Arts sector appointments: quick links
New advisory group will champion Equity in the arts
The Albanese Labor Government has appointed the first members to the Implementation Advisory Group supporting Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan (Equity).
The group is made up of 13 d/Deaf and disabled artists and arts workers who bring a broad range of experience from across the arts, screen, digital games and cultural sectors.
Members represent every State and Territory and include a mix of emerging leaders, established professionals, experienced advocates and agents for change, reflecting the diversity of the Australian Arts and Disability sector.
The group will ensure people with disability are a core part of implementing, monitoring and evaluating the key activities bringing Equity to life.
The 13 members of the Implementation Advisory Group for 2025-26 are:
- Mr Adrian Robertson (NT);
- Ade Djajamihardja (VIC);
- Stephanie Dower (QLD);
- Catherine Dunn (QLD);
- Gia Hilditch (WA);
- Debra Keenahan (NSW);
- Geoffrey Lim (VIC);
- Meg Riley (SA);
- Elise Romaszko (TAS);
- Cara-Ann Simpson (QLD);
- Hannah Lee Tungate (WA);
- Daniel Aylett (ACT – Observer Member), and,
- Georgia Scott (NSW – Observer Member).
The group will come together for their first meeting in early September 2025.
Minister for the Arts Tony Burke said it was important that people with disability from a range of backgrounds are closely involved with the implementation of Equity.
“We want Australia’s arts cultural, screen and digital games sectors to reflect our diverse communities,’ he said.
‘Equity sets our roadmap for change. This group will now lend their expertise to this work so that artists and arts workers with disability can participate equitably and build lasting careers.
‘Thank you to all artists and arts workers who applied. The significant interest from across the sector sends a strong message on the appetite for progress and need for change outlined in Equity.’
Special Envoy for the Arts, Susan Templeman said this is a significant move towards a great represented arts sector.
‘The implementation of Equity is a crucial step towards a more inclusive and diverse arts sector in Australia,’ Templeman said.
‘This plan was developed in partnership with people with disability and its delivery will be guided by their insight.
‘The appointees to the Implementation Advisory Group bring extraordinary depth of knowledge and diversity of experience to this important task,’ she concluded.
Equity is an important action under Australia’s National Cultural Policy, Revive and is an Associated Plan under Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031.
Griffin Theatre Company appoints new Literary Associate
Griffin Theatre Company, which is currently rebuilding its landmark SBW Stables Theatre in Darlinghurst, has appointed Daley Rangi as the company’s new Literary Associate.
‘Daley is a Te Ātiawa Māori artist and arts worker, a powerhouse of creativity and advocacy. They work across storytelling forms, and their playwriting has been recognised with multiple Griffin Award shortlistings. Daley has also significantly contributed to the sector through roles with Next Wave, Sydney Theatre Company, The Blue Room Theatre, AWESOME Arts, and Creative Australia,’ a Griffin spokesperson said.
‘Starting [this] week, Daley will be diving into Griffin’s artistic programs – supporting playwrights, nurturing new work, and expanding their own dramaturgical practice. This role is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Robertson Foundation and the Malcolm Robertson Foundation.
‘We’re looking ahead with confidence to a future that’s bright, bold, and brimming with creativity.
Join us in giving Daley a warm welcome!’ the statement concluded.
100 Story Building appoints new Creative Programs Manager
100 Story Building, a social enterprise developing creativity and literacy for children and young people, has appointed Magenta Sheridan as its new Creative Programs Manager – a newly created leadership role designed to grow and diversify the organisation’s programs.
Sheridan brings over a decade of experience across the arts, education and literary sectors. She has also held senior leadership roles with Going Down Swinging and Next Wave and most recently was the CEO of Express Media. At Express Media, she oversaw flagship initiatives such as Voiceworks magazine and the Toolkits national program for emerging writers, supporting hundreds of young people to develop their creative voices. Her background includes producing live and digital events, managing strategic partnerships and mentoring early-career writers and editors.
Sheridan’s commitment to diversity, accessibility and inclusion has been a hallmark of her career. She has facilitated creative writing workshops for programs such as the Hachette Australia Young Writers Prize and the State Library Victoria Story Camp, and was awarded the Melbourne Writers Festival Creative Writing Prize in 2016.
Under the strategic vision of Lena Cirillo, the CEO, Sheridan will lead the design and delivery of 100 Story Building’s creative programs, including flagship initiatives such as Story Hubs and Early Harvest. She will also co-design new opportunities with communities, schools and partners.
