AGY-403 | Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation

Full description

The Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation was established on 6 January 1975 when the former Ministry for Cultural Activities was amalgamated with the Sport and Recreation Service of New South Wales.(1) The Department’s establishment followed the 1974 Review of Machinery of Government in New South Wales and was a response to the Government’s growing involvement in leisure and sporting activities.(2) Included in these activities were sport, recreation, the visual arts and crafts, and the performing arts. Some of the government controls relating to motor, horse and greyhound racing, Sunday Entertainment and the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground were also transferred to the new Department from the Chief Secretary, although the Chief Secretary’s successor, the Department of Services, continued to provide the administrative staff for many of these activities.(3) On 3 January 1975, the following Acts (and their amending legislation) were transferred from the administration of the Minister for Cultural Activities to the Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation: Archives Act 1960 (No.46), Art Gallery of New South Wales Act 1958 (No.1), Australian Museum Act 1902 (No.61), Library Act 1939 (No.40), Library of New South Wales Act 1969 (No.9), Sydney Opera House Trust Act 1961 (No.9) (except section 5(1)).(4) Also on 3 January 1975, the following Acts (and amending legislation) were transferred from the administration of the Chief Secretary to the Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation: Australian Jockey Club (Amendment) Act 1935 (No.29), sections 1(3) and 3 of the Racing (Amendment) Act 1948 (No.39), Newcastle Tattersall’s Club Act (1945), Sydney Turf Club Act 1943 (No.22), Sydney Turf Club (Amendment) Act 1974 (No.26).(5) On 5 February 1975, responsibility for the National Fitness Act 1971 (No.9) was transferred from the Minister for Sport to the Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation.(6) On 30 June 1975, the following organisations were within the administration of the Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation or the area of responsibility of the Department: Advisory Committee on Cultural Grants, Archives Office of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian Museum, Greyhound Racing Control Board, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, NSW Film Council, National Fitness Council of NSW, Sport and Recreation Service of NSW, The Library of New South Wales, Sydney Cricket Ground and Sports Ground Trust, Sydney Observatory, and the Sydney Opera House.(7) The Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation was responsible for providing the people of New South Wales with the “best possible means of enjoying, to the full, their leisure hours, be they spent in cultural, recreational or sporting pursuits.”(8) The Department was to achieve this through raising performance standards in the Arts, providing financial assistance to encourage participation, promote and co-ordinate activities within all communities throughout New South Wales, and to encourage the provision of facilities where people of all ages and interests can meet. The Department provided the organisations for which it was responsible with services and advice relating to salary, staffing, personnel, finance, and legislation. In addition to its service and advisory functions, the Department ensured that matters involving more than one of the organisations were properly co-ordinated, particularly on policy issues.(9) On 14 May 1976, responsibility for cultural activities was transferred to the Premier.(10) The cultural functions of the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation were removed and transferred to the Premier’s Department to become the Cultural Activities Division. The Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation was renamed the Department of Sport and Recreation and became a Department of the Crown in its own right.(11) ENDNOTES
1. Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation for the year ended 30 June 1975, Parliamentary Papers 1975-76, Vol.1, p785; the Sport and Recreation Service of New South Wales was previously the responsibility of the Chief Secretary and Minister for Sport.
2. loc. cit.; As a result of the Review of Government, five standing committees were established to handle matters which previously went to a full Cabinet meeting. The Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation was a member of the Social Development Committee – responsible for education, health and welfare activities.(Moore, B., “Machinery of Government Changes in New South Wales”, in Public Administration: The Journal of the Australian Regional Groups of the Royal Institute of Public Administration, June 1975, Vol.XXXIV, No.2, p117)
3. Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation for the year ended 30 June 1975, Parliamentary Papers 1975-76, Vol.1, p786.
4. NSW Government Gazette 10 January 1975, No.14, p159.
5. ibid., p160.
6. NSW Government Gazette 7 February 1975, No.31, p409.
7. Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation for the year ended 30 June 1975, Parliamentary Papers 1975-76, Vol.1, p787.
8. loc. cit.
9. ibid., pp787-788.
10. NSW Government Gazette No.67, 17 May 1976, p2139.
11. Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing Annual Report for 1987-1988, p7.