Please note: Some of the content on this page was published prior to the launch of Creative Australia and references the Australia Council. Read more.

Governance Hub

Resources supporting better practice governance in arts and culture.

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Creative Australia invests in artists, creative workers and, arts and cultural organisations to foster effective governance that reflects the needs, aspirations and diversity of our communities. Through training, mentorships, networks and dialogue we support skills development, supportive networks and better practice governance.

Use our new Governance Hub to find resources, support and opportunities to help you and your organisation create and sustain effective, meaningful governance practices. Here you can find arts and cultural sector specific guides, templates, case studies and conversations, or explore more in Additional resources and Support. 


 

Guides

In consultation with the sector we have developed a series of guides to developing policies that support effective, efficient and inclusive governance practices. Click the headings to download each guide (PDF file). 

 

Templates

Template policies provide a starting point for adapting policies to your own unique context. Click the headings to view each template (Word or Excel files). 

Governance conversations

In collaboration with Diversity Arts Australia, we presented six conversations about critical issues in governance from August 2023 to March 2024 

 

Case studies

Explore real world examples of how arts and cultural organisations are supporting diversity, succession planning and fit-for-purpose governance models in practice.  

New Territory, Darwin Fringe 2023. Photo credit: Rachael Chisholm

Engaging Young People in Governance at Corrugated Iron Youth Arts

Corrugated Iron has a robust long-standing model for integrating the invaluable contributions of young community members into its governance practices.

Learn more


KIN creative team and community consultation. Photo by Miguel Rios.

Beyond diversity demographics at Outer Urban Projects

Outer Urban Projects journey to address diversity within its governance model reflects a thoughtful, proactive and responsive strategy.

Learn more

Attendees at the VIP opening of Louise Zhang ‘No dust left in the lilies’, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 2023. Photo by Anna Hay.

Intersectional diversity in governance at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

For 4A, diversity is business-as-usual, with a mission that champions the practices of Asian artists and elevates cross-cultural dialogues between Australia and Asia.

Learn more


Magabala Board staff. Photo supplied.

First Nations Governance at Magabala Books

Magabala Books’ approach to governance emphasises First Nations control, transparency and consensus decision-making.

Learn more

Exposed Dancers: Madalene Macera, Charlie Wilkins, Bhodi Hudson. Photo by Roy Vandervegt

Looking to the Future – Succession Planning at Restless Dance Theatre

Restless recently undertook an internal assessment and transformation process, including succession planning which they refer to as ‘human resource planning’.

Learn more


ADT’s Tracker. Performers: Tyrel Dulvarie, Rika Hamaguchi, Kaine Sultan-Babij. Photo by Pedro Greig. 

Navigating and welcoming new leadership at Australian Dance Theatre

ADT recently underwent a transformative process, including significant changes in its board and artistic leadership.

Learn more


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Setting the Groundwork: AMaGA’s Approach to Succession Planning

AMaGA’s National Council (the equivalent of AMaGA’s board) recently experienced significant generational change in the governance of the organisation.

Learn more

Explore our research on governance in arts and cultural organisations, along with guidance for best practice. Some of these documents include references to Australia Council for the Arts, now renamed Creative Australia. 


Closed CPA

APIEF Fundraising Residential 2024

Five-day training event designed for early-to-mid career arts fundraisers.

creativepartnerships.gov.au
Closed

Creative Leadership Program

A new professional development program supporting  35  artists and  creative  workers to create transformative change.

View opportunity
Closed

Governance Training for Organisations (3-day course)

Foundations of Directorship™ online course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

View opportunity
Closed

Governance Training for Organisations (1.5-day course)

Foundations of governance for Not-for-Profit Directors with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (online delivery).

View opportunity
Closed

Governance Training for Individuals

Foundations of governance for Not-for-Profit Directors with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (online delivery).

View opportunity
Closed

Sync Australia Online Leadership Program

Sync Australia – Online is a new online leadership and coaching program exploring Deaf and disabled leadership in arts, culture, heritage and media.

View opportunity
Closed

Future Leaders Program

The Future Leaders Program takes place over 12-months and involves three interconnected residentials that will take place either in-person, hybrid and/or digitally, with online learning moments in between. Due to the current uncertainty around travel and border restrictions, residential plans are subject to change.

View opportunity
Closed

Arts Leaders Program

The Arts Leaders Program takes place over 12-months and involves three interconnected residentials that will take place either in-person, hybrid and/or digitally, with online learning moments in between. As a participant in our programs, you will join a cohort of mid-career and established arts leaders working within organisations, independently or in community.

View opportunity

Closed

APIEF Fundraising Residential 2024

Five-day training event designed for early-to-mid career arts fundraisers.
Closed

Creative Leadership Program

A new professional development program supporting  35  artists and  creative  workers to create transformative change.
Closed

Governance Training for Organisations (3-day course)

Foundations of Directorship™ online course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Closed

Governance Training for Organisations (1.5-day course)

Foundations of governance for Not-for-Profit Directors with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (online delivery).
Closed

Governance Training for Individuals

Foundations of governance for Not-for-Profit Directors with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (online delivery).
Closed

Sync Australia Online Leadership Program

Sync Australia – Online is a new online leadership and coaching program exploring Deaf and disabled leadership in arts, culture, heritage and media.
Closed

Future Leaders Program

The Future Leaders Program takes place over 12-months and involves three interconnected residentials that will take place either in-person, hybrid and/or digitally, with online learning moments in between. Due to the current uncertainty around travel and border restrictions, residential plans are subject to change.
Closed

Arts Leaders Program

The Arts Leaders Program takes place over 12-months and involves three interconnected residentials that will take place either in-person, hybrid and/or digitally, with online learning moments in between. As a participant in our programs, you will join a cohort of mid-career and established arts leaders working within organisations, independently or in community.

Creative Leadership Program


Announcing the 2024-25 Creative Leadership cohort

4 July 2024

Creative Australia has announced the first 35 recipients of its new Creative Leadership Program, supporting artists and creative workers to enact transformative change through diverse leadership practices.

Running from July 2024 to October 2025, this program offers in-person and online connections including workshops, peer-to-peer mentoring, keynote presentations, and resources to support self-directed training and development.

Participants from across career stages and art forms will exchange expertise, explore new perspectives, spark ideas and create lasting networks. The group will spend time on Country learning from First Nations elders, and hear from speakers working across and beyond arts and culture.

Meet the 2024 Creative Leadership Program participants:

Alex Craig

Alice Cadwell

Andrew Varano

Bobbi Henry

Catherine Jones

Colin Kinchela

Daen John Sansbury-Smith

Daniele Constance

Dearna Newchurch

Ebony Wightman

Elverina Johnson

Fayen d’Evie

Geoffrey Lim

Guy Ritani

Jade Turner

Jannah Beth

Jasmin Sheppard

Jessica Moody

kelli mccluskey

Kelly Blumberg

Laura Imbruglia

Lauren Mullings

Luke D King

Miranda Wheen

Naima Ibrahim

Nathan Stoneham

Rebecca Slater

Samantha Faulkner

Sam Routledge

Sasha Bradbury

Simon Cook

Sukhjit Khalsa

Thomas Campbell

Zena Cumpston

Zoë Atkinson

The Creative Leadership Program is a new 18 month professional development program supporting artists and creative workers with at least five years experience from any career stage. This program brings diverse forms of arts and cultural leadership together to create transformative change in our complex world.

Across the program, participants will engage in-person and online in mentoring, training, workshops, peer-to-peer coaching and conversations. They will spend time on Country learning from First Nations Elders, connect with artists, be guided by experienced facilitators and hear from speakers working across and beyond arts and cultural work.

The program includes:

  • $7,000 grant for self-directed professional development
  • 2 in-person multi-day workshops in a regional location
  • 12 online peer-to-peer coaching sessions
  • 3 online keynote conversations
  • optional attendance at a networking event across the country.

Participants will focus their exploration of leadership practices through one of three leadership themes:

  • Inspiring climate action
  • Transforming how we work
  • Creating shared value

The program prioritises wellbeing, access and cultural safety in creative environments. Together participants will exchange expertise, explore new perspectives, spark ideas and create lasting networks.

Creative Australia is committed to increasing the diversity of leadership in our sector and has prioritised applications from First Nations people and people who are d/Deaf or disabled in the 2024–25 program.

There is no program fee and a range of support available.

This opportunity is only open to:

  • individuals
  • Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents
  • practising artists or creative workers with a minimum of 5 years experience in the arts and cultural sector
  • applicants primarily working in First Nations Arts and Culture, Community Arts and Cultural Development, Emerging and Experimental Arts, Multi-Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Visual Arts and Literature and the intersections of these artforms.

You cannot apply if:

  • you received a grant from Creative Australia in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
  • you owe money to Creative Australia
  • you are a group or an organisation
  • you work primarily in film, fashion, graphic design, screen, gaming or architecture sectors
  • you are under 18
  • you participated in the Future Leaders or Arts Leaders programs that took place in or after 2019.

You can only submit one application.

Creative Australia is committed to increasing the diversity of leadership in our sector.

There are 35 places available in the 2024-25 program. At least 6 places are identified for First Nations artists and creative workers in the program, and at least 6 places are identified for d/Deaf and disabled artists and creative workers. This priority builds on the strong representation of culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQ+ and regional and remote based participants in our previous Leadership programs.

There are lots of different ways of talking about identity, and many different words that people used to describe their identity. If you would like to discuss whether you would be considered for one of the identified places, please contact us.

We also continue to strongly encourage applications from younger people, older people, as well as people who identify as culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQ+, and people based in regional and remote Australia. We also acknowledge that identity is intersectional and encourage people at intersections of these identities to apply.

You can read more about how we assess applications under Assessment below.

We will work closely with you to understand your access needs and create an access plan for the program if required. This can include things like:

  • Auslan interpretation
  • captioning
  • having a support person and/or carer attend the program with you, and
  • travel and accommodation support for you and/or your support person or carer.

We can also provide support for childcare, cultural practices, internet access, financial and/or learning access needs.

If you are a parent or carer, we can discuss support to enable you to attend the program such as attending in-person events with your family or making arrangements for childcare.

We take a person-centred approach that strives to achieve an accessible, inclusive, culturally safe and trauma-informed environment for everyone.  

Please contact us if you would like to discuss the support available. Email Adelaide and Emerald from the Leadership Programs team via leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au or you can find a time to chat via our online booking portal.

If you need help to speak or listen use the National Relay Service.

 

$7,000 grant: to support your professional development and exploration of your chosen leadership theme. See Leadership Themes and “How can I use the $7000 grant” in our FAQs for more information.  

Online program induction: runs for 3 hours, online, with screen breaks. Meet your fellow program participants and the Program Facilitator. Learn more about how to prepare for the program, what to expect and how to get the most from this opportunity.  

In person workshops  
  • Leadership and Wellbeing Workshop: runs for 3 days, in-person in a regional location. Connect with your fellow participants, the facilitator and special guests. Spend time connecting to Country, share meals, learn about diverse leadership practices and creating shared wellbeing. Start to set your goals for the program.  
  • Future Focused Workshop: runs for 4 days, in person in a regional location. Ahead of this workshop you will re-connect online with fellow participants to explore your chosen leadership theme. Then, meet in-person in three groups aligned with your leadership themes to develop shared solutions and approaches. Take your learnings back into your practice, professional context and networks. Reflect on your leadership journey. 

Online keynote conversations: 3 events, each 3 hours, online with frequent breaks. Learn from engaging and provocative speakers about key issues in leadership practice. Share your reflections and perspectives with your fellow participants.  

Online peer-to-peer coaching: 12 sessions, each 1.5 hours, across 2 blocks. Connect in small groups of 5 to 6, using the Creating Out Loud framework. Share and discuss personal and professional opportunities and challenges in leadership. Sessions will be facilitated by alumni of Creative Australia’s Leadership Programs.  

