The organisation has a vision to be ambassadors for creativity, whilst excelling in creating original music, connecting artists through collaboration, and inspiring communities through shared musical experiences. Topology aims to deliver a minimum of 50 creative workshops annually to engage communities, enhance skills and encourage collaboration, with a particular focus on Indigenous and regional participants, and consistently exceeds this target: in 2024, it delivered 432 creative workshops across Queensland, tailored to communities, schools, and specialised programs.
Topology’s Creative Academy runs educational programs for emerging composers and musicians of all ages, offering mentorship, workshops, and performance opportunities. Music education is provided in schools, online, through its one-on-one creative mentorship program Launchpad, and through Creative Bootcamps delivered in communities around Queensland. Creative Bootcamps offer participants the rare opportunity to unleash their creative potential through an inspiring, integrated, and industry relevant program. Participants experience hands-on workshops with fellow artists, published composers, virtuoso musicians, and arts industry professionals, culminating in participants, artists, and tutors showcasing the new work created during the bootcamp.
In 2024, Topology held its first ever On-Country Creative Bootcamp, held over a week at Normanby Station in Cape York, with nine students from Cooktown State School in attendance. The Bootcamp was initiated at the request of the Station’s Traditional Owners, the Harrigan Brothers of Black Image Band. Topology has been working with the Harrigan Brothers to develop a long-term strategy for On-Country creative experiences, with a core focus being the mentorship of young and emerging First Nations musicians.
Topology created a short documentary following the Normanby Station bootcamp, culminating in the performance of the original music created On Country, and later arranged a second performance for the whole Cooktown school community.
Growing in popularity and demand, 2025 will see Topology deliver Creative Bootcamps in Texas, Rockhampton, Inglewood, Cooktown, Charleville, Normanby Station, Brisbane, Goondiwindi, Yarrabilba, Logan and Townsville.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share in the Topology visit. An amazing opportunity for creative locals to gather and enjoy the company, inspiration and encouragement from the Topology team. Your dedication and skills are most appreciated.
- Mary Schwartz, Texas Creative Bootcamp “Texas Has Talent” Participant
Topology recognises that communities in rural and regional Australia do not have the same access to services as those in metropolitan areas, impacting their capacity to participate in the arts and develop their own artistic endeavours. It actively supports creative communities by providing access to high-quality arts events, workshops, and consulting services, helping to bridge the gap between regional communities and the arts.
The Growing Creative Communities Strategy was developed in response to extensive research and community consultation by Topology and partners around Queensland. After a TFFF-funded pilot in 2019, Topology set out in force to support rural and regional communities to grow their social and creative capacity and come to own their identity and achievements as creative communities in their own right.
To facilitate this, Topology works with communities to establish Creative Regional Hubs designed to provide communities with the opportunity to work with professional performers and crews, and delivers a range of programs including creative consulting and professional development, the delivery of customised Topology Creative Academy programs for regional communities, and Creative Community Workshops across Queensland. These workshops, for participants of any age, are designed in consultation with the community, and based on the needs of the group.
As part of its Queensland Stories – A Legacy Project, Topology worked with communities across regional and remote Queensland to create and showcase their stories through music before performing them for the community. Topology also engaged local photographers and videographers to create music videos for the stories.
Topology’s slow touring model, which it continues to refine each year, allows the organisation to build deeper, more sustainable relationships with communities. Spending longer periods in each location enables more meaningful engagement with local participants, supporting the development of their own agency and creative capacity. The slow touring model provides more opportunities for people in communities to attend workshops, performances, and events by fostering ongoing participation, cultivating a sense of ownership and pride within the community.
Cover photo: Participants in the Normanby Station Creative Bootcamp performing their original music alongside Black Image Band and Topology. Photo Credit: Studio Koedal. All photos courtesy of Topology.
Topology is supported through the Resilience stream.
In the community of Tennant Creek, houses with poor thermal performance, lack of cultural consideration, overcrowding and insufficient maintenance have resulted in residents facing health issues, financial hardship, and disruption of cultural practices. Wilya Janta (‘Standing Strong’) is pushing to define a new standard for housing in these communities through culturally sensitive collaboration, design, and building.
Although Wilya Janta was only registered in 2023, its mission has been developed over 20 years, due in no small part to the relationship between co-Founder and Warumungu Elder Norman Frank Jupurrurla, and Dr Simon Quilty, who has been working in the Northern Territory for nearly two decades. Simon’s medical and academic background examining heat and health in the NT and Norm’s rich Warumungu-based cultural knowledge and advocacy led to initial success with a pioneering solar project, and has resulted in their advocacy work around housing innovation to address energy insecurity and broader inequity within the community.
