About the Ministry

The Ministry of Culture and Equality is responsible for matters relating to culture, equality and discrimination, the media (films, broadcasting, press and copyright), sport, gaming and lotteries and the voluntary sector.

The Minister of Culture and Equality is the head of the Ministry and its political leader. The Minister has two State Secretaries and one Political Adviser, all politically appointed. The Secretary General is the top government official and the Ministry’s administrative leader. The five departments are headed by one Assistant Secretary General and four Directors General.

The Ministry’s tasks fall into three main areas:

To be the Minister’s secretariat: The Ministry shall assist the political leadership in designing policies and overriding objectives and plans for the carrying out of policies on their areas of responsibility, sustain communications with the Storting/Parliament and the Government and present important singular issues for the political leadership.

Take care of administrative tasks: The Ministry shall carry out administrative tasks attributed to the Ministry and act as administrative and judicial appeal body for cases that have been handled by subordinate agencies.

Govern and monitor subordinate agencies: The Ministry shall set goals, provide framework, supervise and follow up results in subordinate agencies in accordance with current laws and rules and political guidelines.