WHAT HAPPENED
RISING has partnered with economic consultancy Mandala to launch the Economist in Residence platform, a research initiative examining how Australia measures, values and invests in arts and culture. Mandala says the platform will look at the arts as a cultural good, an economic sector and a strategic asset. It says the work is intended to build an evidence base over the coming year. ([mandalapartners.com](https://mandalapartners.com/reports/reimagining-the-value-of-the-arts?utm_source=openai))

The launch has come alongside fresh claims that Australia spends 37 per cent less per person on cultural services than the OECD average. Mandala’s introduction to the platform says the shortfall is based on 2026 OECD figures, while related coverage in The Music Network reports the same comparison and says Australia continues to lag the OECD average for government spending on cultural services per capita by 37 per cent. ([mandalapartners.com](https://mandalapartners.com/reports/reimagining-the-value-of-the-arts?utm_source=openai))

WHY IT MATTERS
The research lands in the middle of a broader policy argument about whether arts funding is keeping pace with population growth, public demand and the sector’s wider social role. Mandala says current valuation methods tend to capture jobs, wages and visitor spending, but miss health, social and civic benefits. Other recent Australian research from A New Approach has also found that cultural and creative spending trails OECD peers and that public investment has not matched growth in population. ([mandalapartners.com](https://mandalapartners.com/reports/reimagining-the-value-of-the-arts?utm_source=openai))

WHO SHOULD CARE
Arts organisations, venue operators, artists, policymakers and state and federal governments will be watching the platform’s findings closely, particularly as cultural budgets are debated and new funding models are considered. The sector has argued for years that per-capita support has fallen behind international peers, and the new initiative is likely to feed into that discussion. ([mandalapartners.com](https://mandalapartners.com/reports/reimagining-the-value-of-the-arts?utm_source=openai))

WHAT AIM IS WATCHING
AIM will be watching whether the platform produces new comparable data, whether governments respond with policy changes, and whether the “strategic asset” framing gains traction beyond the arts sector. It will also be important to see whether the research shifts debate from headline spending comparisons to measurable outcomes such as attendance, participation, health and community benefit. That is an inference based on the stated aims of the platform and the existing policy debate. ([mandalapartners.com](https://mandalapartners.com/reports/reimagining-the-value-of-the-arts?utm_source=openai))