In-person leadership networking event: an optional in-person event held in a host city in your broad geographic region. A chance to broaden your networks with Leadership Program Alumni and hear from guest speakers.  

Online program induction 1–3pm AEST, Wednesday 17 July 2024 online
Leadership and Wellbeing Workshop Wednesday 28–Saturday 31 August 2024  in-person
Keynote conversation #1 1–4pm AEST, Wednesday 18 September 2024 online
Weekly peer-to-peer coaching sessions (block 1) Monday 23 September–Monday 28 October 2024 (six sessions, 1.5 hours each) online
Keynote conversation #2 1–4pm AEDT: Wednesday 26 February 2025 online
(optional) Leadership Networking event February and March 2025, dates to be advised in-person
Weekly peer-to-peer coaching sessions (block 2) Monday 3 March–Monday 8 April 2025 (six sessions, 1.5 hours each) online
Keynote conversation #3 1–4pm AEST, Wednesday 9 July 2025 online
Fortnightly Future Focused Workshop preparation sessions Monday 14 July–Monday 8 September 2025 online
Future Focused Workshop: In-person Tuesday 16 September–Saturday 20 September 2025 in-person

Please note that the exact times and dates for the weekly peer-to-peer coaching sessions and the Future Focused Workshop preparation sessions will be agreed between you and the other participants in your small group.

In this program we want to explore leadership as a practice dedicated to creating positive change.

We understand that leadership can be practiced in many different ways and can mean different things to different people. We are open to diverse ideas about what leadership is. We are particularly interested in leadership that can be collective, collaborative, facilitative and that distributes power.

When you practice leadership, you behave in line with your values. You draw on your resources, experience, knowledge and skills to act ethically and create change. Sometimes you do this on your own and sometimes with others. It might happen in different parts of your arts practice, with organisations you work in or with, or audiences and communities you are connected to. Your leadership practice might be quiet, not always visible from the outside, or you might be very vocal and public in your advocacy.

You may find the word ‘leadership’ challenging or uncomfortable. We acknowledge that for some people, this word has negative associations with control and feels lonely. We will explore this in the program and make space for other ways to describe and enact leadership practices.

The program will include opportunities for you to explore a broad range of issues and questions about leadership practices, as well as your specific areas of interest. We will also invite you to extend and focus your leadership practice by choosing and exploring one of three leadership themes.  

The three leadership themes to choose from are: 

  • Inspiring climate action 

Explore and critique the systems creating the climate crisis. Engage with climate justice and strategies for sustainability. Collaborate to create actions that respond to the complexity of the climate crisis for the arts and culture sector.   

  • Transforming how we work 

Imagine new ways of working together in arts and culture. Consider collective and distributed leadership as models of systems change. Explore business model innovation and how we are responding to digital transformation and disruption.  

  • Creating shared value 

Investigate powerful ways to advocate for the value of arts and culture. Craft compelling pitches for the role arts and culture plays in sustainable economies and healthy equitable communities.

We will ask you to spend some of your $7,000 grant on learning connected to your chosen leadership theme. We can assist you with suggestions on training, conferences and mentoring opportunities connected with your chosen leadership theme.

In the 2 months before the Future Focused Workshop you will attend fortnightly, online exchange sessions with your peers and guest speakers on your chosen leadership theme. At the Future Focused Workshop (in September 2025) you will explore your chosen leadership theme with a smaller group of your peers (10-12 people) and develop ways to influence and co-create frameworks for action.

You should have a strong interest in and commitment to exploring the leadership theme you choose. You do not have to have experience creating or working on projects in this area. Select a leadership theme that you feel inspired by, where you want to influence change and future directions.

The leadership themes are broad and can include a very diverse range of ideas, challenges and opportunities for making change. In your application you will have an opportunity to tell us what aspect of the leadership theme is interesting to you.

Your choice of leadership theme will not affect how competitive your application is. However, we will aim to ensure that there are equal groups for each theme (approx. 10-12 people each).

Information Sessions and videos

Program introduction 

A webinar about the program and how you can apply is available here and below. The webinar is Auslan interpreted and has closed captions.


There is no program fee.

We will ask you to arrange and pay for your own travel to and from the in-person workshops. This cost will vary depending on where you are travelling from. See Financial Support to find out about the support available for travel.

All other program expenses will be covered by Creative Australia. This includes accommodation, food, ground-transport to and from in-person workshop locations.

We can offer support payments to assist artists and creative workers who are un-waged or under employed. This payment is designed to enable more equitable participation for those without a regular, reliable income including independent artists and creative workers.

The payment is $2,000 ex GST and will be paid in two equal instalments at the start of the program (June 2024) and in the middle of the program (March 2025). If you need this payment in different instalments so it does not affect other payments or benefits you receive, we can discuss this with you. 

We ask you to request this support payment in your application. Requesting this support payment will not affect how competitive your application is.

If you face barriers to covering the full cost associated with travel to attend the in-person program activities we can provide support. This can include if you are un-waged, under employed or low income.

We will ask you to tell us if you think you will need support for travel costs in your application. Requesting support for travel costs will not affect how competitive your application is.

If you are accepted into the program, we will work with you to determine the support you need.

Applications will be reviewed by Creative Australia staff and industry advisors. The assessment will include review by First Nations and d/Deaf or disabled industry advisors. Your application will be assessed based on how well it addresses the selection criteria below, and in line with Creative Australia’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The selection criteria are:

  1. Timeliness and relevance of the program to the applicant’s leadership development.
  2. Motivated and respectful approach to personal and collaborative learning.
  3. Commitment to creating positive change in the Australian arts and culture sector.

In the application form we ask you some questions to help you respond to these criteria. You should also make sure what you write in your application responds to these criteria.

At least 6 places are identified for First Nations artists and creative workers in the program, and at least 6 places are identified for d/Deaf and disabled artists and creative workers. We will also prioritise applications from individuals who have not yet participated in a Creative Australia (or Australia Council) leadership program.

We also continue to strongly encourage applications from younger people, older people, as well as people who identify as culturally and linguistically diverse people, LGBTQIA+, and people based in regional and remote Australia. We also acknowledge that identity is intersectional and encourage people at intersections of these identifies to apply. 

In our selection process we will also ensure that there is equitable representation of: 

  • people based in metro, regional and remote areas 
  • people at different career stages 
  • people working in different artforms. 

The total intake for the 2024-25 program will be 35 individuals. 

The main way you can apply for the program is by completing an application form in Fluxx, our application management system. Please contact Adelaide and Emerald from the Leadership Program team via leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au if you need support to submit an application in another format.

Applying through our Application Management System

Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button at the top of this page to go to Fluxx, our system for managing applications.

You will need an account to use Fluxx. It can take up to two business days for a new account to be approved. If you have an account already you can log in.

Select ‘Apply for a Grant’ from the left panel menu. From the list of opportunities select ‘Creative Leadership Program’.

The application form will require you to fill in some of your details, select from some options, respond to questions and submit support material.

You will need to respond to the following questions:

  1. Introduce yourself and tell us how you practice leadership
  2. Why do you want to participate in this program and why now?
  3. Tell us about a time you worked together with others to create change
  4. What leadership theme have you chosen?
  5. Tell us what interests you about this leadership theme and how it relates to your leadership practice.

We encourage you to submit a video to answer Question 1. You may submit a link to a video of up to four minutes. You can submit a video in Auslan. Please upload your video under the support material section of the application form.

In the application form you can request a support payment and tell us if you think you will need support with travel costs.

Support material

  • A CV (up to two pages) illustrating your creative and/or professional experience
  • A link (URL) to a video (up to four minutes) to answer Question 1 (optional).

Yes. All applicants based in Australia must have an active Australian Business Number (ABN). The name of the applicant must match the name of the ABN and the name of the bank account we pay the grant into. There are no exceptions to this rule.  

If you cannot provide an ABN and bank account that are in the same name as the applicant, you will need to nominate an administrator for your grant. You can read more about what this involves on Creative Australia’s Administered Grants page.

Please contact Adelaide and Emerald from the Leadership Program team via leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au if:  

  • you would like these guidelines in another format
  • you want to submit your application in a different format including video, audio, Auslan or other form. You can also read more about accessible application formats on our Accessibility
  • you want to submit your application in a language other than English. You can also read more on our Languages Other Than English.

We will not assess the quality of your chosen format, just what you tell us.

We are available to assist you in understanding the program, application requirements and submitting your application. We do not review application drafts.

Adelaide and Emerald from the Leadership Program team can assist over email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au or you can find a time to chat via our online booking portal. 

If you need help to speak or listen, please use the National Relay Service.

Additional support with your application can be discussed where needed. Where the additional support required is beyond the scope of what our staff can provide, we may recommend speaking to an appropriate organisation for further assistance.

APIEF Fundraising Residential 2024

Five-day training event designed for early-to-mid career arts fundraisers.

About the opportunity

We have partnered with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) to offer six places at their upcoming major residential training event, the Asia Pacific Institute in Educational Fundraising (APIEF).

This five-day event will be held at Novotel 10/14 Eastern Beach Rd, Geelong VIC from the 28 October to the 1 of November 2024. 

Run by experts in educational and arts fundraising, APIEF is an in-depth training event offering interactive sessions covering a diverse range of topics including annual and regular giving, major gifts, bequests and legacies, campaigns, stewardship, ethics, effective prospect tracking, making the case for support and more.

This opportunity is for early-to-mid career arts fundraisers representing an arts organisation with an emerging and/or established fundraising program.

This opportunity includes:

  • A pass to the four-day training program
  • Four nights of accommodation at Novotel 10/14 Eastern Beach Rd (check-in 28 October, check-out 1 November 2024)
  • Institute materials and meals as indicated in the event schedule.

Any additional transport and accommodation costs will be the responsibility of the participant. Each place at the event is valued at A$4,980.

We encourage you to visit the APIEF website for the full program and information on presenters, sessions and opportunities.

Applicants must be employed in a role that includes fundraising or development.

Applicant organisations must:

  • Be based in Australia and carrying out most of their arts activity or practice within Australia
  • Be a legally constituted entity (with an ABN)
  • Be registered as a not-for-profit organisation, as defined by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)*, and;
  • Be operating with the primary purpose of providing arts and cultural opportunities for Australian artists and audiences

*Definitions of not-for-profit entities may be found on the ATO and ASIC websites.

All expressions of interest (EOI) must outline:

  • Your organisation’s primary purpose
  • How the opportunity will benefit you
  • How the opportunity will benefit your organisation, and;
  • Your history of fundraising training.

Impact 

The Panel will assess the impact that the proposal will have on you as a fundraiser and your organisation. They may consider:

  • How the opportunity will benefit you
  • How the opportunity will benefit your organisation.

Before you submit your EOI, read these guidelines thoroughly and contact our Private Investment Capability team with any questions.

Your EOI can be saved and edited at any time until the deadline. Once submitted, you cannot make further edits or amendments.

Private Investment Capability team
T: 03 9616 0321
E: cpa.programs@creative.gov.au

Governance Training for Organisations (3-day course)

Foundations of Directorship™ online course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Perth leadership exchange.

Governance Hub

Visit the Governance Hub to find resources, support and opportunities to help you and your organisation create and sustain effective, meaningful governance practices.

Here you can find arts and cultural sector specific guides, templates, case studies and conversations, or explore more in Additional resources and Support.

Visit the Governance Hub

About the opportunity

Australia Council for the Arts is delighted to offer world-class governance training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) for organisations via the Foundations of Directorship™ Course. 

This course has a length of 11 weeks, including pre-reading, three facilitator-led virtual classrooms and (optional) assessment time. The course will provide participants with a comprehensive overview of the main components of directorship – governance, risk, strategy and finance.

The opportunity is open to CEOs, Executive Directors, and General Managers or those in an equivalent role (as well as staff member acting as the Board secretariat) and Board Members from arts organisations. See eligibility guidelines for full details.

If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.

  • Identify the duties and responsibilities of a director.
  • Outline governance and board meeting processes.
  • Outline the director’s role in evaluating financial statements.
  • Recognise the link between corporate strategy and financial performance.
  • Identify the director’s role in formulating and monitoring strategy, and identifying and assessing risk.

The program has a standard duration of 11 weeks, including 2 weeks of pre-reading, 3 in-classroom (online) sessions, and an optional 6-week assessment period.

The program consists of three courses:

  • Governance for Directors
  • Risk and Strategy for Directors
  • Finance for Directors.

On completion of the third online classroom session, participants will be provided with an opportunity to complete a 90 minute, 30 question multiple choice quiz covering content from all three days.

This opportunity is only open to:

  • CEOs, Executive Directors and General Managers, Board Members or those in an equivalent role (as well as staff acting as the Board secretariat) from arts organisations
  • small-to-medium arts organisations, Multi-Year Investment organisations and National Performing Arts Partnership Framework organisations with less than $800,000 in annual funding from Australia Council  .

Only organisations may apply for this opportunity. You must be an Australian based organisation.

You can’t apply if:

  • you are an individual
  • you are an NPAPF organisation in receipt of more than $800,000 in annual funding from Australia Council.
  • you have undertaken previous training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors or equivalent training
  • you have an overdue grant report
  • you owe money to the Australia Council
  • you are applying as a group.

If you are an individual not currently on a board you may be eligible for the Governance Training for Individuals opportunity.

See the FAQS below to understand any applicable costs to your organisation.

Applications will be reviewed and assessed by Australia Council staff. Your application will be based on merit, response to the selection criteria below, and in line with Australia Council’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Selection Criteria:

  • Timeliness and relevance of the training opportunity to your organisation.
  • The impact the proposed activity will have on your organisation.
  • Commitment to implementing learnings for the sustainability of the arts sector.

Frequently asked questions

We are supporting a number of fully subsidised (free) places in this course for small-to-medium organisations with less than $2M annual turnover.

Multi-year Investment organisations who are successful will be required to contribute 50% of the course cost ($1174.50). Multi-year Investment organisations have the option to apply for second, 50% subsidised place within the one application.

NPAPF organisations will receive one fully subsidised place and will be required to cover the full cost of an additional participant ($2349).

Alternatively, organisations seeking to secure a place with arts and creative industries peers can cover the cost. For more information about paid places, please email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au.

Organisations can nominate 1 person to attend the course.

Multi-year Investment organisations can request an additional second place in the course. A second place is subject to applicable costs and availability. See above under “How much does it cost” for more.

NPAPF organisations must nominate 1 executive staff member and 1 board member to attend the training, and will be required to cover the full cost of the second place in the course. See above under “How much does it cost” for more.

Please also note the information about the staff and board members who are eligible to attend the course under “Eligibility”.

We are working with the AICD’s Board Advance team to offer this course specifically for creative industries professionals.

Online. The Course will be delivered online utilising Zoom video conferencing technology and appropriate technology capabilities are required.

A link to access each Online facilitation session will be made available to Participants in the MyLearning “My Courses” page.

This course is digitally accessible. Please get in touch if you have any specific access requirements.

Applicants must be available for an induction session on the first day of the course period as well as three days of the online teaching and have capacity to undertake the pre-reading and preparation in the two months leading up to the course date. 

Pre-reading of course notes is required to support your full participation in the course. The reading is extensive and requires 20-30 hours to complete.  

During the three days of the online teaching the hours will be 11am – 6:30pm AEDT. 

The course will be delivered by expert facilitators from the AICD faculty with directorship experience in a similar sector or industry.

The learning approach takes the form of a series of facilitated discussions and interactive case studies that consolidate understanding.

For any questions or further information please email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au or call +61 2 9215 9058.

Governance Training for Organisations (1.5-day course)

Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (online delivery)

Perth leadership exchange.

Governance Hub

Visit the Governance Hub to find resources, support and opportunities to help you and your organisation create and sustain effective, meaningful governance practices.

Here you can find arts and cultural sector specific guides, templates, case studies and conversations, or explore more in Additional resources and Support.

Visit the Governance Hub

About the opportunity

Australia Council for the Arts is delighted to offer world-class governance training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) for organisations via the Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors Course.

This 1.5-day course, to be delivered online, will provide participants with an understanding of fundamental compliance and performance related roles and responsibilities of not-for-profit directors, specifically in the areas of governance, risk, strategy and financial performance.

The opportunity is open to CEOs, Executive Directors, Artistic Directors and General Managers or those in an equivalent role (as well as staff acting as the board secretariat) from small-to-medium arts organisations. It is aimed at those with no formal board governance training in the first few years of their board role.

If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.

  • Examine the duties and responsibilities of directors in not-for-profit (NFP) organisations.
  • Outline the role of the regulatory authorities in the NFP sector.
  • Compare the role of directors in NFP organisations with the role of directors in the commercial sector.
  • Explain the role of the board in developing strategy.
  • Establish the link between strategy and risk management, risk culture and effective leadership.
  • Explain the major elements of the financial statements and the linkages between the financial statements.
  • Identify a director’s duties with regard to an organisation’s financial statements and financial reports.
  • Discuss the board’s role in improving financial performance.

The program consists of three half-day courses:

  • Duties and Responsibilities of the Not-for-Profit Director
  • Strategy and Risk for the Not-for-Profit Director
  • Finance for the Not-for-Profit Director

This program has a length of 1.5 days with further time allocated for completing the pre-coursework (approximately one day in duration). To support the learning within this program, participants who enrol in the program also receive a recording of The Role of the Not-for-Profit Director webinar and access to the Interpreting Financial Statements eLearning course.

Access to the pre-coursework will be available three weeks prior to the course date. Participants are required to complete this in preparation before attending the online classroom sessions.

This opportunity is only open to:

  • CEOs, Executive Directors, Artistic Directors and General Managers or those in an equivalent role (as well a staff acting as the Board secretariat) from small-to-medium arts organisations
  • Organisations who do not receive Multi-year Investment from Australia Council
  • CEOs, Executive Directors, Artistic Directors and General Managers or those in the first 5 years of their tenure with no formal governance training.

Only organisations may apply for this opportunity. You must be an Australian based arts organisation.

You can’t apply if:

  • you are an individual
  • you receive Multi-year Investment via Four Year Funding, Visual Arts and Craft Strategy or National Performing Arts Partnership Framework
  • you have undertaken previous training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors or equivalent training
  • you have an overdue grant report
  • you owe money to the Australia Council
  • you are applying as a group.

If you are an individual not currently on a board you may be eligible for the Governance Training for Individuals opportunity.

Applications will be reviewed and assessed by Australia Council staff. Your application will be based on merit, response to the selection criteria below, and in line with Australia Council’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Selection Criteria:

  • Timeliness and relevance of the training opportunity to your organisation.
  • The impact the proposed activity will have on your organisation.
  • Commitment to implementing learnings for the sustainability of the arts sector.

Frequently asked questions

We are supporting a number of fully subsidised (free) places in this course.

Alternatively, organisations seeking to secure a place with arts and creative industries peers can cover the cost. For more information about paid places, please email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au.

Organisations can nominate 1 person to attend the course.

Multi-year Investment organisations can request an additional second place in the course. A second place is subject to applicable costs and availability. See above under “How much does it cost” for more.

NPAPF organisations must nominate 1 executive staff member and 1 board member to attend the training, and will be required to cover the full cost of the second place in the course. See above under “How much does it cost” for more.

Please also note the information about the staff and board members who are eligible to attend the course under “Eligibility”.

We are working with the AICD’s Board Advance team to offer this course specifically for creative industries professionals.

Online. The Course will be delivered online utilising Zoom video conferencing technology and appropriate technology capabilities are required.

A link to access each online facilitation session will be made available to participants in the MyLearning “My Courses” page.

This course is digitally accessible. Please get in touch if you have any specific access requirements.

Applicants must be available for the two days of the course and have capacity to undertake a full day of pre-reading and preparation in the three weeks leading up to the course date.

During the two days of the online teaching the hours will be:

  • Day 1: 11am-6:30pm (AEDT)
  • Day 2: 11am-2:30pm (AEDT)

The course will be delivered by expert facilitators from the AICD faculty with directorship experience in a similar sector or industry.

The learning approach takes the form of a series of facilitated discussions and interactive case studies that consolidate understanding.

For any questions or further information please email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au or call +61 2 9215 9058.

Governance Training for Individuals

Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (online delivery)

Perth leadership exchange.

Governance Hub

Visit the Governance Hub to find resources, support and opportunities to help you and your organisation create and sustain effective, meaningful governance practices.

Here you can find arts and cultural sector specific guides, templates, case studies and conversations, or explore more in Additional resources and Support.

Visit the Governance Hub

About the opportunity

Australia Council for the Arts is delighted to offer world-class governance training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) for individuals via the Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors Course.

This 1.5-day course, to be delivered online, will provide participants with an understanding of fundamental compliance and performance related roles and the responsibilities of not-for-profit (NFP) directors, specifically in the areas of governance, risk, strategy and financial performance.

The opportunity is open to individuals in the arts and creative industries who are working outside of organisations. It is for individuals with no prior board director experience who are seeking to build capacity and capability in this area with the ambition to accept a directorship role on an arts / creative industries board.

If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.

  • Examine the duties and responsibilities of directors in NFP organisations.
  • Outline the role of the regulatory authorities in the NFP sector.
  • Compare the role of directors in NFP organisations with the role of directors in the commercial sector.
  • Explain the role of the board in developing strategy.
  • Establish the link between strategy and risk management, risk culture and effective leadership.
  • Explain the major elements of the financial statements and the linkages between the financial statements.
  • Identify a director’s duties regarding an organisation’s financial statements and financial reports.
  • Discuss the board’s role in improving financial performance.

The program consists of three half-day courses:

  • Duties and Responsibilities of the Not-for-Profit Director
  • Strategy and Risk for the Not-for-Profit Director
  • Finance for the Not-for-Profit Director

This program has a length of 1.5 days with further time allocated for completing the pre-coursework (approximately one day in duration). To support the learning within this program, participants who enrol in the program also receive a recording of The Role of the Not-for-Profit Director webinar and access to the Interpreting Financial Statements eLearning course.

Access to the pre-coursework will be available three weeks prior to the course date. Participants are required to complete this in preparation before attending the online classroom sessions.

This opportunity is only open to:

  • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
  • Culturally and Linguistically diverse people
  • People in regional/remote areas
  • People with Disability
  • Younger People (25 and under).

Only individuals may apply for this opportunity. You must be an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident, and a practicing artist or arts worker.

You can’t apply if:

  • you have undertaken previous training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors
  • you have an overdue grant report
  • you owe money to us
  • you are applying as a group or organisation

If you are working in an organisation you may be eligible for the Governance Training for Organisations (1.5 day) or Governance Training for Organisations (3 day) opportunities.

Applications will be reviewed and assessed by Australia Council staff. Your application will be based on merit, response to the selection criteria below, and in line with Australia Council’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Selection Criteria:

  • Timeliness and relevance of the training opportunity to your professional development.
  • The impact the proposed activity will have on your career.
  • Commitment to implementing learnings for the sustainability of the arts sector.

Frequently asked questions

We are supporting a number of fully subsidised (free) places in this course.

Alternatively, individuals seeking to secure a place with arts and creative industries peers can cover the cost. For more information about paid places, please email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au.

