Stephanie Convery, Cutting the creative state: funding changes threaten the cultural future of Melbourne, arts workers warn, The Guardian, 20 February 2026
Creative Victoria funding has dropped by more than $20m since 2022 and organisations including Writers Victoria now face closure.
Late last year, there was a palpable tension among Victorian arts organisations. Rumours were that one of the most important arts funding rounds was going to be a bloodbath.
They were right.
A week before Christmas, longstanding arts organisations received phone calls from Creative Victoria, the state’s arts funding agency. Some were told their funding would be drastically reduced. Others had it cut completely after decades.