AIC(V) made a significant impact on the Victorian Government’s cultural policy through lobbying and a significant submission in 2002. “Creative Capacity +” replaced an arts policy that was very focussed on bricks and mortar, marketing and consolidating the existing arts infrastructure.

“Creative Capacity +” is an improvement in that it acknowledges that creativity is fundamental to all people and communities in Victoria and sets an agenda that could assist in raising debate about Culture and the roles that arts can play in it. It is our view that the arts are central to Australian life and make a vital contribution to our well-being, education, and economic and social growth. In particular, arts have intrinsic values for people as imagination and creativity as fundamentally a part of what it is to be human.

To implement a program that reflected the above would mean more arts programs in the community, greater support for arts companies and more employment opportunities, as well as contributing the greater good of Victorian communities. It would also mean whole-of-government approach to funding. While several government departments invest in arts activity that relates to their programs, there is little coordination and virtually no strategic overview of this investment.

In 2005 new funding was announced for small-medium arts organisations and new funding was delivered under the Visual Arts & Crafts Strategy. Further to lobbying by an alliance of Victorian arts festivals, additional funding for festivals was announced in the 2006 budget, with results announced in October 2006.