Launch of consultation for 2016 Nomination of Representatives of Arts Interests for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council

The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) has published the consultation paper of the 2016 Nomination of Representatives of Arts Interests for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (the nomination exercise) today.

Established in 1995, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council is a statutory body set up to promote the development of arts in Hong Kong. Under section 3 of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Ordinance (Chapter 472), the Chief Executive may appoint up to 10 persons nominated by the specified arts interests (Arts Administration, Arts Criticism, Arts Education, Chinese Opera (Xiqu), Dance, Drama, Film Arts, Literary Arts, Music and Visual Arts) to be members of the HKADC. The current term of office of the HKADC members will expire on 31 December 2016. Eligible individual arts workers and arts organisations may apply to participate in the nomination exercise to nominate representatives of the respective arts interests for the Chief Executive’s consideration of appointment as members of the HKADC for the next term.

To ensure a smooth running of the upcoming nomination exercise in 2016 and to further improve the nomination procedures, the HKADC has reviewed the nomination exercise in 2013 and has made some preliminary suggestions for the 2016 edition. The HKADC is now conducting a public consultation on these preliminary suggestions and will take into account the public views gathered in making its recommendation to the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB).

The preliminary suggestions for the 2016 nomination exercise included revising the eligibility criteria of individual arts workers, with a view to broaden the scope of the eligibility criteria of individual art workers for voter registration. For example, the HKADC suggests adding a new criterion “employees of an arts organisation/institution which receives an annual grant from the HAB, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the HKADC, whose duties involve the arts or arts administration”, which enables employees who have joined these arts organisations/ institutions for one year in the grant period (including full-time/part-time/contract employees) to register as voters individually, provided that their employment period and work nature are confirmed by the said organisations/ institutions in writing.

Furthermore, to encourage voters to take more initiative and be more proactive, and to enable all voters receive information related to nomination exercise directly, the HKADC suggests revising the eligibility criteria for arts organisations applying for voter registration of their members/employees. Besides requiring the responsible persons, who have been authorised by their respective organisations to handle the voter registration forms, to make a declaration to confirm that the applicants have given consent and have been informed of the voter registration arrangement, and that information provided for the registration is true and correct, arts organisations applying for voter registration shall provide the voter registration form signed by their members or employees with their respective personal correspondence address (such as residential address) so that candidates can mail promotional materials directly to all voters.

Apart from the above-mentioned suggestions, other related amendments and suggestions are detailed in the consultation paper.

Any comments on the suggestions towards the 2016 Nomination of Representatives of Arts Interests for the HKADC are much welcome and appreciated.

The one-month consultation period will be closed on 16 September 2015. Please let us know your views using one of the following methods before the deadline:-

(please mark subject line: ‘HKADC Nomination Exercise’)

The consultation paper is available on HKADC website.