Nine winners have been recognised for their contributions to Australia’s performing arts sector at the 2026 PAC Australia IMPACT Awards.
The winners were announced on 9 September at The West End Electric in Brisbane, as part of the Australian Performing Arts Exchange, a national gathering for performing arts workers.
The annual awards recognise leadership and excellence in the performing arts, with a particular focus on impact within communities and the broader sector.
IMPACT Awards winners – quick links
Arts on Tour takes out top honour
Arts on Tour received the highest honour, the Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award, which recognises exceptional and longstanding contributions to the live performance sector.
Arts on Tour is one of Australia’s major performing arts touring service organisations and the peak body for touring in NSW. It was recognised for its sector leadership and work addressing challenges facing touring companies and presenters.
Its initiatives have included programs focused on mental wellbeing, sustainable touring, tour readiness, workforce and skills development and community engagement, as well as market development platforms including Salon and Backroads.
PAC Australia Executive Director Katherine Connor said: ‘Arts on Tour is an organisation which doesn’t shy away from challenges, constantly seeks to improve the conditions within the sector, and understands that lasting change is built through partnership and collaboration.’
Frankston Arts Centre named Performing Arts Centre of the Year
The 2026 Performing Arts Centre of the Year Award went to Frankston Arts Centre, recognising its focus on inclusion, accessibility and community connection.
The Victorian venue has extended its work beyond its building into schools, health settings and public spaces, while investing in artists and creative development and creating pathways for local practitioners.
‘Frankston Arts Centre is a fitting winner of Performing Arts Centre of the Year,’ said Connor.
‘Their commitment to inclusion and accessibility has made the venue a genuine place of belonging, while their work in schools, health settings and public spaces shows how a performing arts centre meaningfully embeds the arts in community life. They have also invested consistently in local artists, creating real pathways for creative development. This award reflects the strength of their approach to building relationships with audiences.’
Hobart’s Theatre Royal recognised for First Nations collaboration
Theatre Royal, Hobart was named the winner of the 2026 Innovator Award for tunapri kani (Speaking Knowledge), an initiative that embeds Palawa/Tasmanian Aboriginal cultural knowledge within the institution.
The Acknowledgement Project is the only known initiative of its kind in Australia. The recorded work is played before performances at Theatre Royal venues, with a royalty payment made each time to a community-managed fund supporting Palawa/Tasmanian Aboriginal artists.
The award also recognises the project’s collaboration with Palawa Elder Uncle Jim Everett – puralia meenamatta and cultural leader Sinsa Mansell, as well as its ongoing royalty trust recognising First Nations intellectual property.
IMPACT Awards celebrate reach and community connection
Five further IMPACT Awards recognised projects and individuals making significant contributions across the sector.
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company was recognised for BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS, its rock ‘n’ roll theatre work celebrating the remarkable story of Sammy Tjapanangka Butcher, a founding member of the iconic Warumpi Band. ArtsHub’s five-star review praises the production for its ‘incredible sense of authenticity’, noting that it feels ‘like being at an actual rock concert’.
The award acknowledges the production’s reach beyond conventional theatre venues, including performances in prisons and a Bush Tour that travelled to communities including Alice Springs, Barunga, Gulkula, Townsville and Canberra.
GUTS Dance Central Australia received an award for its contribution to arts and culture in Central Australia over the past eight years. The small organisation based out of Mparntwe/Alice Springs has provided dance opportunities for thousands of young people while maintaining a commitment to fair remuneration for artists.
Producer and arts leader Harley Stumm was recognised for a career championing independent artists and companies, creating touring pathways and mentoring emerging producers. His career has included work with Utp (formerly known as Urban Theatre Projects), Performing Lines and Intimate Spectacle, which he founded in 2012.
Virginia Winter, from Portland Arts Centre on Victoria’s southwest coast, received an award for her leadership and for creating Oceanside Pride, Portland’s first Pride event. PAC Australia recognised her work building culturally safe connections within Portland’s LGBTQIA+ and First Nations communities.
Another IMPACT Award went to ROOKE and the Tasmanian Performing Arts Centres Network – comprising Hobart’s Theatre Royal, Theatre North, Paranaple Arts Centre and Burnie Arts – for Circus Across Tasmania.
The collaborative touring initiative brought contemporary circus to small-town Tasmania, with the participating venues developing a shared touring strategy designed to reduce financial and geographic barriers while creating more sustainable employment opportunities for artists.
Fiona Winning receives posthumous honour
PAC Australia also bestowed a posthumous IMPACT Award to arts leader Fiona Winning, recognising a career spanning more than four decades.
This award honours Winning as an arts leader whose influence shaped contemporary performance in Australia for more than four decades, and whose work inspired and mentored a generation of cultural leaders who continue to carry her values forward.
Winning worked with creative organisations across Australia. She led Urban Theatre Projects (now Utp) as Artistic Director, moving the organisation to Western Sydney in 1990, before becoming Director of Performance Space, where she oversaw its transition to Carriageworks and launched LiveWorks Festival. She later worked as Head of Programming at Sydney Festival and subsequently at Sydney Opera House, and helped establish NIDA’s Master of Fine Arts (Cultural Leadership).
Connor congratulated all the winners, saying their work reflected ‘genuine leadership, new thinking and lasting impact’ across Australian communities.
