Most people outside the creative industries assume that if your name’s on the cover of a book, your face graces an album or a TV series, or your signature is on a painting in a gallery, you’re swimming in cash. Possibly even lounging in a pool full of it.

In reality, though, most artists in Australia earn a modest income. Take authors, for example. According to a 2024 survey by the Australian Society of Authors, 81% of authors earned less than $15,000 in the last financial year. Most of us piece together a living from a mix: advances (money publishers pay before the sales even start rolling in), royalties (the sweet percentage we get after we’ve paid back the advance), Public Lending Rights (small government fees for having books in libraries, criteria must be met), events (paid library or festival appearances), and literary awards (but you have to win them first!). Many artists juggle extra jobs to make ends meet.

So, what if we took a page from Ireland’s playbook? In 2022, they launched a radical Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme. They gave 2,000 artists €325 a week (about AUD 570) for three years, helping them focus on their craft without worrying about hitting specific productivity targets. After the first year, results show positive outcomes: artists were spending €550 more per month on their work, working fewer hours outside the arts, and feeling a whole lot more satisfied with life. They were less stressed, creating more freely, and generally happier creative souls. Success? Absolutely.

Ireland’s program wasn’t just a handout; it was an investment. The financial security allowed artists to take risks, improve their mental wellbeing, and produce work that was both challenging and inspiring.

Isn’t that what we want from our artists? We need work that sparks something in us, right?

Now, Australia has promised to invest more in the creative arts, with Albanese recently announcing the establishment of Writing Australia. The initiative, backed by funding from the 2025-26 Federal Budget, is a big deal, marking the first dedicated support for Aussie writers and publishing. Writing Australia will support writers, promote public value organisations, and expand access to Australian literature internationally. It’s a step in the right direction, but could we go further?

Imagine a basic wage for artists. I’d love to see it! It doesn’t have to be a carbon copy of Ireland’s scheme, but we could definitely learn from it. If we allocated $570 a week for 2,000 Australian artists, the cost would be about $3.4 million over three years. And when you think about the $3.8 million that went toward a furniture bill for public servants (don’t get me started), investing the same amount in real, live artists doesn’t seem so outrageous, does it?

A basic income could support emerging artists, or those in fields that are at risk of being replaced by robots. The key is to trust artists, not drown them in red tape. If we want a thriving creative sector, we need to back artists at every stage of their journey, not just when they’re raking in awards or generating export dollars.

Yes, it would cost money. But culture is not a luxury. It’s the very heartbeat of a nation. Just as we fund science, sport, and infrastructure for the greater good, we should also fund the arts. Investing in artists is investing in the future identity of Australia.

Ireland’s experiment has proven that valuing artists can transform both individuals and society. And with AI on the horizon, Australia faces a choice: will we let our creative industries wither, or will we protect and nurture them? Supporting a basic wage for artists isn’t just a nice idea, it’s a crucial step to ensure that future Australian stories, songs, paintings, performances, and innovations are created by us, not machines.

This isn't about resisting technology, it’s about ensuring that human creativity isn’t drowned out by algorithmic noise. Art made by humans holds a kind of depth, imperfection, and emotional resonance that AI, no matter how sophisticated, cannot replicate.

But preserving human creativity requires practical support. If emerging artists can’t afford to keep creating, Australia’s cultural landscape will hollow out. We may find ourselves with an arts sector dominated by AI pastiche, rather than authentic, lived human expression.

And if that happens, we lose more than just careers. We lose a piece of who we are.

Should Australia follow Ireland’s lead with a basic wage for artists, especially in the age of AI? You bet we should.

What do you think?

Join the conversation.

Kylie

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Ireland pays its artists. Should Australia (especially in the Age of AI)?

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