- 2024-25 State Budget includes $13.2 million to help grow WA's screen industry workforce
and encourage digital games production
- $6.7 million expansion of Community Sporting and Recreation
Facilities Fund and Club Night Lights Program
- $5.9 million increase for arts organisations to invest in programs
across WA
- $10.9 million for key maintenance at WA sporting venues
- $1.35 million to support Western Australian athletes heading
to the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games
The 2024-25 State Budget will provide more than $237 million in new
funding for sport and recreation and the arts, including boosts for Western Australia's
job-creating screen industry, and community sport and recreation facilities.
The Cook Labor Government's strong commitment to build a screen industry
in Western Australia - as part of its economic diversification plans - will be
bolstered by a $13.2 million investment in a Screen
Industry Workforce Development Plan and extension of the Digital Games and
Interactive Fund run by Screenwest. This brings the Government's total investment
under the WA Screen Strategy to $31.9 million to date.
There is already growing demand for WA as a production
location - with a total of 41 film, television, digital games, and post-digital
and visual effects projects commencing in WA in 2023 - with this year shaping
up to be even busier. Development of a skilled workforce will also be essential
for the effective operation of the new $233.5 million screen production
facility near Malaga, which is under construction and expected to be completed
in 2026.
Community sport and recreation facilities throughout the State will
benefit from a $6.7 million expansion of the
successful Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund and Club Night
Lights Program. This lifts the total amount allocated to these programs from
$18.8 million to $25.5 million in 2024-25.
A further $10.9 million will be provided to deliver key
maintenance at a range of WA sporting venues, while $5.1 million in funding
will go towards refurbishments, upgrades and improved access arrangements at
HBF Arena and HBF Stadium.
The WA Rugby Centre will benefit from almost $1 million in
facility upgrades, including modifications to changerooms to ensure gender
equal access.
In total, more than $53 million will go towards
improvements, maintenance and planning at WA sport and recreation facilities.
WA's biggest creative sector employers, such as Black Swan
State Theatre Company, West Australian Ballet, WA Opera and West Australian
Symphony Orchestra, will share in a $5.9 million funding uplift for arts
organisations over 2024-25 and 2025-26.
As the world counts down to the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games,
the Cook Government is supporting WA athletes headed to France as part of Team
Australia with $1.35 million in funding. Funding in the 2024-25 Budget
includes:
- $333,250
via the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) for athlete qualification
and performance optimisation initiatives involving athletes, coaches and
support staff;
- $270,000
for direct payments to Western Australian athletes selected to the Australia
team for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to assist with costs; and
- $750,000
to be distributed to the Australian Olympic and Paralympic Team Appeal, with
$375,000 to go to the Australian Olympic Committee, and $375,000 to Paralympics
Australia.
For more information,
visit https://www.ourstatebudget.wa.gov.au.
Comments attributed to Culture and the Arts and Sport and Recreation
Minister David Templeman:
"The Cook Government has
delivered a winning State Budget, which raises the curtain on multimillion-dollar
investment in arts organisations and our rapidly growing screen industry and
games development sectors.
"We are supporting WA's immersive technology
companies and creatives to develop and release high-quality, diverse and
engaging digital games, and expanding local screen industry skills and capacity
to meet the growing demand for our State as a location for major productions.
"Employment creation and
tourism and economy benefits mean show business is good business for WA.
"Bolstering the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities
Fund and Club Night Lights Program will support redevelopment and modernisation
of venues to increase the number of users, with floodlights allowing for longer
hours of use into the evenings.
"Both arts and sports are
at the heart of how we connect as a community, allowing expression of self and
improving physical and mental wellbeing. I am proud that the Cook Government is
prioritising funding for these sectors."