We are working with the AICD’s Board Advance team to offer this course specifically for creative industries professionals.

Online. The Course will be delivered online utilising Zoom video conferencing technology and appropriate technology capabilities are required.

A link to access each Online facilitation session will be made available to Participants in the MyLearning “My Courses” page.

This course is digitally accessible. Please get in touch if you have any specific access requirements.

Applicants must be available for the two days of the course and have capacity to undertake a full day of pre-reading and preparation in the three weeks leading up to the course date.

During the two days of the online teaching the hours will be:

  • Day 1: 11am-6:30pm (AEDT)
  • Day 2: 11am-2:30pm (AEDT)

The course will be delivered by expert facilitators from the AICD faculty with directorship experience in a similar sector or industry.

The learning approach takes the form of a series of facilitated discussions and interactive case studies that consolidate understanding.

For any questions or further information please email leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au or call +61 2 9215 9058.

Sync Australia Online Leadership Program

About


Sync Leadership Australia Online Program is a new intensive modular online leadership and coaching program exploring leadership for people with disability and/or who are D/deaf.

The Sync Leadership program was founded over 10 years ago by Sarah Pickthall and Jo Verrent – two leaders with disability in the UK – to develop Deaf and disabled leadership in arts, culture, heritage and media. Sync has been successfully rolled out globally, including in Australia in 2014, 2015 and 2021 via an online format.

Access Arts is delighted to bring the Sync Leadership program back to Australia in 2022.

Taking part in Sync will help you develop new awareness and skills and refresh your confidence to progress your professional arts career.

 “Sync is not about the job you have; it is about your leadership potential and how to harness it.” Sarah Pickthall, Co-Founder, Sync Leadership.

Eligible applicants must be:

  • a practicing artist, arts worker or producer who identifies as experiencing disability and/or who is D/deaf
  • an artist or arts manager in the arts, culture or media for at least two years
  • an Australian resident
  • available for all program sessions
  • has access to suitable WiFi connection
  • willing to identify publicly as person with disability if they are the winner.

Applications must include:

  • a 100-word biography
  • a high-resolution photograph (portrait orientation)
  • answers to all application questions (in writing or on video)
  • a professional letter of recommendation.

You are welcome to submit your application in a format that is accessible to you, such as audio, video, printed, dictated, electronic or handwritten.

Click here to download the Sync Australia guidelines

Click here to download the Sync Australia application form 

The following selection criteria will be used to assess your application:

  • readiness for the Sync program – being at the right point in your professional career
  • leadership skills and flair that Sync can help you develop
  • your development in the arts and culture: short term and long-term goals
  • personal and professional experience of barriers and how these have been managed or overcome
  • commitment to the six workshops and three one-on-one coaching sessions
  • confirmed availability on all session dates and times.

For your application to be eligible, you must submit your current resume and examples of work.

Current biography (required)

  • 100 words maximum
  • Please outline your artistic background, experience and achievements

Examples of work (required)

You may select any or a combination of the following:

  • online links to documentation (blogs, news articles, other multimedia content)
  • past project proposals and reports
  • links to video files should be between one to ten minutes in .mp3, .mp4, .mov or .wmv formats

Letter of support

  • From an individual or organisation who knows your work and recommends it

Please note that where possible we prefer to receive website links, PDF or Word documents as supporting material. The maximum file size for sending an email to Access Arts is 15MB. If your application exceeds 15MB your application will not be eligible.

  1. Complete your application online at ly/SYNCLeadershipAU-2023 and upload your supporting material OR
  2. Email your completed application form and support material to syncaustralia@cpl.org.au. Please use “SYNC Leadership Australia 2022” in the subject heading.

We encourage you to apply in advance of the closing date to avoid delays caused by unforeseeable technical difficulties.

If you have any questions about eligibility or application, please contact Access Arts on 07 3505 0311 or 0403 070 661 or email syncaustralia@cpl.org.au.

Successful participants will be contacted by phone and email on Friday 28 October 2022.

You will be asked to provide information about your access requirements, so we can make arrangements for you. You will also be provided with a program timetable.

Sync Leadership Australia Online Program is presented by Sync Leadership (UK) and Access Arts, supported by Australia Council for the Arts.

Sync Leadership Australia Online Program is presented by Sync Leadership (UK) and Access Arts, supported by Australia Council for the Arts.

Future Leaders Program

A personal and professional development opportunity for emerging arts leaders.

2022 Future Leaders Residential 2, Bundanon Art Museum and Bridge. Image credit: Heidrun Lohr

The Future Leaders Program was a personal and professional development opportunity for emerging arts leaders within the first ten years of their career.

The program was delivered over 12-months, offering participants ways to connect with and learn from peers who were working within organisations or independently, through in-person and online workshops. Through facilitated discussion, knowledge exchanges, workshops and on Country learning with First Nations Elders, Future Leaders looked at new models of leadership and current themes in the creative industries.

Participants of the Future Leaders Programs joined an alumni network of over 250 national and international leaders from across the Indo-Pacific following the formal conclusion of their program. Find out more about the Leadership Program alumni here.

AJ Lamarque is a Queer, Mixed Raced Comedian with heritage from the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and Asia. When not performing/being an independent producer, he is the Associate Producer, Marketing for Griffin Theatre Company. In the recent past he has participated in writers’ rooms for digital and TV productions, performed at prestigious venues across Australia and is developing his own show ‘English Breakfast’ which will premiere later this year.

His independent work is based around fostering welcoming and inclusive spaces within comedy for all types of audiences and performers. His show Kweens of Comedy is one of Sydney’s and Oxford Street’s biggest comedy nights through which he also runs the Newcomers Program — a free initiative to help mentor and support diverse new voices in the comedy industry.

AJ has previously been on the Membership Committee for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and has talked on diversity and inclusivity for Sydney Fringe Festival. In 2018, he was given the Sydney Opera House’s Future Leader Award for his work on their Reconciliation Action Committee. In 2019 he was a finalist for the Honour Award’s Young Achiever category and, in 2020, he was one of Out for Australia’s 30 under 30.

Andi Snelling is a multi-award-winning performer, writer and director. She makes boundary-pushing theatre that explores the human condition through the personal as universal with raw honesty and playful physicality.

Andi holds a BA (French & German)/Dip. Creative Arts (Theatre Studies), University of Melbourne, completed on a scholarship program at Freie Universität, Berlin, where she lived for many years before moving to London to study an MA Performance (Acting) at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

Her career highlights include: Edith in Picnic at Hanging Rock (BBC), Brinda in Neighbours (Fremantle Media), Ensemble in Crazy for You (London Palladium), Inflight Voice for Qatar Airways and her three critically-acclaimed solo theatre shows, #DearDiary, Déjà Vu and Happy-Go-Wrong, with the latter receiving five awards and being named a “highlight of the year” (The Age).

After having her world turned upside down by chronic illness, Andi has become a champion of thriving in impossibility. She is passionate about the intersection of art and health and is an ambassador for the Lyme Disease Association of Australia, on the board of No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability, and runs her own creative mentoring business, Kick Up The Arts.

Andrew is an accomplished Producer whose career has covered Festival, Art Centre and Local Government roles. Originally from Western Australia, Andrew has worked with leading arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth Festival, and Big hART, programming and producing iconic events, cherished by the community.

Andrew’s professional practice explores how creative processes can be used as a tool for community development, working with intergenerational and intercultural cohorts of emerging and established artists, to create truly collaborative performance and exhibition pieces.

Currently living and working in nipaluna (Hobart) lutruwita (Tasmania), Andrew is discovering a new community and divides his time between working at the Moonah Arts Centre and freelance Producing opportunities.

Celia is a proud Adnyamathanha woman, a producer and an artist. In her role at Adelaide Festival Centre, she works on First Nations programming for DreamBIG Children’s Festival and the Centre’s year-round program. Celia is the creative producer for new literary and storytelling events OUR WORDS and OUR STORIES celebrating the importance of First Nations narratives alongside the annual OUR MOB: Art by South Australian Aboriginal Artists exhibition. Celia’s personal artistic practice focuses on illustration and development of Adnyamathanha language resources to reinvigorate the language in her community.

DAVID RALPH is an arts management graduate (WAAPA) working across community arts and cultural development and performing arts sectors. He is passionate about the artistic, social and economic factors that influence and shape the cultural melting pot we all live and work in. David has programmed large civic cultural programs (26.01.08, Federation Square), national tour manager (Sumardi, Aryantha & IndoBboy Fusion 2007/08) and worked as program manager for the Anti-Racism Action Band (2010/11).

David is a co-founding member Outer Urban Projects a company creating new forms of contemporary performance imagined from the life experiences of young emerging artists from Melbourne’s outer north (since 2012).  Works have included: Urban Chamber – Beyond (2013, Melbourne Festival), Poetic License (2014, 2015 & 2017 Melbourne Writers Festival), Grand DiVisions – A Moved Urban Cantata (2015, Melbourne Festival), Vessel (2017, Melbourne Fringe), 125BPM (2019, Melbourne Recital Centre and The Audition (2019, La Mama).

Donna is a Wakka Wakka woman of the Bujiebara clan of South East Queensland and also first generation Australian. She has a Bachelor of Music Performance from UTAS and has been working in the music industry for a number of years, including with: – APRA AMCOS’ National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office (NATSIMO) – MusicNT – First Nations Media Australia’s indigiTUBE Project (current). Donna lives and works on the unceded lands of the Arrernte peoples of Mparntwe/Alice Springs and is soon to release singles from her music project VELIA produced by Dave Crowe.

Eugenie Lee is a Wangal Land-based interdisciplinary artist with a conceptual focus on persistent pain. Experimentation and collaboration with pain researchers, who investigate ways in which technologies can assist in pain science, are an important foundation for her art practice which includes participatory interactive performance, installations, and paintings.
Eugenie’s practice integrates Crip Theory and explores innovative ways to draw out deeper understanding and reflections about the fundamental experience of a social being in the context of pain.

Notable curatorial exhibitions include Psyche at Science Gallery Bengaluru (2022), the Big Anxiety Festival at UNSW (2019), MOD.IFY: It’s not what you know at Museum Of Discovery (MOD.) (2018), and The Patient: The Medical Subject in Contemporary Art (2016-18). Eugenie is a recipient of Sync Leadership Access Arts (2021), Career Development Grants Australia Council of the Arts (2020), Create NSW’s 360 Vision: Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Development Initiative (2019), Synapse residency at Australian Network for Art and Technology ANAT (2015), and Amplify Your Arts Accessible Arts (2014). She is an active pain advocate and a member of the prestigious Global Alliance of Partners for Pain Advocacy Task Force (GAPPA) for the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Eugenie graduated with Honours from Sydney College of the Arts in 2012.

Fiona Dorrell is the Executive Director of the NT Writers’ Centre. In 2020 she was the Artistic Director for the NT Writers Festival and steered the event through a major pandemic related postponement to deliver a heartwarming four day program in collaboration with 100+ artists. She is driven by the belief that writing and storytelling ​illuminates our values, and allows us to experience the interconnectedness between people and place. For her own writing, she is a a previous recipient of an Arts NT Varuna Fellowship and alumni to the ACTWC’s Hardcopy program.

Harley Mann, is a Wakka Wakka man from Queensland, he grew up on Gadigal country in NSW. Drawing on his own Aboriginal heritage as inspiration Harley founded Na Djinang Circus in 2017. Harley has since worked with some of Australia’s leading contemporary circus companies including, Circa, Circus Oz and Casus.

Under Harley’s guidance, Na Djinangs highly successful work Common Dissonance was nominated for a greenroom award for best circus. In 2021 Na Djinang premiered a sold-out season of Arterial as a part of the Yirramboi Festival.