Most remote and regional housing is poorly designed, lacks proper insulation or shading, and has little natural ventilation – in an area of the country that regularly sees temperatures above 40 degrees for days on end in summer. This poor design creates ‘heat caves’, where houses are hotter inside than out, often forcing residents to make difficult choices between paying expensive electricity bills for air conditioning and meeting basic needs, such as medication, food and education. Remote Northen Territory residents are three times more likely to be living in overcrowded houses, and 50 times more likely to be homeless compared to the national average.
Overcrowding and poor thermal efficiency are not the only ways in which current housing is unsuitable for its First Nations occupants. Local Indigenous people have never been consulted in the design process of their homes. There is limited consideration of cultural practices or the way in which Indigenous families live with the land and with each other.
Warumungu people sleep with “gwarda to the Manu” (ear to mother earth) and with their head to the east and feet to the west, yet houses have no liveable outdoor sleeping areas and are not built in an east-west orientation. There is a strong spiritual connection to the use of fire in preparing food, yet houses come with ovens and firepits are strongly discouraged. Cultural avoidance relationships are still deeply honoured, yet overcrowded houses force “poison cousins”, who are not allowed to be in each other’s presence or even make eye contact, to cross paths daily.
These are the problems Wilya Janta aims to solve by promoting community agency in the design and construction of government housing. The pilot project, building two demonstrative ‘Explain Homes’, will seek to overcome ongoing failures in the design of present-day housing developments through culturally sensitive collaboration, design, and building.
Current Tennant Creek Housing: extremely poor thermal design with no breezeways and almost no outdoor livable space. The yard has been compressed during construction, so nothing will ever grow on the sharp, barren gravel. Thirteen people live in this house. Photos by Andrew Quilty.
Wilya Janta recognises that designing Indigenous homes in remote communities is vastly different to designing houses for non-Indigenous Australians and requires a unique skillset and process to ensure that it is done appropriately. The proposed Wilya Janta model employs local experts as Indigenous Housing Consultants, who will gain experience and skills through designing their own houses as part of the Tennant Creek Housing Pilot.
Engaging the community in the early design phase ensures core cultural design principles are appropriately incorporated into the design phase of the project. The result will be beautiful, functional, culturally safe, thermally efficient, off-grid, climate resilient housing that maintains a connection between the built environment, the community, and the natural surroundings.
Wilya Janta commenced with the restoration of a brick making machine in Tennant Creek to reinvigorate employment opportunities in the community, partly funded by TFFF through a grant from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. These mud bricks, made from local anthill and spinifex, will become part of the newly designed houses, quite literally embedding Country into homes, while also providing local employment opportunities.
Construction has now commenced on the demonstration houses, which include deep verandas to protect from the sun, breezeways and multiple access paths to allow for ventilation and avoidance relationships, and a connection between inside and outside spaces: as residents spend large amounts of time outside, a focus was placed on outdoor cooking areas, as well as landscaping to make the most of the surrounding natural environment.
Locally, Wilya Janta recognises the importance of strengthening ties with community through cultural events and by providing employment opportunities. With the success of the pilot demonstration homes, Wilya Janta will refine and expand the model to assist the construction of 10 to 20 new houses in the Tennant Creek community. It has already received invitations to work with other remote communities to design culturally and climate-relevant homes and is committed to building a capable workforce to meet the growing demand.
Proposed design of the Wilya Janta demonstration home.
Cover photo: Norman Frank Jupurrurla with a house design.. All photos courtesy of Wilya Janta.
Wilya Janta is supported through the Resilience stream.
Born out of the Somerset College school community in 1993 as the ‘Celebration of Literature’, Storyfest is now a not-for-profit organisation delivering annual, multi-day literary festivals on the Gold Coast, in Longreach, and – newly in 2024 – in St George and Emerald.
Along with festival delivery, Storyfest’s activities include year-round outreach programs, in-school workshops, pop-up lending libraries, and adult engagement and fundraising events.
Storyfest’s programming has attracted significant engagement in regional Queensland. In 2022, Storyfest delivered its first two-day regional festival in Longreach, Storyfest Out West, reaching over 2,000 attendees. The festival was developed and presented with the Longreach School of Distance Education as the leading education partner, a relationship that continued through the event’s return in 2023 and 2024.
Storyfest had our whole community in mind... They provided adults in the Central Western communities with the opportunity to attend a variety of events including workshops for parents and teachers to support students both at home and in school.
- Rachelle Moore, Deputy Principal, Longreach School of Distance Education
Storyfest Out West experienced strong interest and attendance from other regional communities, resulting in the organisation expanding to deliver three regional festivals in 2024 in partnership with schools, businesses, local councils, and Arts Queensland, along with its original Gold Coast festival – all of which received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
The festival made its inaugural appearance in St George with Storyfest South West in late August 2024, returned to Longreach with Storyfest Out West in early September, and delivered another first with Storyfest Central Queensland in Emerald, also in September.
