Gadens has teamed up with the Arts Law Centre of Australia to launch a new pro bono service to protect the artworks of indigenous Australians.

The service, known as the National Indigenous Art Registration Service, was launched at Gadens’ annual Celebration of Indigenous Art event earlier this week to the tune of live performances by Casey Donovan and Igor Rigney before over 120 people.

The service aims to ensure that indigenous art is correctly registered under the Australian government’s Personal Property and Security Register (PPSR).

Gadens senior associate Anthony Walsh, who is leading the project for the firm, said that many artists were unaware of the risks of sending their artworks on consignment to commercial galleries. “When commercial galleries face financial difficulties, indigenous art centres and artists can be the real victims,” he said. “As a result of the introduction of the Personal Property Securities Act, art centres and artists can no longer rely on their legal title to recover their artwork that has not yet been paid when a commercial gallery becomes insolvent.  It is now necessary to also register these arrangements on the PPSR in order to avoid the risk of an artist losing their artworks on the insolvency of a commercial gallery.”

The National Indigenous Art Registration Service invites indigenous art centres to complete a simple registration form hosted on the Arts Law Centre’s website. The form will be then sent to Gadens who will complete all aspects of registering both the art centre and the individual artworks to ensure they meet all the necessary requirements of the PPSR.