Audit blasts ‘lack of system’ for arts grants

Australia’s top arts funding organisation does not have a system to measure and check its efficiency for managing taxpayer-funded arts grants, according to a report by the federal auditor-general.

The Australia Council for the Arts allocates more than $174 million annually in grants to individual artists, performing arts organisations and arts residencies. The federal agency also administers five national arts grants programmes.

A review by the Australian National Audit Office looked at whether the organisation had set up “grants administration metrics to measure and benchmark its efficiency” against other federal grants programmes.