Harley was also honoured with the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Award for Best Emerging Circus Artist. He was also chosen as the youth representative for the 2018 circus talk as a part of the Sydney Festival. And he is a current member of the CaPT Advisory board for circus and physical theatre. and was recently a recipient of the Circus Oz Fellow ship program 2021.

Harley is ensuring that he upskills while he tours, creates, and develops what he hopes is a significant contribution to Australia’s circus industry.

Ian Sinclair is an antidisciplinary artist, playwright and Live Art curator spanning immersive and participatory installation, cross-artform collaborations, contemporary Theatre and socially engaged world-building approaches. His projects consider queerness, kinship, the ecological uncanny and the ethical quandaries of cultural spectacle.

Sinclair’s experimental partnership Pony Express, with artist Loren Kronemyer, lampoons soft and hard power structures to create palliative, alternate ‘realities’ that consider deep adaptation, burgeoning social movements, nonhuman politics and our trans-apocalyptic age.

Sinclair has exhibited and toured, nationally and internationally, from contemporary art institutions to non-traditional venues. Collaborating with communities at the forefront of queer, activist, and environmental futures. Sinclair has a BA (Contemporary Performance) from Edith Cowan University and was a seasonal lecturer at the Iceland University of the Arts.

In 2021, he premiered plays Whale Fall (Perth Festival x PICA); Nocturna (The Kabuki Drop); exhibited Abolish The Olympics (Contemporary Art Tasmania); curated Crisis Actor and Hyperlocal (PACT). In 2022, will premiere large-scale artwork Epoch Wars (Performing Lines x New Annual Festival); play Horses (Kunst Productions x Belvoir25A), and develop new Live Artworks: To A God Unknown and The Queer Woodchop.

For the past twelve years, Joe Alexander has developed and run a range of initiatives in the music industry, from advocating for representation of musicians from migrant backgrounds, to profiling musicians and arts workers working in regional and remote areas and bringing contemporary musicians together in collaboration and community building. In 2009, Joe founded Bedroom Suck Records, an independent label which now has over eighty releases in distribution throughout Australia, New Zealand, Japan, North America, the UK and Europe. He later formed the Great Southern Land Touring Co., an initiative aimed at connecting with musicians in remote and regional Australia. Ten years later, 2019 saw the launch of Music in Exile, an exciting new not-for-profit record label and artist services company working with Australian musicians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The Music in Exile team has grown to six staff, managing the growth and development of a roster of exciting artists and working to build an organisation that is artist-driven and community minded. For Joe, meeting individuals and hearing their stories is the greatest joy the music industry can bring, and he hopes to share this experience with audiences everywhere.

Katina is a Wakka Wakka Kombumerri choreographer / performer and also has Norwegian, German and English Ancestry. She has worked throughout Australia, Canada, UK, USA and Europe with Atamira, Sydney Dance Company, Stalker Theatre, Expressions (now Australasian Dance Collective), Bangarra, Force Majeure, Erth, GUTS, Meryl Tankard, Martin del Amo, Victoria Hunt, Narelle Benjamin, Vicki Van Hout, Liesel Zink and Wesley Enoch.

Katina’s choreographic highlights include Mother’s Cry for Sydney Dance Company’s New Breed 2018, movement direction for the play Sunshine Super Girl (Sydney Festival 2021), the ABC series Cleverman 2 and the Malthouse production Walking into the Bigness.

Katina presented her Independent solo work namu nunar at Supercell Festival of Contemporary Dance, Yonder Festival, Horizon Festival, Festival 2018 and Happy Hour as part of March Dance 2019. Katina is also founding member of Dance Makers Collective and collaborated and performed with them on their Australian Dance Award nominated DADS, Instar as part of Big Dance in Small Chunks (Parramatta Riverside), their 2020 sold out Sydney Festival show The Rivoli and most recently choreographing solo work beneath performed by Emily Flannery as part of In Situ with DMC’s Future Makers at Sydney Festival 2021.

Kuichiang “Kush” Kuiy is a 2nd generation Australian of South-Sudanese heritage. Kush is an independent producer/artist/writer/curator and avid bird watcher. Her artistic practice reflects her third-culture experience; cultural heritage; and the natural world. Kush’s producing practice is based in the outer South-East suburbs. She is passionate abut making arts and culture accessible to her community and works on various projects with local artists to build the creative scene in the suburbs. Kush is a 2020 recipient of Creative Victoria and Theatre Networks Australia’s, Victorian Independent Producers Initiative and the 2021 Lindsay King Arts Award recipient. She is the co-founder and producer of the Rise of South Sudan Music and Arts Festival; the networking platform Blaxcellence; & is a founding member of the Way Over There Collective. Kush is the Art Director for the GRID Series’ inaugural Sun, Earth, Moon Festival in Cranbourne. Kush has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in International Relations from Deakin University.

Leah Jing McIntosh is a critic, researcher, and the founding editor of LIMINAL, an anti-racist literary platform that seeks to support and elevate racialised artists and writers, with a focus on Asian Australian experience. Alongside editing LIMINAL, and the critically-acclaimed fiction anthology Collisions (Pantera Press, 2020), Leah has established national literary prizes for writers of colour, produced literary events, and partnered with major arts organisations, to advocate for a more equitable arts sector.

She has a Masters in English Literature from University College London, and is currently completing her PhD in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her research is concerned with the possibilities of diasporic self-representation, and the fracturing of literary form. Leah’s work is underpinned by an anti-racist, anti-colonial praxis, which means she sometimes gets into trouble. Trouble aside, she has been selected as a Victorian nominee for Young Australian of the Year, listed on Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30—Class of 2020 and Asialink’s inaugural 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians. In 2021, she was named one of the three inaugural Asia Society Melbourne Game Changers.

Lewis Major is an award-winning choreographer, director and creative entrepreneur and a former sheep shearer turned contemporary dance theatre maker. He might be the only dance artist in Australia who can reverse parallel park a tractor and travelled to all three axis-of-evil countries. He honed his skills in dancemaking over a decade spent working with seminal contemporary dance makers Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant, Hans van den Broeck (Cie Soit/Les Ballets C de la B), Damien Jalet, Hofesh Shechter and Aakash Odedra amongst others. Unabashedly audience driven, the ethos that drives his work is local focus, global outlook. His company Lewis Major Projects presents surprisingly real dance works in multiple mediums to diverse audiences across the world, having created 17 different works both independently and on commission and having presented them on 6 continents to widespread critical and commercial success. His work has been presented at amongst others Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, Sadler’s Wells, The Royal Opera House and The Place (UK); Festival de Mayo (Mexico); La Comete, Centre des Arts Enghien Les Bains, La Maison de la Musique de Nanterre, Maison des Arts de Creteil (France); Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg), PUSH Push Festival (Canada); Impulstanz Festival, Ars Electronica Festival (Austria); TED Global (Brazil) and TEDx London; Esplanade Theatres (Singapore); and the Baryshnikov Art Centre (NYC).

Mariam Arcilla is an artsworker and storyteller based on Gadigal / Sydney. Her practice metabolises through writing, producing, arts communications, gallery managing, and editing. Born to a Filipino artist and Singaporean air stewardess, Mariam spent her childhood zig-zagged between studios, museums, and make-shift homes in the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Immigrating to Australia in 1996, Mariam started her arts career on Yugambeh and Kombumerri Lands / Gold Coast, where she co-founded and managed creative-led initiatives. Since 2006, Mariam has worked with artists and organisations to turn radiant ideas into exhibitions, publications, dialogues, and resources. Currently, she is the Communications & Engagement Manager at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Deputy Chair at Runway Journal. Mariam has held senior and consultant roles at museums, commercial galleries, tech companies, cultural policy boards, and public sector departments in Queensland and New South Wales. She has dreamed up campaigns and programs with leading bodies, including Arts Queensland, City of Gold Coast, Museum of Brisbane, Institute of Modern Art, THE WALLS, State Library of Queensland, and HOTA. Her writing is published in VAULT, Running Dog, Art Collector, and Art Guide. Mariam holds a BA Hons (First Class) and BCA in Contemporary Art & Writing from Griffith University.

Nadya holds master’s degrees in art history from the St Petersburg State University, Russia, and from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; she currently lives and works in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia.

Before assuming her current role of Installation Project Manager at the National Gallery of Victoria, Nadya has worked at the Biennale of Sydney (21st edition “Superposition: Equilibrium and Engagement”), the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, and Smart Project Space in Amsterdam. During her time at the State Hermitage Nadya also contributed to the production of the 10th edition of the European Nomadic Biennial of Contemporary Art MANIFESTA.
With experience in curatorial, management and operations, Nadya is particularly interested in the behind-the-scenes life of art institutions and the continuing evolution of governance and organizational structures and practices that support and bring about artistic vision.

Ripley Kavara is an artist, producer and youth worker born in Papua New Guinea, based in Naarm. Their multidisciplinary experience spans 6+ years, encompassing being a musician, producer, DJ, event organizer and community/youth work as a mentor and project lead.

Kavara’s brain child Kandere was the catalyst that launched them into the heights of the music scene. Performing at Dark Mofo alongside artists including Kojey Radical, GAIKA, Kaiit, Drmingnow, Kandere was applauded by music critics, receiving rave reviews from Noisey, Purple Sneakers, Acclaim and Swampland magazines. Kandere’s debut single ‘BBGOY’ solidified Kavara as an innovator, their music described as “evoking strong visions.”

Kavara is the founder of FAMILI. Birthed in 2019, FAMILI is a music-focused Pasifika and Blak collective of queer and transgender people. As Creative Director, lead artist and producer, they hold the role of working collaboratively with other artists to bring life to their visions, with a particular focus on elevating, emerging artists,  under-represented voices and stories through the music and arts industries. The critical acclaim of the collective’s inaugural performance led to developing Kavara’s new work ‘We Take Back Our Mother Tongues’, debuting in 2022.

Kavara’s vision; home, diaspora, futures, disruption, belonging, Spiritual homecoming – with no limitations.

Sarah is a writer based on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Alongside writing, she holds a role within an acclaimed social enterprise in the education sector.

As the mixed-race child of a Ghanaian father and an Anglo-Australian mother, much of Sarah’s writing is themed around relationship to identity, culture, ancestry, intersectionality and connection through the diasporic experience. Sarah has written and performed with the Floating Key collective produced by China Aleisse at the Melbourne Fringe Festival, she has contributed to the ‘Where Are You From?’ project curated by Sabina McKenna exhibited at Blak Dot Gallery, and has been published in FOLK Magazine.

In 2020, Sarah’s piece ‘Magnolia’s Nurture’ won the Writers Victoria Woman of Colour Commission, and was published in ‘The Victorian Writer’. She was then featured on the Queerstories in Lockdown podcast, an award-winning podcast and storytelling project curated by Maeve Marsden, and was also commissioned by Lucille Cutting to pen the essay “Love & Death ” for The Pin.

In her position as Head of School Engagement within a highly esteemed, innovative and youth-driven social enterprise, Sarah plays a key role in supporting positive outcomes for students nationally, empowering them to be their most authentic selves.

Vishnu Arunasalam is a Sri Lankan-born Australian-raised multifaceted art-maker exploring the traditional  dance medium of Bharathanatyam through contemporary expression and techniques. His work explores his  South Asian diaspora identity within the contemporary Australian landscape through cross-disciplinary and  intercultural collaborations whilst also promoting the nuances and aesthetics of the Bharatanatyam form in  Australia.

He is a current practitioner of Bharathanatyam, Carnatic Music (South Indian Classical Music) and  Nattuvangam (South Indian Vocal Percussion) and has experience in Art Direction, Costume Design,  Production and Administration.
Currently, he is the Artistic Director of Agal Dance Company, established in August 2018 and is primarily  based in Sydney. They are a cutting-edge dance group, exploring the style of Bharathanatyam (South Indian  Classical Dance) through contemporary and modern world techniques. It is the first of its kind in Australia as  they use a South Asian vocabulary to critically think about the world and the issues they face as Australians  of a South Asian background.

