The Victorian Government’s next four-year strategy for the creative industries, Creative State 2021-2025, is currently under development.
The strategy had been slated for release in early 2020 and in preparation the Victorian Government undertook extensive industry and community consultation in 2019.
However, in March 2020 the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit and had a devastating impact on the creative industries, resulting in the shutdown of much of the local and global creative sector. The development of the strategy was then paused to focus on the acute and immediate impacts facing Victoria’s creative workers, businesses and organisations.
During 2020, the Victorian Government rolled out a series of funding measures to support the state’s creative sector through the challenges of COVID-19. Find more information on this support.
In October and November 2020, as Victoria began to emerge from lockdown and restrictions eased, the Victorian Government turned its focus on the recovery, reopening and rebuilding of the state.
In light of the pandemic, the Victorian Government, through Creative Victoria, undertook further sector consultation in late 2020, with an additional focus on young people.
The insights gained through this second round of consultation, together with the earlier section input, will help shape the next creative industries strategy, due for release in 2021.
Visit https://engage.vic.gov.au/creative-strategy for more about the Creative State 2021-2025 consultation process.