Regional Arts Development Organisations protest NSW funding changes

Three regional arts development organisations have lost out on four-year Create NSW funding, putting their programs and activities at risk.
Three women with their backs to the camera admire a colourful mural, an emample of work supported by Regional Arts Development Orgsnisations in NSW.

A regional arts organisation supporting hundreds of artists on the South Coast of NSW is speaking out after being disadvantaged by recent funding changes at Create NSW – nor is it alone.

South Coast Arts is one of 15 Regional Arts Development Organisations (RADOs) in NSW which, collectively, directly support their regions’ artists – across all creative practices – via a range of cultural development programs. The newest RADO in the network, South Coast Arts covers the local government areas of Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven, and supports artists living in and around the likes of Berry, Gerringong, Gerroa, Jamberoo, Kiama, Nowra, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Ulladulla and Werri Beach.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts