Creative Communities Council

Louise has been CEO of the Sydney Opera House since 2012, after careers as a lawyer and corporate adviser. In her time as CEO, Louise has delivered a far-reaching decade of renewal to open the Opera House up to more of the community, with a broader, more diverse range of programming and other experiences to welcome more visitors in person and online. Louise served as Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Panel for the Creative Communities policy.

Kerri is a well-known and influential arts leader in Sydney having built a strong reputation as an independent theatre maker, award winning venue owner, artistic director, CEO and effective advocate for the cultural sector. She is a respected voice of the Sydney night-time economy and has led the way in regulatory reform for the sector over the past six years, ensuring that policy positions are based on sector led data and needs.

Kerri is the founding co-director of artist run company 505 which operated the legendary live music club Venue 505 in Surry Hills (2004-19), and award winning Old 505 Theatre in Newtown (2015 to 2023). In 2013 she was appointed as CEO & Festival Director of the Sydney Fringe Festival. Under her stewardship the festival has grown from a small community event to the largest independent arts festival in NSW now featuring 2000 artists, attracting over 100,000 audiences and contributing over $34million in economic impact to the city.

A leading advocate for the Independent arts sector she has contributed to a number of key action plans/policies and resulting reforms including: Creative Communities - NSW Government cultural policy 2023, REVIVE- Australian Government cultural policy 2023; the Committee for Sydney’s Everyday Culture Project 2023 and Sydney a 24-Hour City Report 2019 the City of Sydney’s Live Music and Performance Action Plan 2014, Inner West Council’s Off Broadway Plan 2015. In her role at Sydney Fringe Festival she works extensively leading the way in temporary re-adaptive use of space for performance that resulted in the now nationally recognised report: An Anthology of Space 2015-2018: Activating Unused and Under-utilised Space for the Performing and Creative Industries of NSW.

She is currently a founding Board Director of the Night Time Industries Association, founding Board Director of the Live Music Venues Alliance, sits on the Create NSW’s Festivals Artform Board and a Board Director of peak body PAC Australia.

She served as co-Chair of the City of Sydney’s Nightlife and Cultural Sector Advisory Committee 2019-2022, a Director of the City Recital Hall Board from 2015-2019 and in 2011 was included in the Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Magazine’s annual 100 Most Influential and Inspiring People list.

Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon is the State Librarian for the State Library of NSW. She is a published author in architecture and urban history and has 20 years of leadership experience in public institutions, including Sydney Living Museums. Her career has been dedicated to leadership that connects citizens and visitors to special places, and culture through a broad range of statewide public engagement programs.

Before the Library, she was a Deputy Secretary for Cities and Active Transport for NSW Government, where she led policy and programs of investment in NSW addressing the walkability and activation in our streets, and civic places. She also serves on committees and boards to promote the power of place, culture, community and public space in Australia.

Darren has been a company director of Blackfella Films, Australia's premier First Nations production company, since 2000, and is now the company’s managing director. He has produced award winning drama, documentary and factual programs, including Total Control, Redfern Now, The Dark Emu Story and The Australian Wars. Darren is a Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He is the Board Chair of the Sydney Film Festival and also serves on the boards of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and the Sydney Festival. He was previously on the board of Screen NSW, the Council of the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and ACMI. In 2012 he was the recipient of the prestigious AFTRS Honorary Degree.

Tim Kurylowicz is the Executive Director of Eastern Riverina Arts (ERA), the lead organisation for arts and creative industry development in the Eastern Riverina region of NSW.

He leads a team with a passion for creative cultural development that brings real world change. In 2021 Tim and his team produced the Arbour Festival, a 50 day festival in a forest to mark the first anniversary of the Dunns Road bushfires. In 2023 they established The Station Creative Workspace, a creative hub in Wagga Wagga bringing creative people together to work, collaborate and do business.

He has worked for local government, museums and the not-for-profit sector shaping community and cultural projects that break down barriers and bring people together.

Founder & Managing Director of Blowfish Studios with over 25 years’ experience in the video games industry. Ben has achieved games and business success and failures. Ben is currently overseeing Blowfish as Managing Director and a GP for the Spawn Ventures Gaming fund. Ben has an extensive national and international network in the game development and publishing industries.

Anne Loxley is an award-winning curator and writer specialising in collaborating with artists and communities to creatively address significant issues. In 2020 she joined Arts & Cultural Exchange as Executive Director. Previously Senior Curator, C3West, for Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, (2011-2019), also Program Associate, Visual Arts, Perth Festivals (2017 – 2019), Anne is an alumna of Creative Australia’s 2019 Leadership Program. She is Deputy Chair of the City of Sydney’s Public Art Advisory Panel, and a member of the Western Sydney Arts Alliance Working Group. A former Sydney Morning Herald art critic, she has published numerous essays and spoken at conferences nationally and internationally. She co-edited Civic Actions: Artists’ Practices Beyond the Museum (2017). 

Erin Madeley has been Chief Executive of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance since July 2022. She became a member of MEAA’s Equity section after graduating from the University of Western Sydney’s School of Contemporary Arts (Theatre Nepean) in 2005. Since then she has worked as an organiser, as Director of the Entertainment, Crew and Sport section, and prior to her appointment as Chief Executive as Director of Operations.

Elizabeth was appointed Secretary to the department on 19 October 2022, bringing more than 25 years' management experience across customer services, legal, company secretarial, compliance, risk, management, human resources and general operations.

She was previously CEO of the Greater Cities Commission, and also held senior leadership roles at Transport for NSW, including Deputy Secretary, Greater Sydney, Deputy Secretary of Customer Technology and Services, and Deputy Secretary of People and Corporate Services.

Elizabeth's earlier executive roles included Director of Australian Programs for Save the Children Australia and the Victorian Group General Manager with Transurban.

Elizabeth is passionate about harnessing stakeholder and employee engagement and new technologies to achieve new levels of service. She serves as a NSW Council member with the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) and was appointed a National Fellow of the IPAA in October 2022.

Nicholas Pickard is one of Australia’s leading creative and cultural industry policy experts. With experience in the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific he is currently the Executive Director, Public Affairs and Government Relations at APRA AMCOS, Australasia’s music rights organisation representing songwriters, screen composers and publishers. Prior to this he was the Director Corporate Affairs for Copyright Agency. A former theatre director, arts journalist, theatre critic and arts policy adviser to state and federal governments, Nicholas was central to the team that created, devised and launched Australia’s 2013 national cultural policy – Creative Australia. Nicholas is a board member for Screen Australia and a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. He is a former Chair of the Australian Society of Authors and former board member of Regional Arts NSW.

Julia Robinson is a seasoned leader in the music industry known for her dedication, pragmatism, strategic approach, and passion for music. With over two decades of experience spanning music policy, venue and event management, licensing and regulation, and stakeholder engagement, she has earned a reputation for her reliability and commitment to positive change. Julia's involvement in initiatives such as the Music Industry Review and the COVID-19 data capture project ilostmygig, underscores her passion for addressing critical industry issues at an ecosystem level. Currently serving as the Head of Policy and Advocacy at both ARIA and PPCA, Julia strives to advocate for industry interests with a focus on fostering collaborative partnerships and driving meaningful progress.