Storyfest’s regional festival delivery aims to expand on its mission and bring a love of storytelling to rural areas of Queensland.
We are acutely aware of the significance of literary programmes in regional Australia, and are working hard to bring the benefits of books to as many regional spots as possible.
– Storyfest
Each festival delivers a series of literary experiences, along with workshops and opportunities for budding readers and writers alike. Highlights include a Literary Lunch, a Prologue Party, and the opportunity for attendees to explore the bookshop and get their books signed by their favourite authors.
Programming includes student and adult workshops, adult panel sessions, and a young writers’ dinner providing young people the opportunity to spend an evening workshopping with some of Australia’s bestselling kids and YA fiction writers.
Storyfest aims to engage the whole of community in the lead up to and delivery of each regional festival. In St George, The Beehive Project was designed to connect the community through a visual art installation, highlighting the importance of bees in the local area and reflecting the community coming together to rebuild after the devastation of floods in recent years, which also impacted local hives.
Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year, author, beekeeper (and recently appointed Storyfest Artistic Director) Megan Daley recently released The Beehive, a dual text children’s book that combines storytelling with factual information about Australia’s heroes of pollination, the native stingless bee. The Beehive served as the inspiration for The Beehive Project, which was delivered alongside Megan’s workshops for both adults and children at Storyfest South West.
Storyfest engaged local arts producer Kimberly Thornton to oversee the Beehive Project, which involved a large beehive built by the St George Men’s Shed, that was then decorated throughout the festival by attendees. Balonne Creative Arts ran crochet workshops with students ahead of the festival to create decorative flowers, and local artist Tjalara Draper designed and laser cut craft bees, which each student in the region was able to decorate before placing on the Hive.
Along with this, the project also involved visits to schools in the lead up to the festival, engaging local permaculture practitioner Grow Eat Learn who educated on pollinator-friendly plants, local beekeeper Nathan Gibbins from St. George Honey who provided a beehive and displays, and local nursery Moorelands Bush Nursery which donated a Bee Garden Starter kit to every school that attended the festival.
Plans are underway to select another book on which to focus a similar activation for this year’s Storyfest South West!
Top: Producer Kimberly Thornton and Storyfest CEO Andrea Lewis discuss the project. Bottom: The Beehive Project, fully decorated.
Storyfest Gold Coast: 1 – 3 April 2025
Storyfest Out West (Longreach): 10 – 12 September 2025
Storyfest South West (St George): 1 – 3 September 2025
Storyfest Central Queensland (Emerald): 16 – 17 September 2025
Cover photo: Attendees at Storyfest Gold Coast
Storyfest is supported through the Resilience stream.
The Tim Fairfax Family Foundation is pleased to announce three separate, 9-year, general operating support grants have been awarded to three of Queensland’s most important cultural organisations: Dancenorth, Camerata, and Crossroad Arts. This new strategic partnership program – the terms of which may constitute a first for Australia’s arts sector – builds on the Foundation’s existing grantmaking programs to further support these organisations to undertake genuine, meaningful, long-term planning for themselves and the communities they serve.
“This new funding program reflects our Foundation’s commitment to Queensland and the Northern Territory organisations and the communities they serve. Multi-year funding is what organisations need to plan with confidence, to strategise how best to realise their artistic vision, and to build meaningful relationships in their communities. Through this program, we aim to foster a vibrant cultural landscape for rural, regional, and remote communities, and hope to inspire other funders to adopt similarly long-term approaches to their philanthropic activities.”
– Tim Fairfax AC, Chairman, Tim Fairfax Family Foundation
It is with big vision and full hearts that Dancenorth can continue creating opportunities for our dance sector and with our communities, in deep partnership with the TFFF. A funding commitment of this nature is so catalytic, it creates echoes in the ecosystem that will reverberate for years to come. Our landscape is changed because of this trust-based investment and philanthropic leadership.
- Kyle Page, Artistic Director, Dancenorth
Camerata is beyond excited about this incredible and tangible acknowledgement and support of our work. We are sincerely grateful to Tim and Gina Fairfax and their family – these are fine people who aren't just our supporters but our longstanding friends. Our relationship with the TFFF has endured over a long period of time because there is so much we value in common, not least of all sharing music with Queenslanders in regional areas. The TFFF also have a keen understanding that our work cannot happen without the strong foundations of a healthy organisation.
- Dr Pamela Greet, Chair, Camerata
I am thrilled that the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation is continuing to invest in Crossroad Arts and the brighter future for arts and disability that we will create. The future development of Crossroad Arts is essential to advancing a more inclusive arts sector in Mackay, Queensland, and Australia.
The nurturing environment of Crossroad Arts provides many opportunities and benefits for artists and the community at large, allowing artists like myself to thrive and contribute meaningfully. This organisation truly deserves all the support that it can be given, for continuing its brilliant practices and immeasurable impact on our lives.
- Cynthia Gregg, Crossroad Arts Artist and Inclusive Arts Advisory Group member
This significant commitment from the TFFF elevates the representation of Arts and Disability and Regional sectors which Crossroads Arts is very proud to be part of. It sets up our artists to dream and realise long-term creative vision, to be recognised as leaders nationally on the runway to the 2032 Paralympic Games and beyond.
- Autumn Skuthorpe, Artistic Director/CEO, Crossroad Arts
Cover photo: Chris Dyke and the Dancenorth Ensemble — Lighting the Dark (2024). Image Credit: David Kelly. Photos courtesy of Camerata, Crossroad Arts and Dancenorth.
Camerata, Crossroad Arts and Dancenorth are supported though the Resilience funding stream.
Flipside's mission is to empower communities through circus, guided by its values of celebration, experimentation, creativity, wellbeing, and agility. Flipside’s core offering is circus classes and training programs for young people (and some adults) in greater Brisbane and throughout regional and remote Queensland. Participation in these programs is designed to lead to early career and performance opportunities, as Flipside also presents an artistic program of performances by, for, and with children, young people, and emerging artists.
Flipside’s new performance work, The Cubby, was developed with regional and remote communities over the past three years. From blanket forts to tree house swimming pools, The Cubby celebrates the imagination, ingenuity, and resilience of kids as Flipside’s young circus professionals bring to life the adventures and daydreams of children from regional Queensland. Students who participated in workshops in Blackall, Tambo, Charleville, Thargomindah, Eromanga, Julia Creek, Winton, and Normanton were able to witness the results of their creativity this year as the premiere season toured regionally. Combining this touring with broader regional residency engagement, Flipside has been able to reach 32 regional and remote communities in 2024 with support from the TFFF and Arts Queensland.
This is an achievement worthy of celebration in an ordinary year, let alone the extraordinary circumstances the Flipside community have experienced over the past ten months.
In late 2022, Flipside moved into a new purpose-built home, the Brisbane Circus Centre. It signaled a new era for the company — almost 50,000 people stepped through the doors in 2023. Circus school enrolments grew by 50%, and over 900 artists accessed the facility for training, development, and rehearsals.
Flipside was poised to continue this growth trajectory when a building fire caused extensive damage in January 2024. Toxic smoke covered the centre, and most equipment was unsalvageable. Clean-up and rebuilding efforts have been ongoing for most of the year, with peer organisations Circa, Vulcana, and Trix Circus, and venues Brisbane Powerhouse and Superordinary, as well as partners EDQ and CBRE providing critical equipment and space so circus school programs could resume activities just two days after the fire. After-school and weekend classes continued, school holiday workshops sold out, resident companies were supported to develop new work, and regional tours premiered The Cubby and shared skills workshops with almost 2,500 children and adults.
In September, Flipside was able to return to its home at the Brisbane Circus Centre, and is celebrating its reopening with a series of performances and community events.
“We are overjoyed to finally be coming home,” said Robert Kronk, CEO and Artistic Director of Flipside Circus. “The past months have been incredibly challenging. But we’ve been buoyed by the overwhelming support of our community, partners, and friends. Returning to the Brisbane Circus Centre represents a physical homecoming, the resilience of our organisation, and a new start. We can’t wait to welcome artists and our community back.”
The Flipside community has raised over $30,000 through its Fire Appeal which helped the organisation stay afloat in the aftermath of the fire. The Appeal is still open, with every dollar going towards rebuilding efforts that will secure Flipside’s future.
2024 Flipside Touring and Residency locations:
11 – 30 Apr 2024: Barcaldine, Blackall, Morven, Charleville, Quilpie, Thargomindah, Wyandra, Cunnamulla, Bollon, Hebel, Dirranbandi, and Thallon.
15 Jun – 10 Jul 2024: Taroom, Moranbah, Emerald, Ayr, Bowen, Collinsville, Proserpine, Mt Perry, and Mundubbera.
6 Sep – 29 October 2024: Georgetown, Normanton, Karumba, Mt Isa, Julia Creek, Hughenden, Richmond, Cameron Downs, Rockhampton, Gympie, and Bundaberg.
Cover photo: Flipside performers in The Cubby. All photos courtesy of Flipside.
Flipside Circus is supported through the Resilience stream.
The organisation believes that young people with lived experience are best placed to support other young people experiencing mental health and life challenges. Youth Insearch aims to create safe spaces within which young people support each other to heal from trauma, make meaningful peer connections, improve mental wellbeing and overcome life challenges. Delivered through weekend workshops, support groups, peer support and leadership, and individual care, Youth Insearch provides a comprehensive early intervention program of counselling, support, mentoring, and empowerment for at-risk young people aged 12-25.
We exist to create a safe place for young people to heal from trauma. Our aim is to see young people heal and thrive.
– Stephen Lewin, CEO
Originating in northwest Sydney in 1985, Youth Insearch’s programs aimed to reach more at-risk youth than was possible via individual counselling. In just two years program outcomes resulted in the closure of over half the Riverstone Police Station operations as youth crime declined. A review of Youth Insearch’s program commissioned by the NSW State Government in 2003 found positive outcomes across multiple behaviour and well-being measures, including significantly less interactions with justice agencies, higher self-esteem, improved relationships, reduced suicidal thoughts and attempts, and reduced alcohol and drug use, and that the program had a sustained positive impact on these issues over time. In its 2022 Annual Report, Youth Insearch reported 91% of its young people who felt suicidal prior to program participation no longer felt suicidal afterwards.
Along with a trauma-informed approach to the delivery of community based mental health services, Youth Insearch offers young people leadership training and employment opportunities. Through weekend workshops, weekly support groups and individual support, it provides a place for young people to form meaningful and lasting peer connections, experience a safe space to talk about the issues in their life, and receive support from trained youth leaders, peer workers and social workers. Youth leaders are past participants in the program and are positive and real examples to the young participants of what is possible despite a negative background. The wrap-around support and advocacy provided by Youth Insearch enables young people to break negative cycles and create lasting change in communities.
A core element of Youth Insearch’s success is its lived-experience peer workers and youth leaders who work within local communities. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is Youth Insearch CEO Stephen Lewin, who was himself a program participant.
“If it wasn’t for Youth Insearch I could have ended up in jail or dead… 80% of young people that come through the Youth Insearch program make a significant positive change in their lives that’s usually permanent and long lasting, and I’m not saying this just as a CEO, I’m saying that as someone who’s experienced it firsthand and it changed my life.”
Stephen joined the Youth Insearch program in Wagga Wagga after a period of homelessness and an arrest and described it as “the first time [he] actually felt connected with people”. The support he found in the program inspired Stephen to join the Youth Insearch Leadership Program, which he described as “life changing”:
“The Youth Insearch Leadership Program was probably the most life changing program that I’ve participated in – and the opportunities that were given to us as trainee leaders, the experiences were just mind-blowing. I spoke at the United Nations assembly event in Sydney as an 18-year-old. I ended up doing the Kokoda trail.”
Stephen turned his experience with Youth Insearch into a career in which he has consistently walked alongside society’s most vulnerable people. He joined Youth Insearch as General Manager in 2014 and was appointed CEO in 2019.
Hear more of Stephen’s story here:
Cover photo: Participants at a Weekend Workshop in Bundaberg. All photos courtesy of Youth Insearch.
Youth Insearch is supported through the Resilience stream.
It's an honour to feature in this new publication from Philanthropy Australia highlighting our new partnership with the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and the journey to build this connection. Non-government partnerships such as this are vital for organisations like MusicNT to continue delivering outcomes across the Territory.
– Mark Smith, Executive Director, MusicNT
MusicNT supports 3,500 members with programs, events, workshops, mentoring, recording opportunities and industry contacts. The organisation has received a three-year operational grant from the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation (TFFF), which Mark said is a gamechanger. “I wish more funders would do it. It’s the missing link,” he said. “It’s given us validation as an organisation, protection from the perils of the live event industry and increasingly fraught government funding model, and freedom to grow.”
The TFFF favours multi-year operating support, in recognition that this is the greatest need for many for-purpose organisations. “That means,” said TFFF CEO Neal Harvey, “finding good people doing good work, and resourcing them to get on with it.
“Mark is absolutely one of those people. It’s been incredible to watch that organisation’s growth in his time. Mark is incredibly well connected across northern Australia, understands community needs and is trusted by the communities, which make MusicNT an ideal partner for TFFF.
“There’s strong evidence that arts and culture are key drivers of social cohesion and wellbeing. But touring and freight is expensive, insurances are needed – all these challenges make it difficult for metro arts organisations to get out to the regions. Tim and Gina are interested in supporting those organisations in the regions already doing the great work.
“If Australia is to become the cultural powerhouse we want to be, we want our art and our artists, particularly First Nations artists, to be celebrated and loved. That’s going to require funding and support. It’s very difficult for future generations to become what they can’t see. MusicNT provides mission-critical leadership and opportunity for Territory communities.”
