Arts policy 'business as usual': minister

Federal minister Paul Fletcher has defended the government's decision to consolidate the arts into a wide-ranging department, sayings "it's business as usual".

Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a restructuring of the Australian Public Service, which will reduce the number of government departments from 18 to 14.

This included the Department of Communications and the Arts being swallowed up by a new Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, which drew fire from the arts community.

"My message is it's business as usual," Mr Fletcher, who remains the minister for communications and the arts, told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

He said the arts are still represented by a minister in cabinet and there has been no change to the number of people working on arts policy.

He said it is not unprecedented for the arts to sit in a department that does not bear its name.

"There have been two periods in the last 10 years ... one under Labor, one under the coalition," he said.

"There is no change in the resources committed to the arts - $749 million is what the commonwealth is committing to the arts in 2019/20," he said.