Adriana Nordin Manan juggles eight professional roles: writer, translator, playwright, researcher, curator, dramaturg, educator and entrepreneur. After training in the social sciences and switching careers from policy research, she considers the arts a potent platform to “be in a room with difficult topics, while surrounded by gentleness and care.”

The desire to understand how people co-exist—especially the missteps and tensions—drives Adriana’s artmaking, which owes much to her being from Malaysia where the existence of intergroup conflict is always assumed, to confront these assumptions feels like catharsis and artistic duty. The layers and dimensions to colonialism, diversity, urban chaos and neoliberalism-instigated upheavals keep her alert and constantly seeking to create.

In 2019, Adriana’s translation of “Pengap” by Lokman Hakim was the first ever Malay submission shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. In 2021, the script of her first full-length play was a semi-finalist in the International Scratchpad Series by The Playwrights Realm, New York City. She is currently setting up a company that offers services in writing and translation, with an affiliated ideas lab and incubation space in storytelling and cultural exchange through language.

Adriana speaks Malay, English and Spanish, and is making glacial progress in learning Chinese.

“My name is Andrew Asaph Kuliniasi. I hold a lot of jobs in the creative field. I am a playwright, screenwriter, director, producer, actor, creative director, creative consultant, choreographer and songwriter in a country that has a super small creative arts industry. The best way to describe me is a swan in a pond full of crocodiles. I am a gay man, in a country where the issues I talk about in my art can get me killed. I am 21 years old, turning 22 and I am ready to lead the industry I believe I was born to build in my country. ”

Andrew Kuliniasi

Xuân Hạ is a visual and multimedia artist who currently lives and works in Danang, and whose practice focuses on the socio-cultural changes in her home region of Central Vietnam. In 2015, she co-founded “Chaosdowntown Cháo” – an art collective based in Saigon, and in 2019, she founded the “a sông club” – an art club exploring the identity of Da Nang-Quang Nam, including its land and its people.
Her body of works stems from the oppositions between herself and the dizzying changes that occur in her surrounding environment. Through various experimentations with materials and space, the artist uses the fragments of everyday life and a wide range of artistic media (painting, animation, video, sculpture and installation) to present unrealistic scenarios that then gradually shape their own narratives.

Mac Andre Arboleda is the Project Lead of the Artists for Digital Rights Network and the Founding President of the UP Internet Freedom Network. Between 2015 and 2019, he organized Zine Orgy, a biannual expo in Los Baños, Laguna created for artists and independent publishers. Between 2018 and 2020, he organized Munzinelupa, an annual arts festival in Muntinlupa City that hosted zine expos, film screenings, musical performances, and educational discussions. He is a member of Magpies Press, an artist collective and small press, where he served as Creative Director of The Basement, a platform for critical conversations on culture. Arboleda has completed residencies and fellowships hosted by the Akademie Schloss Solitude, Asia-Europe Foundation, GlobalGRACE, Load Na Dito, Salzburg Global Seminar, and the EU’s Cultural Relations Platform, among others. His works have been exhibited in Nomina Nuda, Sining Makiling Gallery, MONO8 Gallery, and the Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He is a practicing artist, curator, and writer, and currently lives in San Pedro City, Laguna.

Olisana Mariner (she/her) is a Samoan Artist, Social Entrepreneur and Mental Health Advocate. Her life mission is to create solutions that make the democratisation of information and amplification of marginalised voices more effective. As a person living with EUPD and a caretaker to loved ones with ASD, ADD/ADHD, BP and CPTSD – Olisana aspires to create more equitable and inclusive environments for neurodiverse individuals in Pacific communities.

Born and raised in Samoa and hailing from the villages of Tulaele, Lalomanu, Sinamoga, Afega, Lano and Salelologa – with ancestors from the island of Niue and Kingdom of Tonga – Olisana is proud to be a Pacific Island woman.

In 2019, Olisana started her first business, THE HUB Pacific a hybrid events management company. Taking her lessons learned from incubation programs and international pitchfests she co-founded social enterprise, Onelook Studio, with her sister in 2021. Olisana serves as a minor shareholder of OSM Investments Limited; Founding Curator of the Apia Hub, Global Shapers Community (by the World Economic Forum); and Apia Hub Coordinator for the Pacific Connect program (run by ICDP and funded by the Government of Australia).

Using her skills in communication, international relations, and strategic thinking, Olisana brings the energy and vision to manage projects, lead teams and raise funds to meet community needs. As a Pacific Islander, she builds a strong sense of purpose and belonging into any team utilising empathy and social responsibility. Born and raised on a small island, Olisana also brings Samoan values such as resilience, adaptability and inclusion through talanoa to create customer-centric and/or community-led solutions.

When she’s not in a cafe sipping espressos, you can find her playing tabletop games with friends, potting plants, puzzling, and thrifting.

A post graduate from London International School of Performing Arts, Titas Dutta has been a practicing theatre maker and performer for more than a decade, working for National School of Drama Repertory Company, The Company Theatre, Shapeshift Collective and many more national and international theatre companies. She/they is a non-binary female theatre maker and arts manager based out of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Titas is trained in devising theatre techniques and mask derived acting practices proposed by the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq. She/ they has been performing extensively across Europe, Australia and  Asia for most of her performing career so far. With her/their interest in art business and entrepreneurship, as an arts manager Titas has worked as the creative programmer for TCT Workspace, Kamshet and as the Programmer of Performing Arts for Kolkata Centre for Creativity, Kolkata. She/They was instrumental to conceive, manage and tour the international touring devising theatre festival “Whilst Walking Touring Festival 2019” in India. She/they is one of the founder members of  the women and queer theatre collective ‘Birati Samuho Performer’s Collective’ (Samuho) that is founded in April 2019 in Kolkata, where her/their research on performativity of gender marginalised bodies in public/ performance space has been manifesting into live creations. She/they advocates for inclusive content and practice, accessibility of theatre for all, safe space for actors/ performers and self-sustenance of creative organisations in her/their creative practice. Parent of a seven month old baby, Titas has a knack for rock climbing, cooking and music.

Varsha is Co-Founder and Director of One All, a non profit that provides value education to youth through the self-refereed and mixed-gender sport of Ultimate Frisbee. One All works with schools and under-served communities in India. Varsha completed her Masters in Photojournalism from Boston University in 2010 and worked as a storyteller across sectors. She is merging her passion for storytelling into her work as a sport facilitator to showcase stories of strength to the world. She believes that the power of this sport can bring people together and help build a better future – and to achieve that, all we need to do is show the world what is possible. She currently lives in the Nilgiri Hills, working with the indigenous tribes of the region.

Ananth holds a PhD in Human Geography specialising in socio-ecological adaptation. He has taught at the Universities of Wollongong and Melbourne and is an active researcher. Ananth has worked as an actor in Australia, New Zealand and the UK for the last 15 years and is an associate artist at Melbourne Playback Theatre Company. Ananth was trained by Marty Linksy and Ron Heifetz at Harvard Kennedy School in the Adaptive Leadership approach. He holds a Cert IV in adult education (TAE), BA (Hons) and a Diploma in Spanish language.

Tom has a background in journalism and politics. He has trained at the Harvard Kennedy School with Marty Linksy and Ron Heifetz and holds an Advanced Diploma of Facilitation from the Groupwork Institute. His work with Polykala has included supporting the renegotiation of the Regional Forestry Agreements; delivering adaptive leadership training to LGAs in Victoria and the Northern Territory and a range of Universities and NFPs. He holds at Cert IV in adult education (TAE), a BA (Uni Melb) and is pursuing graduate study in Psychology.

Arts Leaders Program

A personal and professional development opportunity for mid-career to established arts leaders.

2019 Arts Leaders Residential 2, Indonesia, visiting Papermoon Puppet Theatre. No credit required

The Arts Leaders Program was a personal and professional development opportunity for mid-career to established arts leaders with over ten years’ experience in the sector.

The program was delivered over 12-months and involved three interconnected residentials that took place in-person and digitally, with online learning moments in between. Participants in the program joined a cohort of mid-career and established arts leaders working within organisations, independently or in community.

Through facilitated discussion, knowledge exchanges, workshops and on Country learning with First Nations Elders, participants collectively explored the current challenges and opportunities presented within the creative industry.

Participants of the Arts Leaders Program joined an alumni network of over 250 national and international leaders from across the Indo-Pacific following the formal conclusion of their program. Find out more about the Leadership Program alumni here.

Brett Adlington has worked in the public gallery sector for over 25 years. His previous curatorial roles include Perc Tucker Regional Gallery; Lake Macquarie City Art; and Gold Coast City Art Gallery (now HoTA). He was director of Lismore Regional Gallery for 11 years, where he oversaw a major redevelopment resulting in a 300% increase in visitation. He is currently CEO of Museums & Galleries of NSW.

Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie/Koori poet and the author of Dropbear (UQP, 2021), which was shortlisted for the Queensland Poetry Awards and the Victorian Premiers Literary Award. She is the co-editor of Overland Literary Journal and a lecturer in literary studies at the University of Deakin.

Bethany Ashley-Ward is a Māori (Uenuku Tuwharetoa) woman from Otaki, New Zealand and Adelaide, South Australia. Bethany’s arts career began as a practicing visual artist. Her formal education includes a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), Cert 4 in Project Management, Cert 3 in Business Administration, Cert 2 in Government and an Arts Administration Traineeship.

Bethany’s professional career includes roles such as: Manager – Arts Programs; Funding Program Coordinator; Project Officer – Arts and Education; Project Officer – Cargo (A Regional Artists in Schools Initiative); Project Officer – Off the Couch Contemporary Music Program; Workshop Tutor/Facilitator Womadelaide; Arts Programs Officer – Country Arts SA; and Project Coordinator – The Port Festival.

Bethany has exhibited in various solo and group exhibitions since 2002 and currently works as Manager, Arts Programs at Carclew, with a focus on managing arts and cultural projects, working behind and alongside Aboriginal leadership and communities to create opportunities for Aboriginal artists and young people across South Australia. Bethany hopes to further her work through international cross-cultural collaborations between Aboriginal and Māori Elders and artists, through arts and language revival projects and in her own visual arts practice in future.

Nina Bonacci

Nina Bonacci is a producer and arts manager with over 20 years’ experience. Her role as Head of Producing at ILBIJERRI involves leading, training and mentoring a team of emerging First Nations producers, and working on ILBIJERRI’s large scale and touring productions. Previously, Nina was Company Manager at Malthouse Theatre for several years, where she enjoyed working with some of Australia’s finest artists.

Prior to that she produced and toured contemporary Australian productions nationally and internationally while Associate Producer at Performing Lines, including Back to Back Theatre’s small metal objects and Stephen Sewell’s Three Furies. She has worked as an independent producer for many brilliant companies, including Sisters Grimm, Stuck Pigs Squealing, one step at a time like this and Angus Cerini.

Nina has also worked as a Producer at Melbourne International Comedy Festival; Festival Director for Mudfest – Melbourne University’s student arts festival; Producer at Keep Breathing; Administration and Development Coordinator at Arena Theatre Company; Marketing Manager at St Martin’s Youth Arts Centre; and as Publicist at Miranda Brown Publicity.

Nina is a frequent guest speaker for university and TAFE students; has been a board member for performing arts companies; and has sat on panels for Performing Lines, Next Wave, George Paton Gallery and the Sydney Opera House.

Amy Curl has worked in the arts and cultural industries for 20 years. An experienced creative producer and arts manager, her knowledge extends across the Australian contemporary music market with specific expertise in jazz and art-music genres compassing contemporary classical, experimental and multi-cultural music.

