Arts Northern Rivers Responds to NSW Government’s Decision to Cut Key Arts Education Courses

Arts Northern Rivers is deeply concerned by the NSW Government’s decision to cut the Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts and cert IV of Music across NSW TAFE campuses, including in the Northern Rivers regions of Lismore, Murwillumbah, and Grafton. This move, which will directly impact the region’s creative industries, has been made without proper consultation with the community, staff, or students. According to our sources, the decision was made at a Ministerial level as part of a broader, sweeping budget cut, rather than through a campus-by-campus or needs-based approach. Whoever made the decision, there was no differentiation between one campus and another as to how this would impact communities or industries.

‍

This announcement follows the cancellation of the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design at Southern Cross University’s Lismore campus just last year. Together, these decisions represent a significant blow to the educational and creative sectors in the Northern Rivers, a region known nationally and internationally for its vibrant and diverse arts community.

‍

According to Arts Northern Rivers’ recent research report, Who We Are, the Northern Rivers has the largest population of cultural workers in regional NSW, with 5,292 cultural and creative workers - almost as many as those employed in agriculture, forestry, and fishing in the region (6,129). The report also highlights that the region’s creative industries are growing 4x faster than the national creative workforce, and at a pace that outstrips statewide growth. Given these statistics, cutting tertiary educational pathways for creative industries in the region is a decision that doesn’t align with the actual growth and demand of the sector.

‍

Arts Northern Rivers calls for a formal response from the Minister regarding this decision, which appears to have been made in isolation from local realities, needs, and evidence-based consultation. The cuts threaten to undermine the very fabric of the Northern Rivers’ cultural and creative identity, which relies heavily on accessible, quality arts education.

‍

We firmly support the reinstatement of the Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts and the Cert IV of Music at TAFE campuses in Lismore, Murwillumbah, and Grafton. We stand in solidarity with our artist community and call for a more thoughtful, consultative approach to arts education that values the needs of the region and supports the growth of its creative industries.

‍

Considered rationale for continuation of Advanced Diploma in Lismore 2025.

‍

The Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts has continued to have strong enrolment numbers in this region for many years – particularly this year after SCU have cut their Art and Design course, the Advanced Diploma was the highest level of Visual Arts education across much of this region.

The quality of creative outcomes has been high in these Northern Rivers courses for many years. The Advanced Diploma has a great reputation amongst professional artists, galleries and arts workers in the region and provides a more practical alternative to university education in visual arts.

These courses provide a public good to the community through students involvement in a range of community activities. In recent years TAFE Advanced Diploma students from Northern Rivers TAFES (Lismore, Murwillumbah) have worked on collaborative projects with Local Councils on public art installations, Northern Rivers Area Health and Ballina Hospital to research the effects of art on healing, been involved in the Bundjalung Art Market, and exhibited at the NSW Parliament’s Fountain Room. See: Unconditional Stories Exhibition.

The community of Lismore has just lost our creative arts degrees. The ADVA at TAFE is the next highest level of serious contemporary art study in the Lismore region. Its loss would be another wound to community rebuilding after the 2022 flood. Creative Arts continue to play a major role in the flood recovery of this region. The timing and bluntness of these cuts will negatively impact this community on many levels.

The ADVA is a Fee for Service course that is funded through VET student loans. Due to this student funded delivery model, cutting of this course will not save TAFE or the NSW government money as these courses are paid for by the students who undertake them.

‍

‍