Read the full publicationhere. MusicNT story pages 46-49.
Cover photo: MusicNT's Bush Bands Bash. Photo by Jeff Tan.
MusicNT is supported through the Resilience stream. Philanthropy Australia is supported through the Leadership stream.
Based in Cairns, with community ties to the surrounding regions extending north to the Cape and Torres Strait, and south to the Townsville region, DIYDG is dedicated to empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth through programs that focus on leadership, culture, and community engagement, and provides a platform for young people to co-design and lead their own projects.
DIYDG was created to support families experiencing intergenerational and persistent trauma. The founding members were motivated by their responsibility to break the cycles of disadvantage and to empower peers, family, and community to develop and realise a different future.
DIYDG acknowledges that its community is diverse, and extends its support to include and empower young people and communities of all nations:
“We have a deep respect and connection to each other which exists beyond bloodlines.”
DIYDG believes that every young person has the power to create positive change in the world, and deserves equal access to opportunities to do so. It aims to provide a safe and supportive space where young people can challenge themselves to grow, to develop resilience and leadership skills, and achieve their goals. DIYDG delivers its service offerings through three streams:
DIYDG delivers 14 core service offerings through these streams, aimed at fostering a strong sense of identity and purpose among young people. The organisation aims to both provide culturally safe processes within its own programs, and to facilitate access to other appropriate programs where possible, and is focused on meeting young people where they are and advocating for them at all levels – understanding both the big picture and local challenges that young people face.
Programs under DIYDG’s banner include the Pamle Pamle Youth & Family Support Service (PPY&FSS), which provides a diverse range of support services to young people and their family, offering holistic responses rooted in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander practices, protocols, and connections. Services include crisis support, outreach, family communities, case management, and diversion activities.
The Good Vibrations program aims to strengthen the well-being of young people, with weekly gatherings providing a safe environment for young people to explore themselves, build positive peer connections, develop support structures, and have a place to belong. DIDYG also hold an annual 3-day Wellbeing Camp, on which young people are encouraged to build and facilitate their own workshops and activities, make positive peer connections, build self-awareness and confidence, and share knowledge and stories.
The Lift Leadership program seeks to build leadership potential in young people and is based around the organisation’s key principles: inspire, equip and empower. DIYDG seeks to empower young people to recognise that their problems and challenges are not their identity, and works closely with each individual to equip them with the skills and opportunities to grow and give back to community, and cultivate their voice, identity, and leadership skills for impactful action, fostering collective change and social justice.
Since 2019 DIYDG has been a passionate Advocate of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. In 2022, DIYDG led a grassroots campaign advocating for the ‘Yes’ vote in the 2023 Voice referendum, embarking on a cross-country road trip to gather support and commemorate Vincent Lingiari’s historic 1966 civil rights victory at the annual Freedom Day Festival in Gurindji. The trip was captured in the documentary Voice, co-directed by DIYDG Co-Founder Semara Jose and scheduled to premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August.
Voice will screen at the Melbourne International Film Festival on 21 and 23 August. More details available here.
The 2024 DIYDG Wellbeing Camp will be held from 6 – 8 September. More details available here.
Cover photo: The Lift Leadership Team at St Teresa's College, Abergowrie, for Reconciliation Week 2023. All photos courtesy of DIYDG.
Deadly Inspiring Youth Doing Good is supported through the Resilience funding stream.
The visit coincided with the 2024 Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) Qld State Conference, which was attended by TFFF Senior Program Manager Katie Norman and provided an occasion to learn from rural families, engage with the Department of Education and meet familiar and new child-focused partners.
The first day of the trip began driving out to Idalia on a beautiful North Queensland winter morning to view the new AEIOU Townsville premises, currently under construction. Here, we were joined by Alan Smith (AEIOU CEO), Russell Fryer (Hutchies Managing Director), Mitch Grimmer (Hutchies Team Leader), Schahana Clark (AEIOU Senior Service Delivery Manager), Emma Newham (AEIOU Townsville Centre Manager), and site manager Mark Taylor.
TFFF approved funding to support the construction of the new purpose-built centre in August 2023, and has previously provided support for AEIOU’s regional Autism Early Intervention program. Delivered in partnership with Hutchinson Builders, the centre was designed as a state-of-the-art facility with three classrooms, a motor skills therapy room, telehealth rooms, a community meeting and training space, research rooms and external learning environments and playgrounds. The thought put into every aspect of the build, from accessibility to noise dampening, was incredible – it was clear both staff and children will benefit greatly from the new centre.
