Self-insemination artist seeks publication of emails regarding decision to pull funding

Performance artist, Casey Jenkins, is seeking clarification from the Australia Council for the Arts over its decision to rescind funding for a controversial project involving live-streaming self-insemination during lockdown.

In August 2020, Jenkins won an AUS$25,000 (£13,837) grant from the arts funding body to produce the piece of work titled Immaculate. Jenkins, who identifies as non-binary, had sought to document their attempts to become pregnant during lockdown using donor sperm to confront stigmas around 'queer pregnancy'. However, following significant media backlash, including a heavily critical interview on Sky News with a former prime ministerial adviser, which the Council sent Jenkins a transcript of, it withdrew funding.

In the letter sent, the Council wrote: '[...] we cannot be party to any act that could result in bringing a new life into the world' and 'the ethical issues that will inevitably surround this project, possibly for years to come, are not something the council can take responsibility for'.

The letter added the art project 'exposes the Australia Council to unacceptable, potentially long-term and incalculable risk'. They denied that withdrawing funding was due to media reaction to the project.

Jenkins who has previously sought legal action against the Council, has now told an Australian court she does not believe the Council has properly complied with court orders to provide documents relating to the decision to withdraw the funding and is seeking email documents related to her case.

Previously, Freedom of Information Act requests made by The Age uncovered that the office of arts minister Paul Fletcher had emailed the Council asking for 'clarification on funding including ... who made the decision [and] the criteria it met to be considered art', the day before funding was pulled. The Council has confirmed it sought legal advice when details about the project were sent to the Cabinet of the Australian Government, led at the time by the conservative Liberal Party.

Jenkins now seeks a court order that would force the Australia Council to enforce a more detailed search of documents for further explanation. They told the court they believed Australia Council had not complied with a previous court order to provide sufficient documents which detail the decision to withdraw the funding. Emrys Nekvapil, a representative for Jenkins explained that they had been provided with fewer files than expected detailing the decision.

The Australia Council argues that it estimates the cost to carry out the search to be AUS$2.4million (£1.3 million) as there are 4.9 million items to go through. Furthermore, Meg O'Sullivan, who is acting for the Australia Council described this as a 'fishing expedition' for 'tenuous' information to find discrimination against Jenkins.

The court case is ongoing.