The Albanese Labor Government is celebrating the ongoing success of the Resale Royalty Scheme, which has hit a milestone of $15 million in royalties for Australian visual artists.
Under the scheme established by Labor in 2010, visual artists are entitled to a percentage of the price of eligible artworks which are resold commercially for $1,000 or more in Australia.
Thanks to changes introduced by the Government earlier this year, Australian artists can now also receive royalties when their eligible artworks are resold in 17 countries that have entered into reciprocal arrangements with Australia.
Almost 3,000 artists have benefitted from the 33,000 eligible resales over the life of the scheme so far.
Around 65 per cent of artists benefitting from the scheme are First Nations artists.
Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, said it is important Australian visual artists get their fair share from the sale of their work.
"This $15 million milestone is testament to the commitment, creativity and contribution of Australian visual artists.
"With our changes ensuring Australian artists can now receive royalties from work sold overseas, I look forward to this number climbing even faster with more payments heading to artists' pockets.
"I'm proud that the scheme we introduced so many years ago has benefitted so many artists - and will continue to do so into the future."
Josephine Johnston, CEO of the Copyright Agency said, "We've been proud to manage the scheme on behalf of the Australian Government since its inception in 2010 and have witnessed first-hand how valuable the royalty payments are for Australian artists - not just in a financial sense, but as a means to pay due respect to the creator too.
"With this year's introduction of international reciprocity, I am sure the next impressive milestone is not too far away."
Artist Wendy Sharpe, who has seen the benefits of the scheme first-hand, said, "I would like to congratulate the Australian Resale Royalty Scheme on the $15 million milestone. The full value of an art work is often not achieved in the original sale, especially early in an artist's career. Resale royalties enable artists a share as their work gains in price. Resale royalties' importance is not just financial, it acknowledges the contribution of visual artists to Australia."
The Resale Royalty Scheme is administered by the Copyright Agency in Australia.