Following the site tour, we met Kate O’Hara (Director) and Daniel Qualischefski (Gallery Manager and Curator) for lunch near Umbrella Studio. Umbrella Studio is a gallery and studio space which delivers an annual program of onsite and touring exhibitions, public programs, arts residencies, studio access, and professional development programs, along with TFFF-supported biennial arts festival, Pop Up North Queensland (PUNQ). After lunch, Kate and Daniel gave a tour of the studio, where exhibitions Pressing Topics by The Ironing Maidens and An Unnatural Historyby Sarah Treadwell were on display, and introduced the Umbrella team – Erin Ricardo (Arts Programs Manager), Rikaela Rusch (Marketing and Communications Manager), Sabrina Toby (PUNQ Creative Producer), and Amanda Galea (Arts and Marketing Administrator).
Heading downstairs to the studio space, we met a community artist in the process of utilising the equipment to create intaglio prints using recycled tetra-pack containers. Umbrella’s vast storage room was a maze of interesting and unusual artistic equipment and supplies, including a vintage loom, lithographic stones so heavy they required a pallet jack to move, and the only publicly available darkroom north of Brisbane.
Returning to our hotel, we met with Jacinta Perry (Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership Country Qld Lead). The Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership (TQKP) is a cross-sector coalition of not-for-profit, philanthropic, tertiary, and government bodies all committed to improving health, education and family services systems that shape young lives. With TFFF’s support, TQKP delivers the Thriving Country Queensland Kids Collaborative, designed to support leaders, organisations and practitioners delivering child, youth and family health, development and wellbeing services and initiatives in rural, regional and remote Queensland.
The day concluded with dinner with Dancenorth, attended by Hillary Coyne (Executive Director & Co-CEO), Kyle Page (Artistic Director & Co-CEO), Eloise Grace (Company Producer), and Judith McLean (Chair), which provided a reflective end to a productive day. Dancenorth is one of Australia’s leading contemporary dance companies. Alongside its professional ensemble, touring productions and artist development and leadership initiatives, Dancenorth delivers the TFFF-supported Community Experience Program.
Day Two began with a visit to Seed Foundation, where we shared morning tea with Brett Fragiacomo (Executive Officer), Rick Phineasa (Operational Manager, Townsville), and De’arne French (Administration Manager, Townsville) and looked in on a cohort of Deadly Start students undergoing their Health and Community Services Cert II training. Seed Foundation aims to grow the potential of Australia’s First Peoples by inspiring and promoting self-determination through education, health and employment, and provides holistic support services to improve health, wellbeing and employment outcomes. Its TFFF-supported First Peoples Health Program provides upper secondary and Year 13 students with health literacy education, qualifications, career opportunities, higher educational pathways, and support to navigate and achieve these.
Next, we stopped at the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland State Conference held at The Cathedral School, where we were warmly welcomed by Qld State Council President Wendy Henning. The ICPA strives for equity of access to education for all students who live in rural and remote Queensland. Its policies are formed through motions brought to the state conference each year by branches from across the state. The organisation also provides an opportunity for many departmental representatives, Members of Parliament, Senators and other stakeholders to hear issues and opportunities from those directly experiencing them at its conference.
Ningana Trust has supported ICPA Qld since 2011, enabling State Council Members to attend each year’s conference, participate in delegations with state government and peak body representatives, and advocate for rural and remote students’ educational needs. After a brief moment to mingle and explore the extremely well attended conference, Wendy gave the 2024 President’s Welcome, sharing the numerous initiatives ICPA Qld has been involved with over the past year. After the initial speeches, most of the TFFF group departed back to Brisbane, leaving Katie to attend the full conference over the next two days.
Umbrella Studio, Dancenorth, and Seed Foundation are supported through the Resilience stream. AEIOU Townsville and Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership are supported through the Futureproof stream. ICPA Qld is supported by Ningana Trust.
Established by the Queensland Government in 2009, CIAF transitioned to an independent not-for-profit entity in 2013, and now is governed by majority First Nations leaders. The Fair exists to provide a platform for cultural exchange, collaboration, and economic opportunity for Queensland First Nations artists and Art Centres. CIAF recently announced the appointment of its new CEO, Dennis Stokes, who brings two decades of experience in the arts and media sector and a deep commitment to empowering First Nations voices and self-determination in the arts to the role.
CIAF’s centerpiece is a multi-day art fair, held annually in July at the Cairns Convention Centre and satellite venues within Cairns. Extending beyond a typical marketplace and exhibition showcase, CIAF includes traditional and contemporary live performance: music, song and dance; theatre and fashion; workshops and informative talks. Audiences are treated to programmed conversations, workshops, demonstrations, and experiences designed to share Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and culture in an immersive and exciting experience. The Fair is a celebratory event that highlights the importance of culture to the Queensland community, and holds a stand-alone position in the Australian arts landscape as the only event of its type to feature a wide cross section of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts.