She is the current CEO and Executive Producer of the Sydney Improvised Music Association. As a creative producer, Amy has been instrumental in the development and export of intercultural Australian/West Bengali ensemble The Three Seas. She was central to the delivery of Sound Travellers, a national contemporary music touring initiative with Ceres Solutions and Performing Lines. She been the Executive Producer of the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival since 2012.

A passionate advocate for building capacity in the independent music sector, Amy provides support and services for self-managed artists, and acts as a mentor and advisor for in-bound and out-bound touring projects.

The former Deputy Editor of online publication Jazz Australia, Amy currently produces and presents Jazz Made in Australia, which is syndicated nationally to 40 stations across the Community Radio Network.

Danielle began her career as a Stage Manager and Production Manager touring Australia and internationally for festivals and companies such as Queensland Theatre; Melbourne Theatre Company; Brisbane Powerhouse, La Boite; Brisbane Festival; Queensland Performing Arts Trust; Queensland Music Festival; Sydney Fringe Festival; and Kooemba Jdarra. She was the resident Stage Manager of Queensland Ballet 1998 – 1999 and Opera Queensland 2003 – 2007.

In 2010 Danielle commenced working at Circa, moving into the Senior Producer role in 2011 and Executive Producer in 2021. Danielle has a broad role at Circa – she is responsible for Australian and New Zealand sales; delivering Circa’s national and international touring program which averages 400 shows in 15 countries per year; overseeing Engagement and producing Circa’s new creations with a current total of 44 during her time at Circa.

Danielle has been actively involved in the broader performing arts sector throughout her career, currently as a member of the Performing Arts Connections Australia and Regional Arts Australia National Touring Advisory Group.

Sim Luttin (she/her) is a Naarm, Melbourne based arts professional, producer, and curator. She has led the gallery and exhibition program at Arts Project Australia (APA) for 14 years, fostering innovative curatorial projects, including co-founding the AU/UK international platform Art et al..

As a mid-career arts leader, Sim brokers partnerships and collaborations between artists, curators, galleries and arts institutions, growing APA’s national and international profile via innovative exhibitions, projects, publications, art acquisitions, leasing, and image licensing programs. She has travelled extensively for work, representing APA and its artists at international forums in the US, UK, Europe, and New Zealand.

Formerly, Sim was a Supported Studio Network (SSN) steering group member and Craft Victoria vice-chair. She is currently a Public Galleries Association of Victoria (PGAV) board member, Melbourne University ‘Recentering Australian Art’ advisory group member, and Collingwood Yards tenant advisory group member. While working in the not-for-profit sector, Sim’s professional practice is also informed by her experience as a craftsperson and artist, having 20 years of experience as a contemporary international jeweller.

Sim is values-driven and passionate about working with neurodivergent artists; so that they are valued, exhibited, and meaningfully connected in contemporary art and culture ecologies.

Yolande Norris is a writer, producer and arts administrator based in the regional town of Braidwood, NSW.

A graduate of the Australian National University School of Art, she has worked with a range of arts organisations including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Contemporary Art Space and Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres.

Her work extends into festivals, including roles as co-director of This Is Not Art in Newcastle, and as a founding producer of You Are Here, an annual experimental and cross-arts festival in Canberra. As a producer and coordinator for community arts projects, Yolande has worked with leading arts and social change company Big hART, and for Girls Rock! Canberra – a music education and mentorship program for girls, trans and non-binary youth.

As a writer she has contributed memoir and poetry, as well as essays and commentary on arts practice, culture and social history, for a range of art books and publications, including Meanjin, Art Monthly, Overland and The Griffith Review.

Yolande currently works in art policy for artsACT, the ACT Government’s arts agency. She is a broadcaster and committee member for Braidwood Community Radio.

Ruth McMillan is an arts worker and artist based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, with over two decades of experience in the industry. She is currently coordinator of Tangentyere Artists, supporting the arts practice of over 100 Indigenous artists working across painting, printmaking, sculpture and ceramics. Prior to this appointment, Ruth was Coordinator of Ernabella Arts, in which she partnered with several arts organisations to develop projects across Singapore, China and throughout Australia including the touring exhibition, Clay Stories (2017-19).

Prior to her work on the APY Lands and in the Northern Territory, McMillan managed her own ceramics studio in Sydney, participating in several international residencies, exhibiting widely and having her work housed by MAGNT and private collections.

She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts [Honours], University of Sydney, alongside a Bachelor of Arts Communication, Newcastle University.

Tom Pritchard

Tom is a creative producer whose practice is informed by his decade-long experience as a performer.

While his career has been entwined with dance, Tom’s interests extend across theatre, circus and live art. His passion lies in facilitating both the development of new work and new ways of working.

He is currently based in Meanjin Brisbane as the Senior Producer at BlakDance, supporting the creation of new work by First Nations choreographers and nurturing emerging producers through its Producer Development Program.

Prior to this, he was Studio Program Producer at Lucy Guerin Inc in Naarm Melbourne, delivering programs for independent dance artists. These included the annual PIECES season, 2021 sector recovery initiative Back to Practice and the company’s five-year Disability Action Plan. He has also been a Tour Director for Circa.

Tom’s performance career included companies such as Scottish Dance Theatre, CoisCéim Dance Theatre and Company of Wolves, alongside a host of independent choreographers. His own creative practice spanned dance, theatre, playwriting and poetry. He also taught widely in the UK and Europe, specialising in multidisciplinary improvisation practices, and co-founded The Glasgow Jam. He is an alumnus of Trinity LABAN and the London Contemporary Dance School.

Natalie Rose is one third of the performance collective POST, Creative Director at Shopfront Arts Co-op, and has been involved in Australia’s Contemporary Arts scene for 22 years. Her work has been seen nationally and internationally including at Sydney Festival, Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Cambridge Junction (UK) and Sydney Opera House.

Most recently POST’s Oedipus Schmoedipus toured to Santiago Chile, West Kowloon Cultural Precinct Authority in Hong Kong and was to be showcased at Arts Centre Melbourne’s AsiaTOPA. POST’s acclaimed Ich Nibber Dibber also featured at Sydney Festival, Sydney Opera House and Malthouse Theatre. Nat has facilitated workshops for the past 22 years for young and emerging artists with and without disability.

Nat has a Bachelor of Arts (Theatre-making) from Western Sydney University and has trained at PACT and UTP. In 2021, she directed Tiny Universe, a co-production between Shopfront and Milk Crate Theatre and was commissioned by Performing Lines to begin development of a new work about Motherhood. In 2022, Nat will continue to develop her first solo work, direct Shopfront’s Harness Ensemble new work Where Shall We Meet? and devise a production with Young People from Shopfront and ATYP titled The Lies We Were Told.

Dunja Rmandić is a curator and writer interested in diasporas, audience engagement and arts’ and institutions’ modes of relevance in the 21st century. She is currently the Associate Curator Projects at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (since 2015), and was recently the Acting Curator International Art. Projects at AGWA include external partner projects and collection displays and acquisitions, with notable projects being ‘spaced 3: north by southeast’ (2017, with International Art Space), WA Now shows with Eveline Kotai, Tom Mùller and Teelah George (upcoming). Prior to AGWA, she was Curator of Collections at Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania (2013-2015).

In Melbourne and Sydney, she worked in a number of commercial and public galleries since graduating with Masters in Art Curatorship in 2007. She was on the board of Kings ARI for over three years and curated projects as an independent curator including ‘Forms of Deceit’, ‘Humming a New Diaspora’ and co-curated ‘Letters From the Field’ (Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin).

In March 2020 she guest-edited the issue of Art Monthly Australasia focusing on WA and has published catalogue essays and chapters including for AUSTRALIA: ANTIPODEAN STORIES (PAC Milan), My House Is Too Small Residency Project, Next Wave’s ‘Views From Here: 19 Perspectives on Feminism’ (Westspace), Kings ARI 10 Year publication, co-authored a chapter in Utopian Slumps: The Collingwood Years, as well as publishing reviews, catalogue essays, and giving conference papers.

Christine Scoggin

Christine is a visual storyteller, intercultural facilitator, researcher, and event producer with extensive experience working in consulting and the not-for-profit arts sector. Christine is currently employed by the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA as the Sector Capacity Building Project Manager. She is also a co-founder and co-producer for Half The Sky, a not-for-profit organisation that raises awareness of gender equity through arts and cultural events.

In 2020 Christine completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree at the Queensland University of Technology. Christine’s multidisciplinary research focused on developing a model for co-creative community engagement through sharing the stories of the research participants. The research participants were a group of highly marginalised South Africans who engage in a building practice that uses repurposed waste materials, integrated within traditional mudbrick building techniques, to provide inexpensive, climate-appropriate, shack-replacement shelter. The research outputs included a suite of first-person video narratives which were the centrepiece of an exhibition in the South African Free State Arts Festival.

Christine has also worked extensively with First Nations Australians as the founding CEO of the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of WA, and in land management and economic development with the National Native Title Tribunal and the Central Land Council.

José Da Silva has more than twenty years of curatorial and management experience in art museums and public sector environments. Since 2018 he has been the Director of UNSW Galleries, one of Australia’s leading university art museums.

Previously he led the Australian Cinémathèque – an international market leader for the presentation of moving-image and media art – and between 2006 and 2018 contributed to an ambitious program of exhibitions and projects at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, including five editions of the ‘Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’.

Key curatorial projects include: ‘Jacobus Capone: Orisons’ (2022), ‘Sam Smith: Capture’ (2021), ‘The Colour Line: W. E. B Du Bois and Archie Moore’ (2021), ‘Friendship as a Way of Life’ (2020, with Kelly Doley), ‘Wansolwara: One Salt Water (2020, with Mikala Tai), ‘Gemma Smith: Rhythm Sequence’ (2019), ‘David Lynch: Between Two Worlds’ (2015), and ‘Earth and Elsewhere’ (2013).

Mark Smith

Mark started out as a drummer in Darwin bands Drum Drum and Culture Connect. He later became manager of both groups, taking Drum Drum on a tour to over 13 countries, whilst Culture Connect received national attention through triple j and Channel V.

Mark later took on management of Darwin duo Sietta – the group achieving significant national impact with their first album, securing partnerships with Elefant Traks, Universal Publishing and New World Artists/Artist Voice.

Mark has been the Executive Director of MusicNT for the past ten years and, in that time, has grown the organisation’s internal capacity by initiating and supporting programs to deliver clear and sustainable outcomes for the NT music industry. Mark has high-level project management and governance experience, and holds a Bachelor of Business.

Dr. Riona Tindal is a creative, passionate conservationist and artist who completed her PhD in 2016. Riona expanded her career, founding her consulting business Deaf Arts Space Australia in 2020.

Sharing her time between her new home base in Brisbane, Hunter Region, Sydney and Northern NSW, she is a passionate advocate for inclusive and arts culture for diversity of deaf, Deaf, deaf+ and hoh artists. Having worked in Accessible Arts which was the foundation for her diverse roles as an advocate, presented in the Creative Connections – Council for the Arts and Deaf Consultant – Deaf Arts Space and a part of the highly successful Flow Australia team, the first Deaf led festival for the diverse deaf.

A Sync Leadership alumnus, she is currently working in a role where the diverse deaf/hoh are given higher tertiary educational inclusion and access. Riona, born Deaf, grew up surrounded by nature and takes inspiration from the environment in her creative practice. Scientific illustration is just one of many skills that Riona has, as a multi-disciplinary artist. Deafness is not a main identifying part of her, nor is it a defining disability for Riona, but rather an aspect of a multifaceted part of her being.

