A proposal to develop a cultural indicators framework is currently underway in Australia. It aims to monitor the health of the sector and to enable international comparison. In the absence of a national cultural policy and in a context where all levels of government provide support for arts and culture, this ambition presents challenges. This article identifies public policy contexts within which the Australian draft framework was developed. It also considers some of the key issues involved in that process: the perceived need for a framework that represents the intrinsic and instrumental values of arts and cultural heritage; efforts to place artists and involvement at the centre of arts research and policy; and the scope for framing outcomes in terms of vitality, rather than emphasizing impacts.