The federal government is preparing to take "major decisions" to deal with the problems facing the cash-strapped national institutions, Arts Minister Tony Burke has said.
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However, those funding calls won't form part of the Albanese government's national cultural policy which will unveiled late next month.
In a speech to the Woodford Folk Festival on Friday, Mr Burke said the public outcry which has followed revelations about the financial woes of some of the Canberra-based institutions was justified.
It has emerged in recent weeks that the National Gallery of Australia might have to shut two days a week and reintroduce entry fees as it faces a $265 million funding shortfall over the next decade.
The National Library of Australia's online database, Trove, might also disappear without new funding to keep it running beyond June 2023.
Much of the blame has been pinned on the former Coalition government and its public sector efficiency dividend, which forced institutions to make cuts in programming, exhibitions and staffing numbers.
"You would have seen a lot of outcry at the moment, and justified outcry, about the cultural institutions and collecting institutions," Mr Burke said in the speech.
"The National Museum, the National Gallery, the archives, Trove ... you will have seen a lot of problems here with systemic underfunding that has happened for a long period of time.
"There will be major decisions that the government will take in dealing with those challenges."
Mr Burke's comments are the latest sign that the government will use the next federal budget in May to shore up the future of the national institutions.
Canberra tourism leaders this week warned the capital's reputation and economy would suffer without an urgent injection of funds into the attractions.
"I can't think of another world capital where its institutions, which are really the treasure trove, the story of a country, are treated like this," tourism sector veteran David Marshall said.
READ MORE:
- Our stories are everything. Why aren't we saving them from vanishing?
- 'Rebuilt from the ground up': Govt urged to bail out national institutions
- National Gallery of Australia may have to charge entry fees and close two days a week to cut costs
- Trove is due to run out of government funding in six months, National Library of Australia warns
- The National Library of Australia is facing a crisis and it affects all of us
The Canberra Times also revealed ACT Chief Minister and Tourism Minister Andrew Barr has been lobbying his federal colleagues behind the scenes to secure funding for the institutions.
Protecting Australia's publicly funded, commercial and philanthropic institutions will be one of the five pillars of the government's new cultural policy, which Mr Burke will release in Melbourne on January 30.
Mr Burke said the policy's release would mark end of the "culture wars" which had been waged under the Coalition.
"In 2023, the culture war is over and cultural policy is ready to begin," he said.
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