Lena Cirillo, CEO of 100 Story Building, said: ‘We are thrilled to welcome Magenta to 100 Story Building at such a pivotal time. Her wealth of experience and her commitment to centring young people’s voices will help us expand and enrich our programs in line with our strategic vision. This new role reflects our intention to grow and diversify our creative work, ensuring children and young people from all backgrounds have the chance to share their stories and thrive.’
Sheridan said she is excited to bring a kind, curious and accessible approach to the role: ‘100 Story Building has long been a beacon for young people’s creativity. I’m looking forward to building on this legacy and working alongside the community to create new opportunities that foster imagination, storytelling and belonging.’
Malthouse Theatre announces new Artistic Director
Malthouse Theatre has appointed Dean Bryant as its next Artistic Director, marking a new era for one of the country’s most influential centres of contemporary performance.
Bryant’s career is marked by extraordinary range – from new plays to musicals, opera to cabaret, satire to documentary theatre – with a talent for creating work that’s theatrically bold, culturally resonant and emotionally charged. His arrival signals a programming philosophy that values risk, rigour and fun in equal measure.
From the outset, Bryant is clear-eyed and energised: ‘Malthouse gets to be the naughty one,’ he says. ‘The company that pushes boundaries, invites new audiences in, and throws a party while doing it. That’s its legacy and its future. Melbourne needs a Malthouse that’s thriving.’
Described by The Guardian as ‘one of Australia’s greatest directors,’ Bryant steps into the role at a pivotal moment. In a city with just two mainstage companies, Malthouse occupies a vital space – a home for theatrical risk, irreverence and artistic inventiveness. Bryant’s appointment affirms the company’s belief that expanding audiences doesn’t require softening edges, but rather sharpening what makes Malthouse distinct.
‘The goal isn’t just growth. It’s hunger. Risk. Joy,’ he says. ‘You can feel it when a show catches fire, word of mouth surges, a foyer buzzes, and people leave the theatre changed. That’s the alchemy I want to chase.’
It’s a sensibility forged over decades. Raised on a dairy farm in regional Victoria, Bryant moved to Melbourne to study law but found his calling in the rehearsal room. Since then, he has carved out one of the most versatile and decorated careers in the country – five Green Room Awards, three Sydney Theatre Awards, a Helpmann Award, and a CV that spans Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, State Theatre Company South Australia, Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, Sydney Festival and New York Musical Theatre Festival.
His recent run – from Candide to Circle Mirror Transformation, Dear Evan Hansen to The Normal Heart, La Bohème, Hubris & Humiliation, and the multi-award-winning My Brilliant Career, which he co-wrote with Sheridan Harbridge and Mathew Frank for Melbourne Theatre Company – underscores that Malthouse is appointing a director operating at full creative velocity, with both proven reach and sharp cultural relevance. And yet, it’s his instinct for the new that defines his vision for Malthouse.
‘Malthouse has always been the place for work that crackles with now-ness,’ Bryant says. ‘Theatre that surprises you, unsettles you, seduces you. I want every show to feel like an event.’
With a deep respect for the company’s history – from Aubrey Mellor’s literary foundation to Michael Kantor’s visual flair, Marion Potts’ storytelling plurality, and Matt Lutton’s imaginative reach – Bryant sees his own vision as evolutionary rather than oppositional.
His programming pillars? ‘Ideas that electrify. Craft that dazzles. Humanity that moves. Theatre that knows it’s theatre and uses that to conjure something our screens never can.’
Bryant’s appointment follows an extensive recruitment process – his predecessor, Matthew Lutton, started in his new role at Adelaide Festival in early March, meaning that the Malthouse has been without an Artistic Director for six months – and arrives at a moment when the company is poised to play a leading role in the transformation of the Melbourne Arts Precinct.
Vivia Hickman, Malthouse Theatre Co-CEO and Executive Producer, said: ‘Dean’s appointment is a defining moment for Malthouse. His energy, intelligence and relentless curiosity are exactly what the company, and our audiences, need as we enter this next chapter. He understands the artform, the industry, and the cultural moment we’re in.’
Dean Bryant will officially commence as Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Malthouse Theatre in October 2025.
New appointees join the ACCA Board
Dr Terry Wu, Chair of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) last week announced that internationally renowned Australian artist Patricia Piccinini and arts advocate Dr Theresia Spencer have joined the ACCA Board.
