About the Code
The development of a commercial code of conduct was central to the recommendations of the 2007 Senate Inquiry report: Indigenous art - securing the future 
.
The Code was developed by the Australia Council, who worked closely with an Industry Alliance Group made up of artists, Indigenous art centres, commercial art galleries, public art galleries, auction houses and visual arts peak bodies; including the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA), Umi Arts, Ananguku Arts, Desart, Australian Commercial Galleries Association (ACGA), National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) and the Australian Indigenous Art Trade Association (AIATA).
After a period of public consultation on the draft Code, the Industry Alliance Group endorsed a final Code in August 2009.The Australian Government and state and territory
governments endorsed the Code at the Cultural Ministers Council
meeting in October 2009. A public company - Indigenous Art Code Limited - has been established to administer the Code. The company will be lead by a Board of Directors, drawn from the Indigenous visual
arts industry and the wider community.
Download the Code of Conduct
(Charter of Principles for Publicly Funded Collecting Institutions (Charter)
Following feedback from the Indigenous visual arts industry, a Charter of Principles for Publicly Funded Collecting Institutions (Charter) was also developed to complement the commercial code. The Charter was developed in consultation with state and territory collecting institutions and the national collecting institutions, and was approved by CMC at its October 2009 meeting.
The Charter aims to affirm the minimum ethical standards and best practice principles that Australia's public collecting institutions follow when acquiring, displaying and deaccessioning Indigenous works of art. The affirmation of these high ethical standards by the public collecting institutions that adopt the Charter will help to spread awareness and best practice across the collections and Indigenous visual arts sectors.
Public collecting institutions that adopt the Charter will also be sending a clear message to the Indigenous visual arts industry that the background and provenance of Indigenous works of art will be examined carefully prior to acquisition.
Public collecting institutions are also encouraged to become Code Supporter members of the Company, recognising that while they may not be commercially dealing in Indigenous Australian art, they support the ethical principles of the Code.