Grace Vanilau

Grace Vanilau is an Aotearoa-born Samoan woman, residing and working on the sacred lands of the great Kulin Nations for 25 years. A Community Arts and Cultural Development practitioner, cultural producer, and Interdisciplinary artist, she morphs across disciplines as a weaver, singer-songwriter, performance poet, and writer and has traveled internationally doing what she loves. More importantly, she is a mama of three and nana of one – juggling has become an integral part of her daily performance act.

She has been active in the Moana Oceania arts sector for the past 30 years both in Aotearoa and Australia and draws on her networks to bring together people who are passionate about contributing to the transference, evolution and transmission of arts and cultural heritage. Producing, delivering, and strongly advocating for culturally responsive and nuanced arts programs and projects for Pacific diaspora communities, as well as creating spaces for respectful intercultural dialogue and exchange.

She is passionate about supporting artists and communities of colour to take agency of their own and their respective communities’ creative and cultural development. She strongly believes in the power of creativity to heal the world.

Adam Wheeler

Adam is a Tasmanian born, Stompin and Victorian College of the Arts Alumni.

Adam has performed for Chunky Move, Jo Lloyd, Circa Nica, 2NDTOE and Opera Australia.

Adam made work for Lucy Guerin Inc (Pieces for Small Spaces), Stompin, QL2, Steps Youth Dance Company, fLing Physical Theatre, Tasdance and Chunky Move.

As an Artistic Director he founded Yellow Wheel and 2NDTOE. He has also led the Australia Youth Dance Festival in 2014 and 2017, The Space School of Performance Arts, Short+Sweet Dance and is currently the Artistic Director/CEO of Tasdance.

Adam is curious about interdisciplinary making, providing pathways for artists to develop practice, and getting the community moving – all from his regional home of lutruwita/Tasmania.

Jess White

Jessica White is an author, academic and editor living on Kaurna Country, Adelaide. Her first novel A Curious Intimacy (2007) won a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist Award, was shortlisted for the Dobbie and Western Australian Premier’s Awards, and longlisted for the international Dublin Literary Award. It was followed by her second novel, Entitlement (2012). In 2019 she published a hybrid memoir about deafness, Hearing Maud (2019), which won the 2020 Michael Crouch Award for a debut work of biography and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, the National Biography Award, the Courier-Mail People’s Choice Award and the Queensland Premier’s Awards for a Work of State Significance.

Jessica’s short fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction have been published in Australian and international literary magazines. She has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Pacific Region) and the Australian Book Review’s Calibre Prize. In 2020-2021 she was a Juncture fellow for the Sydney Review of Books. Jessica has received funding from Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts and has undertaken residencies in Hobart, Rome and Munich. Together with Dr Amanda Niehaus, Jessica edits Science Write Now, a journal of creative writing inspired by science.

Rashmi Dhanwani

Rashmi Dhanwani leads the Art X Company, a strategic consultancy for the cultural sector focused on strategy, audience development and sector research. Prior to founding Art X, Rashmi has worked with NCPA Mumbai, Breakthrough in Delhi, the newspaper Daily News and Analysis (DNA); Kalaghoda Arts Festival, and The Goa Project. She holds a Masters in Cultural and Creative Industries from King’s College London.

She has also been a recipient of the ARThink South Asia Fellowship (2011-12), a participant fellow at ‘The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute’, a scholarship grantee of the JN Tata Trust and Charles Wallace India Trust, and a 2017 Global Fellow of the International Society for Performing Arts (ISPA), New York.

Rashmi has also founded Arts Culture Resources India, a network and platform for cultural professionals in India and South Asia. In 2021, the Art X Company was awarded a grant by the British Council to design and develop festivalsfromindia.com, a portal showcasing all arts and culture festivals in India and a platform for festival professionals to learn, network and upskill themselves. Rashmi is the cofounder of this portal.

Cathy Lasam

Cathy Lasam is an artist, educator and advocate. She is the founder of ARTguro Philippines, an initiative that engages, empowers and inspires teachers towards lasting positive change in the Philippine education system with the arts.

She is also currently a principal at one of the leading arts & design schools in the Philippines. She serves as both a school leader and visual arts teacher. A multi-awarded cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines, Cathy has exhibited her paintings and paper sculptures here and abroad. As a practicing artist, Cathy’s background has proven invaluable in the field of education. Lasam had taught and mentored students of all ages spanning a teaching career of nearly twenty years.

Aside from her art career, Cathy is a licensed professional teacher and was President of Artists in Residence, Inc., an art company which provided arts, education and mentoring from corporate to charity, to outreach settings.

Cathy’s paperworks and paintings have been spotlighted in several exhibitions of note, including solo shows at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, NCCA Gallery and One Workshop Gallery. Her current works focus on Filipino culture and identity and has been featured in various broadcast, print and online publications.

Ace Lê

Ace Lê is an independent art researcher and curator specialising in Vietnamese art. He is the Founding Director of Lân Tinh Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the archival of and research on Vietnamese contemporary and modern art.

He is also the Chief Editor at Art Republik Vietnam magazine, and a co-founding member of the curatorial collective Of Limits – a recipient of the Platform Projects 2020 Curatorial Award by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore.

An ASEAN Scholar, Ace holds an MA in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practices, a Master in Media and Communication from Nanyang Technological University, and a BBA (Hons) from National University of Singapore.

Sakdiyah Ma'ruf

Sakdiyah is Indonesia’s First Muslim Female Stand-up Comic using humour to fight violence against women and extremism, tackle negative stereotypes about women and Islam, and promote dialogue, tolerance, and gender equality.

Her works including Comedy Jihad, Born A Woman, etc., The Bravest Coward, and Indonesia is (supposed) to be Home for All. She is the co-founder and lead facilitator of “Our Voice Comedy for Change”, a women and youth initiative to promote social change through comedy.

She has trained participants from various communities and organisations from more than 10 provinces in Indonesia and collaborated with various organizations including UN WOMEN and UNFPA for Comedy for Equality workshop. Sakdiyah is one of the laureates of the Vaclav Havel International Prize in 2015, one of the BBC 100 Women in 2018, one of the BBC’s 12 Artists That Changed the World in 2019.

She has led her career for more than seven years and has performed at home in Indonesia and abroad including Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Egypt.

Eunike Nugroho

Eunike Nugroho is a botanical artist and tutor based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She is a fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) and the founder of the Indonesian Society of Botanical Artists (IDSBA).

She collaborates with various clients around the world to deliver botanical art to a wider audience. Some of her works were published as Canada Post’s 2018 Spring series stamps, book covers by Penguin Random House, Penguin Press, Harlequin, Rowohlt Verlag, article illustrations by Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Technologist scientific magazine, National Geographic Indonesia, and various promotion materials of Shiseido, Avon USA, Codorníu, etc.

Her works were exhibited in the UK, USA, Australia, Bulgaria, Russia, Malaysia and several cities in Indonesia, including in the Indonesian Contemporary Fine Arts Biennale Exhibition by The National Gallery of Indonesia, 2019; the Southeast Asia Watercolor Exhibition 2020 at The National Art Gallery-Malaysia; The Fourth New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition, 2020-2023; and Biennale Jogja XVI, 2021. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, USA; The Victorian State Botanical Collection, Australia; and the Florilegium for The Royal Edinburgh Botanic Garden in Scotland.

Tenma Rubin

Tenma is an artist, composer and curator based out of Chennai, India. He is best known for his contribution to the city’s independent music scene. With an educational background in visual communication from Loyola College (2008) and a Masters Diploma in Music Production from Point Blank, London (2011), he has been deeply invested in the upliftment and development of artists.

He has co-founded two iconic bands that revolutionized the music scene – the Casteless Collective with film director Pa. Ranjith, and the Tamil rock band, Kurangan. Simultaneously, he built two important platforms for indie artists – the Madras Indie Collective, a platform for local artists to present themselves, and Madras Medai, a music festival which celebrates equality through music.

As a music composer, Tenma’s tryst with the Tamil film industry started in 2019, with his first album receiving critical acclaim for the film Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu. Tenma has since composed music for various films and indie projects. His upcoming project is the highly anticipated film Natchathiram Nagargiradu set to be launched in 2022.

Levina Wirawan

Levina (Lev) Wirawan is an international arts manager and producer, specialising in artistic collaborations, festivals, and capacity building in the arts. Lev’s worked in the arts for 10 years, operating across multiple art forms – connecting ideas, people, and projects from UK, Indonesia and several South East Asian countries, Japan, and wider Europe.

She has more than five years’ experience in inclusive arts with a focus on disability arts and is currently expanding her work on arts and environmental sustainability. Her role as Programme Manager (Cultural Engagement/Arts) for British Council included leading and managing more than 30 inclusive arts projects and initiatives, notably the ground-breaking Festival Bebas Batas – Indonesia’s first disability arts festival, involving over 100 artists and welcoming over 20,000 people in 2018.

She also develops and manages residency programmes, brokering new partnerships and co-productions between Indonesia and the UK arts sector. She enjoys yoga, cooking (and eating) plant-based food, and learning about East Asian traditional and popular culture.

Wesley Enoch by Darren Thomas

Wesley Enoch has written and directed iconic Indigenous productions The 7 Stages Of Grieving, Black Medea and The Story Of The Miracles at Cookie’s Table. He has directed productions of The Sapphires, Black Diggers, I Am Eora, The Man From Mukinupin, Yibiyung, Parramatta Girls, Black Cockatoo and Appropriate. He was the Artistic Director of the Sydney Festival from 2017 to 2020 and was previously the Artistic Director at Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts and the Ilbijerri Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative. Wesley’s other residencies include Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company; Associate Artistic Director at Belvoir Street Theatre; the 2002 Australia Council Cite Internationale des Arts Residency in Paris and the Australia Council Artistic Director for the Australian Delegation to the 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts. He was creative consultant, segment director and indigenous consultant for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Wesley is currently serving as the QUT Indigenous Chair of Creative Industries. 

Angharad Wynne-Jones headshot

Angharad Wynne-Jones (she/her) is Cymry (Welsh) Australian and lives on the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation in Narrm (Melbourne). She is currently Head of Audience Engagement at the State Library Victoria, leading a team of producers, programmers and curators to create large scale exhibitions, public programs and events, business entrepreneurship support and education programs.

Previously she was Head of Creative Engagement at Arts Centre Melbourne and from 2011-2017 she was Artistic Director at Arts House, City of Melbourne, contemporary arts production house and program, where she initiated Australia’s first international biennial Festival of Live Art, Green Room award winning Going Nowhere, an environmentally sustainable international arts event, and Refuge – a five year publicly engaged investigation into the role of cultural institutions in climate catastrophes.

She was Founder Director of TippingPoint Australia (2010-2019) developing international and local projects with artists, scientists and communities energising the cultural response to climate change, and co-designed and delivered NIDA’s MFA Cultural Leadership course 2015-2018. She is a member of the Centre for Reworlding collective established by Jen Rae and Claire Coleman.

Veronica Pardo

Veronica Pardo has been leading the work on cultural equity in Australia for more than 20 years, heading peak organisations such as Arts Access Victoria and Multicultural Arts Victoria, as champions of change in the arts towards greater equity and justice.

She is a highly regarded leader, sought after by institutions to guide the development of interventions aimed at changing organisational culture, structure and practice. She is an experienced workshop facilitator who brings both lived and professional experience of diversity to the creation of culturally safe learning and reflection spaces.

Her understanding of organisational needs and priorities ensures that this work is both aspirational and practical, leading to meaningful and implementable plans for change.

Veronica has trained over 150 cultural organisations focusing on issues such as racial equity and justice, cultural safety, diversity and inclusion. Veronica is a woman of colour and first generation migrant from Uruguay. Veronica is Chair of Western Edge Youth Arts and a board member of Collingwood Yards.