I'm very proud to be part of a government that places creativity back where it belongs, right at the heart of Australian society. I'm going to question the minister, who's responsible for this very large range of portfolio areas, and I'm going to focus on the arts part of the department. I want to ask for their thoughts on securing the future for Australian artists and other creatives.
Creativity is not a hobby or a luxury. It's essential to who we are as Australians. The arts enrich our wellbeing, bind our communities together and tell the story of who we are as a nation. It's why the Albanese government takes its responsibility to support the creative industry so seriously.
These appropriation bills embed that commitment in our national finances. They deliver crucial investments in people, in creativity, in memory and in imagination. When Revive was launched in 2023, the government committed to 85 actions. Seventy-one have already been delivered. The impact of that is being felt on the ground. In our first term, we allocated $199 million to Creative Australia to reverse funding cuts by the previous government and to expand its functions. This support allowed 50 per cent more small- to medium sized organisations secure multiyear funding. Music Australia, First Nations Arts and Writing Australia are providing valuable new support and strategic leadership to the sector, while Creative Workplaces is addressing bullying, harassment and unfair pay.
We've also supported our national cultural institutions, which hold our collective memory and reflect our identity. Under the previous government they were left in crisis, with threadbare budgets and leaky roofs. We've provided $535.5 million to secure their future and the collections they safeguard. This funding has allowed them to plan with purpose and ambition, rather than worry about keeping the lights on. Through the Sharing the National Collection program, 21 suburban and regional galleries now display long-term loans from the National Gallery of Australia, including four extraordinary video works at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in my community.
Our screen industry not only gives voice to Australia's great stories; it provides thousands of jobs across acting and technical roles and in the small businesses who support them.
In our first term we boosted support for digital games developers, modernised the producer
offset and increased the location offset to secure international productions.
These appropriation bills also deliver on our promise to restore funding to the ABC and SBS, with new five-year funding cycles, giving them the stability they need to commission Australian drama, comedy and children's shows. The central ambition of the National Cultural Policy is that there be a place for every story and a story for every place. That's why we established artist residencies at World Heritage sites across Australia. The Blue Mountains will host one of the first, with Jonathan Jones working on Wiradjuri country in the Gardens of Stone.
These bills deliver on the additional commitments that we made in the arts portfolio during the election. Live music venues are fundamental to our cultural life. During the election campaign we committed an additional $25 million to the Revive Live program, which has already supported 112 live music venues and festivals. The program provides practical support, such as funding for soundproofing, equipment upgrades and artist fees. When visiting Howler in the member for Wills's electorate recently, I saw the difference these grants are making to the versatility and viability of venues.
During the election campaign we also committed $12.5 million to restore South Melbourne Town Hall as the home of the Australian National Academy of Music. This builds on the $136 million uplift in funding for our national arts training organisations, who do the vital work of nurturing the next generation of Australian creative talent, and $35 million to support the transformation of the National Gallery of Victoria. We know there's more to do and we will do more.
Next year the National Cultural Policy will be evaluated and updated. This is the first time that a national cultural policy will have been delivered across its full plan term and updated in its second iteration. So I ask the minister: what opportunities does that create? Too often creative workers have been told to accept insecurity as the price of their calling. We don't accept that.