Patricia Piccinini is one of Australia’s best-known and globally celebrated artists. Currently Professor of Practice at RMIT University, Piccinini represented Australia at the 2003 Venice Biennale, and her work is held in all leading Australian and many international collecting institutions. Most recently, in June 2021, Piccinini’s hyper-realist sculptures of surreal hybrid animals and vehicular creatures enthralled visitors to the abandoned ballroom above Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station with the exhibition A Miracle Constantly Repeated.
Piccinini has a long history of association with ACCA. Her first major survey exhibition, Retrospectology: The World According to Patricia Piccinini, was the second exhibition to be shown in ACCA’s Southbank premises in 2002, and in 2013, her much-loved hot-air balloon Skywhale, commissioned for the Centenary of Canberra, was tethered to the ACCA Forecourt.
Read: Where to see Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhales in 2025
‘ACCA is an incredibly important space in Melbourne’s contemporary art scene, and I feel honoured to be able to contribute in any way I can,’ Piccinini said.
Dr Theresia Spencer is a Melbourne-based arts philanthropist, deeply committed to supporting cultural institutions and artistic practice, and an Australian Ambassador for the Venice Biennale. She holds a Doctor of Clinical Dentistry degree (Orthodontics) and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. Spencer is a spokesperson for the Australian Society of Orthodontists and is an international lecturer for Invisalign.
Spencer said: ‘I am excited to work with Terry and the ACCA Board to help ACCA continue to provide such a vital platform and forum for emerging and established artists, and a space where they have the freedom to take risks, such that audiences have the opportunity to be challenged, surprised and inspired.’
Wu said of the new Board appointments: ‘Patricia and Theresia bring diverse expertise to the ACCA Board. Patricia’s experience as an artist who has exhibited at major institutions worldwide is unmatched, and her connections and perspective will enrich our work as an institution focused on supporting artists to do their best and boldest work. She has a long history of involvement with ACCA, as both an artist and an audience member, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the Board.
‘Theresia is a dedicated and passionate arts advocate who supports the arts because she believes in its power to shape communities and to change the way we see the world. I look forward to working closely with Theresia to consolidate support for ACCA and expand ACCA’s delivery across exhibitions and ground-breaking education programs.
‘Supporting artists to take risks is at the heart of everything we do, and Theresia and Patricia are invaluable additions to the ACCA Board, joining in a period of renewal and heightened activity, with a vibrant forward program under new Artistic Director and CEO Myles Russell Cook and ambitious plans for ACCA’s future,’ he said.
Patricia Piccinini and Theresia Spencer join existing ACCA Board members Charlotte Day, Lisa Fox, Sarah Lynn Rees, Andrew Taylor, John Tuck and Gordon Thomson.
Fresh leadership for Vivid Sydney
The Minns Labor Government has appointed renowned arts leader Brett Sheehy AO as Festival Director of Vivid Sydney, Australia’s largest event and the Southern Hemisphere’s leading multi-artform festival.
With a career spanning more than two decades, Sheehy has led four of Australia’s premier arts organisations, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Melbourne Festival and Melbourne Theatre Company, delivering transformative growth, international acclaim and lasting legacies at each.
Under his leadership, works he programmed received 117 Helpmann Award nominations (24 wins) and 186 Green Room Award nominations (35 wins).
In 2024, he was appointed to reset the Adelaide Festival, where in just eight months he reversed a seven-figure deficit and delivered both critical acclaim and a strong surplus.
Widely recognised as one of the nation’s most influential arts leaders, Sheehy has been named among The Australian Financial Review’s ‘20 Australians to Watch’ and as one of the country’s most influential arts figures by both AFR and Limelight.
In 2012, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the performing and visual arts, international artistic exchange and mentoring.
With his bold creative vision and deep respect for Vivid Sydney’s legacy, Sheehy will guide the festival into its next chapter, expanding its global impact while continuing to deliver immersive, thought-provoking experiences.
‘It is an absolute thrill to be appointed to this role and contribute to Australia’s largest, and one of the world’s most attended festivals,’ Sheehy said.
‘Sydney has remained my chosen home-base since the 1980s and my love for this city has never faded. When Vivid Sydney appeared on the nation’s festivals calendar 16 years ago, I coveted the possibility of one day being its director and I could not be happier that day has now come.
‘Vivid Sydney uses the greatest natural canvas in the world to showcase a joyous celebration of light, art, ideas, music, performance and our stellar food culture.
‘This new era will build on Vivid Sydney’s extraordinary legacy and with our outstanding team I’m confident we’ll deliver to Sydney, to Australia and the world a suite of knockout festivals which will be the envy of every creative city on the planet,’ he concluded.
