The Barr government has been urged to consider outsourcing the management of Canberra's National Multicultural Festival, after years of budget blowouts.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The annual festival has run at least $100,000 over budget over the last four years, not including the estimated $370,000 worth of work Community Services Directorate staff did in the lead up to and during the 2017 festival.
In 2013, the event only ran $13,013 over budget but by 2014, that operating deficit had blown out to $137,929.
In 2015, it was $107,973, $254,554 in 2016 and $128,892 in 2017.
An analysis of the operational costs, economic benefits and options for management handed to government in June by consulting firm Oakden found the operational deficit for the festival was increasing while government funding had been cut.
Management within the directorate told Oakden they had been unable to secure extra funding of $100,000 for the past two festivals when requested, despite consistent blowouts.
Oakden found the spend was likely to increase, given heightened national security concerns.
They assessed the risk of the event as very high, as the unfenced footprint made it impossible to search bags or screen visitors.
The lack of ticketing also made it impossible to estimate visitor numbers and the placement of stages next to exits increased the likelihood of choke points if there was an emergency.
Oakden found revenue from stallholders has been limited because of the restrictions on the footprint, although there was community support to keep the event in the CBD.
It concluded unless extra government funding or sponsorship was secured, the blowouts were likely to continue - and worsen.
A separate review of the 2018 event by Spring-Green handed to government this month found the risk of a "hostile vehicle event" had increased over time and improving security was a "costly investment that deserved "priority consideration".
Spring-Green also singled out the staffing costs, saying these figures alone should encourage alternative delivery methods to be explored.
They found while the Community Services Directorate brought "resilient, long-term community relationships and confidence to the event", it should consider ceding control of the logistics to "more qualified professionals".
"There is possible benefit in seeking collaborative working arrangements, or formalised partnerships, between specialist event management organisations and providers," they said.
The previous Floriade also ran $940,000 over budget.
The government has formally responded to the Spring-Green report, but not the Oakden report.
In anticipation of the reviews' findings, the government set aside an extra $100,000 per year in June budget to address the known shortfall in operational funding and another $150,000 for staff.
Multicultural Affairs Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government would consider the recommendation to look to outsource the management of the event or find a professional event manager as part of future budgets.
The Spring-Green review was commissioned after the government received blowback for restricting the sale of alcohol at the 2018 festival.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the 2019 festival guidelines had been revised to allow cultural clubs to sell relevant alcohol. This means meaning the Polish community can sell Polish vodka.
Commercial sales will be restricted to local producers like Capital Brewing or Bentspoke while community clubs can continue to sell alcohol.
Canberra Liberals' multicultural affairs spokeswoman Elizabeth Kikkert welcomed the changed alcohol policy, saying banning alcohol sales from ethnic stakeholders was "plain wrong" and "defied the spirit" of the festival.
