Make it new - consultations on the future of theatre funding

The Australia Council for the Arts' theatre board has been examining new approaches to supporting Australian theatre.

It has done this by a number of discussion papers and by engaging the theatre community in debate through a series of meetings, public gatherings and an online web forum.

The process began in April 2006 with the release of Make it new: Some proposals for the future of theatre funding. The paper was widely circulated and we held forums around the country to encourage discussion.

A first communique was published in October 2006 outlining some of the general directions we were considering in the light of the consultation, and a second communiqué was released in May 2007 inviting feedback on a first draft of our 2008 funding programs.

A third and final communique has now been published in September 2007. It outlines the theatre board’s decisions of the on the matters raised in the Make it new papers and consultations over the previous eighteen months.

The aim of the Make it new project has been to strengthen theatre as a vibrant contemporary artform by:

• encouraging a diverse yet networked theatre culture within Australia
• sustaining a number of key organisations to be hubs in this network
• empowering an enabling infrastructure for artistic development.

For further information on the process, please email makeitnew@australiacouncil.gov.au.