of the Minister for the Arts" within the Premier's Department and commissioned himself with the title of Minister for the Arts. On 15 June 1988 a "Ministry for the Arts" independent of the Premier's Department was established. This ministry was abolished on 3 March 2006 and its responsibilities were moved to the new "Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation". Arts NSW became the new dedicated division for the Minister and it transferred to "Communities NSW" in July 2009 and then the " Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services" from 4 April 2011. From the appointment of

Troy Grant Troy Wayne Grant (born 11 February 1970) is an Australian politician and former police officer. Grant has been the Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC) since August 2021, and is Australia’s first in this position. Previously, he was t ...

as the minister in 2014 (who also served as Minister for Justice and Police), Arts NSW came within the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Following the 2019 state election the portfolio responsibilities were transferred to the Premier and Cabinet

cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...

, with Create NSW (formerly Arts NSW) administered through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, a

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of the Government of New South Wales. In December 2021, the portfolio responsibilities and Create NSW were transferred to the new

List of ministers

Assistant Ministers

References

{{Government of New South Wales

Arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

1971 establishments in Australia

Office history

List of ministers

Assistant Ministers

See also

References