The Australian Institute of Architects has slammed the Victorian government’s decision to slash funding to the Office of Victorian Goverment Architect (OVGA) by almost half in its 2022-23 budget, announced on 4 May.
The Institute issued a statement expressing its disappointment for what it has called an “unexplained” cut in funding from $1.3 million a year to just $700,000.
Victorian chapter president Bill Krotiris said the reduction will pose many risks to State government projects and will threaten the advisory team’s services as well as the entire Victorian Design Review Panel (VDRP).
In the three years leading to 2021 alone, the OVGA has advised or collaborated on 187 Victorian projects of state significance, worth more than $25 billion. The VDRP has delivered advice on more than 300 projects of state significance and major icons such as the Melbourne and Olympic Parks projects.
The Institute said it was particularly perplexed by the decision, considering an independent economist’s report that has shown the OVGA is working above the government’s performance targets.
“We are aware the OVGA will be left with a skeleton staff,” Krotiris said. “It is incomprehensible with the important capital projects the Victorian budget is delivering in health, social housing, education and the Commonwealth Games that the Department of Premier and Cabinet will cut off its own hand and be stripped of the independent design advice provided by its own Government Architect Office.”
Krotiris voiced his disapproval in the state’s decision to spend $13 million on its Trade Mission Program, which includes the establishment of a new trade and investment office in Paris, while the OVGA is set to be almost “wiped out.”
“Victoria is also a recognized design capital and this move will serve to damage its reputation and the delivery of key outcomes of great design including liveability, health and sustainability,” he said.
The funding cut announcment coincided with the Intitute’s federal election policy proposal to create of an Office of the Australian Government Architect to support planning and design on a national level.
The establishment of a national goverment architect would better inform national policy surrounding public procurements and outcomes, and create a stronger commitment to better design.
“Most of Australia’s states and territories recognize the value of having a government architect to promote high-quality design for our public buildings,” said the Institute’s national president Tony Giannone. Government architects support architectural decision-making in all states except for Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
“It is high time the Australian Government saw the value in this role at a national level,” he said.
The Institute suggested the next government could establish an office with $14 million in funding over the next four years, to advise government and statutory agencies on the best ways to achieve design excellence in government owned or funded buildings.
“This would have meaningful impact, given Australian governments procured about one-third of non-residential buildings across the country in 2021,” the Institute said.
The establishment of a Government Architect is one of six comprehensive proposals identified within the Institute’s Federal Election Policy Statement: A Time For Action.
Other recommendations include greater action on climate change initiatives; a 30-year national housing strategy; a national construction supply chain strategy; an address of gender diversity and inequality in construction; and a call for a national anti-corruption watchdog.