CIAF’s diverse programming offers a range of free and ticketed events, exhibitions, and performances each year. Performances in music, dance, theatre, fashion and more have seen the number of shows and performances increasing each year and frequently selling out. The Fashion Performance is a stand-out event each year - its unique blend of runway, choreography and song distinguish it from other national Indigenous fashion events, and all three shows sold out in 2023.
CIAF’s 2024 program will celebrate the organisation’s evolution and growth over the past 15 years, featuring hundreds of First Nations artists, performers, fashion designers, and creatives. CIAF’s artistic director, Francoise Lane, said CIAF’s anniversary season is a testament to Queensland’s thriving First Nations arts and culture industry and its place on the world stage.
“From its humble beginnings as an Art Fair, CIAF has evolved into a multifaceted celebration of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, culture, and fashion, featuring artists, performers, and creatives from the Torres Strait, Cape York, and Gulf communities in the north out to western communities and down to the southeast corner.”
CIAF 2024 will be held over four action-packed days, from Thursday 25 July to Sunday 28 July. While CIAF’s event program is predominantly free and for all ages to enjoy, ticketed events include program favourites: the Opening Night Party at Cairns Convention Centre, the two-day Symposium and cultural think tank at Bulmba-ja Arts Centre, highly anticipated ‘Light the Fire’ fashion performances at the Tanks Arts Centre, as well as live music performance, ‘No Shame in My Game’ from First Nations rapper and musician Barkaa, supported by Simone Stacey and held at the Tanks Arts Centre.
CIAF 2024’s theme, ‘Country Speaking’ connects all aspects of the program, providing an opportunity for artists to explore their spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental relationship to Country, a strong First Nations concept embodying 65,000 years of deep connection to the land, waters, skies, and seas.
CIAF will present two satellite events ahead of the Fair, along with a signature 15th anniversary exhibition, ‘Not Selling Cakes’, paying homage to the artists who have contributed to CIAF and the Queensland Indigenous art movement since its inception in 2009.
The second annual Urban BLAKtivation, a family friendly, accessible arts and cultural event with Indigenous dance performances, digital art projections, sculptural art installations, story tellers, and poets will be held in the CBD on Saturday 13 July. It will be followed by CIAF partner Cairns Regional Council event Out on the Lawn, featuring live music from First Nations musicians Kee’ahn, Yirghilya, and Broden Tyrrell at the Cairns Court House lawns.
In addition to the art fair event, CIAF runs several programs designed to support First Nations artists with the development of their career. The CIAF Collectors and Curators program facilitates meetings with artists, leading to acquisitions for private and public collections worldwide, and has seen increasing success each year. Collectors, curators, and gallery representatives are invited to exclusive CIAF events and exhibitions designed to create opportunities for dialogue between artists and program members. The program has resulted in significant success for CIAF in creating opportunities for artists, as well as significant sales to major cultural institutions across Australia, elevating the profiles of both Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and the event itself.
CIAF visited my studio in early 2022 and invited me to participate in that year’s Fashion Performance. The encouragement alone gave me the confidence to work on my ‘Tawalpin-String Making’ collection and then to again bring my 2023 collection ‘dilly bag and mat making’. This exposure and experience quickly led to work with Mob in Fashion, La Boite Theatre, and designing
- Delvene Cockatoo-Collins, First nations artist and designer.
garments for the 2023 Oscars and Logies. I’m forever grateful to CIAF.
The CIAF Indigenous Art Awards were created in 2017 to provide an opportunity for artists to increase their profile in the pursuit of innovation and excellence. As a showcase of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, the Art Awards have been successful in driving the quality of exhibited work and elevating the excellence of Indigenous artists.
CIAF plays a critical role in strengthening Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture by providing artists the opportunity to share stories, collaborate and celebrate their connection to Culture and Country. The Fair also provides an important interface for the non-Indigenous community to experience Aboriginal and Torres Strait culture and purchase artwork in an ethically run marketplace. The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair is a new TFFF partner and is supported through the Resilience stream, which provides multi-year general operational support funding. The TFFF recognises the value of providing support to strengthen CIAF’s operational capacity and aims to empower CIAF, and organisations like it, to focus on its strategic objectives and effectively realise its goals. CIAF will utilise TFFF funds to expand its Fashion Performance event and fulfil its vision of delivering a nationally recognised First Nations fashion show showcasing excellence in fashion and textile design.
Cover photo: CIAF 2023 Opening Night. All photos courtesy of Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.
The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair is supported through the Resilience stream.