Sheehy’s appointment follows the outstanding success of Vivid Sydney 2025, which attracted 2.53 million visitors and delivered Sydney’s highest May hotel occupancy since 2019, peaking at 89.1%. Over 23 nights, the festival transformed the CBD into a showcase of Light, Music, Ideas and Food, with highlights including four Saturdays each drawing close to 200,000 people, more than 400 local businesses involved, Vivid Fire Kitchen welcoming 110,000 visitors, and #vividsydney content viewed more than 830 million times worldwide.
Building on this momentum, Vivid Sydney 2026 will present an ambitious program that pushes creative boundaries while remaining true to the festival’s unique spirit. Further details on the 2026 program will be announced in the coming months.
Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said: ‘Vivid Sydney demonstrates how world-class events ignite our city, boost local businesses and drive growth across the entire NSW visitor economy. This festival doesn’t just light up our streets – it solidifies Sydney’s standing as a leading global cultural capital and a must-experience destination in the Asia-Pacific.
‘As we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, the appointment of Brett Sheehy AO as Festival Director ushers in an exciting new chapter for Australia’s favourite event.
‘The NSW Government looks forward to Brett building on the festival’s proud legacy and shaping a bold and inspiring future for Vivid Sydney.’
Destination NSW CEO Karen Jones said: ‘Destination NSW is delighted to welcome Brett Sheehy AO as the new Festival Director of Vivid Sydney. His creative vision and industry expertise will elevate Vivid Sydney’s position as one of the world’s most iconic major events.
‘We also extend our sincere thanks to outgoing Festival Director Gill Minervini for her passion, creativity and dedication over her past four years, which have been instrumental in shaping the festival’s success.’
Ten Days on the Island welcomes new Chair
Ten Days on the Island, Tasmania’s statewide celebration of community, creativity and place, has announced the appointment of Kerry Sarten as its new Chair. The unanimous Board decision to appoint Sarten marks the beginning of a new chapter focused on leveraging the successful history of the festival by way of continuing to provide unique cultural experiences, and build community cohesion through increasing audience participation and strategic partnerships.
Ten Days on the Island is uniquely positioned to celebrate the diversity and distinctiveness of Tasmanian communities. Through performances, exhibitions and events across the State, the festival fosters connection within and between communities, cultivating a strong sense of belonging and pride in Tasmania. It also provides a vital platform for Tasmanian artists to develop and premiere new work, with the opportunity to then represent the creativity of Tasmania on the national and international stage.
Sarten brings a distinguished background in law and finance to the role, coupled with a strong passion for Tasmania and its communities. Her leadership will support the continued evolution of Ten Days on the Island and strengthen the festival’s governance and financial foundations at a time when the event is poised for continued growth and recognition.
Most recently, Sarten was a well-respected corporate and commercial lawyer, and a Director at Groom Kennedy. She is an experienced director of private and not-for-profit organisations, and currently serves on the board of Hobart Women’s Shelter.
Sarten said she was honoured to take on the Chair: ‘I am honoured to step into this role following Craig [Perkins’] outstanding leadership over the past five years. Craig’s deep commitment to Tasmania and the arts has laid a strong foundation for a new phase of growth.
‘Ten Days on the Island is more than just a festival or an event, it is a living expression of who we are as Tasmanians. It is a festival for Tasmanians. The festival strengthens our communities by way of providing social cohesion and a sense of belonging, it celebrates our unique culture and places, and it provides opportunities for Tasmanian artists to shine both at home and beyond.
‘I am excited to build on the solid foundation Craig has provided and for the future opportunities and benefits for all Tasmanian that Ten Days on the Island can provide,’ Sarten said.
Read: The Unconformity: anything but usual – the intimate festival changing how we engage
Ten Days on the Island also warmly acknowledges the outstanding leadership of outgoing Chair Craig Perkins, who has served with distinction since his appointment in February 2020. Over the past five years, Perkins has guided the festival through renewal, artistic innovation and ensured operational resilience. His tenure saw the festival deepen its regional engagement, strengthen its governance and financial position, and expand its national reputation as a leading arts event.
CEO Vernon Guest said: ‘Craig’s contribution to Ten Days on the Island has been transformative. His steady leadership and deep commitment to the Tasmanian community have helped shape a bold and inclusive vision for our festival. We are immensely grateful for his service and wish him every success in his future endeavours.’
