Grant funding for the Australian Ballet School (ABS) has fallen more than 20 per cent in real terms since. In that time, the school says costs of doing business have doubled, with insurance costs alone increasing 400 per cent.

The Australian Film and Television School (AFTRS), which last year celebrated its 50th birthday, says it had also experienced an effective 20 per cent reduction in its funding allocations. Over the same period, revenue from screen industries increased by 98.7 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

NIDA and AFTRS alumni have collected 16 Oscars between them, including actors Cate Blanchett and Mel Gibson, costume designer Catherine Martin and writer and director Jane Campion. Screenwriter Tony McNamara, who also studied at AFTRS, is in line for an Oscar on Monday for his screenplay, Poor Things.

“We are the engine room that keeps our sector going – as we are the organisations that produce the tradespeople behind the curtain and camera that audiences don’t see,” the group said.

The group is seeking restoration of funding to 2014 levels for funding of capital improvements to their ageing facilities.

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Without a more permanent funding fix, it’s feared annual student fees for these premier colleges rise beyond the capacity of most students, shutting out talent, while limiting the range of courses on offer.

Federal Labor MP Susan Templeman, the government’s special envoy to the arts, said these organisations were the lifeblood of Australia’s creative industries, responsible for training generations of talent in stage and screen.

“They absolutely need funding,” she said. “In the 2022-23 budget, we made stopgap commitments to get them through tough times while the government undertook a review.

“These organisations have been neglected for the best part of a decade. In the same way as the national collecting institutions needed funding security, these training institutions cannot go from year to year with top-up funding.

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“They need to roll out training, and without them, we will struggle to develop the nation’s workforce.”

Much of the Bangarra Dance Company, including its former artistic director Stephen Page, graduated from NAISDA, the nation’s premier Indigenous training college.

Every Australian performer to have gone on stage with Cirque du Soleil has come through the National Institute of Circus Arts and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.

Australian Ballet School captain Matthew Paten told MPs that school facilities were in a state of disrepair. Ballet barres were coming off walls, flooring was inconsistent and there were holes in walls.

“Although we have an incredible health team, our access is often restricted because they are so busy. Looking after our bodies is a critical part of our training, so having access to more health staff would be extremely beneficial for all students,” he said.

Paten said if the ballet school did not exist, his journey in dance would have been much different.

“If the ABS was not an option for me, there is a good chance I would not have pursued ballet at all.”

Burke’s office did not respond to questions about budget deliberations.

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