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Arts Access Australia
Annual Report 2016
1.0 About us
Arts Access Australia (AAA) is the peak national body for arts and disability.
AAA is a disability-led company limited by guarantee and governed by a volunteer board. It was originally established as a project of Arts Access Victoria in 1992, and became a fully incorporated organisation in 1998.
We work to increase opportunities and access for people with disability as artists, arts-workers, participants and audiences.
AAA provides three key services for our members:
· Representation and Advocacy
· Facilitation and Development
· Information and Advice
AAA has an inclusive approach to disability, and works across all areas of the arts, with all art forms, all age groups, and across all disabilities.
AAA works in collaboration with members in every state and territory of Australia. We also work with people without disability, arts and cultural organisations, and others within the wider arts and disability sectors.
Our members include the state peak arts and disability bodies, disability and mainstream arts organisations, disability services, and individual artists and arts-workers with disability.
2.0 From the Chairperson
Once again Arts Access Australia has demonstrated how a small group of dedicated individuals can deliver a big impact across the nation and beyond.
AAA has had a strong international focus in 2016, starting the year at the Creative Connections forum in Ireland and ending the year with a new partnership blooming in Berlin. This Berlin partnership is already showing promise, attracting a Catalyst Arts and Cultural funding grant of $101,830 to deliver a cultural exchange project in 2017.
Increased revenue in 2016, has been a real game changer for AAA. It has been a great relief to be the recipients of a four-year funding grant from the Australia Council for the Arts. This core funding positions AAA with a strong foundation to continue work as an important arts peak body and deliver sustainable services into the future. I would like to congratulate our CEO Emma Bennison and her team, for their tenacity in securing significant grants in 2016.
It has been good to see the AAA team grow this year. We have recruited two new staff members, a Project Coordinator and a Funding and Development consultant, which enables us to focus more resources to support our members and develop innovative ways to increase access in the arts for people who live with disability. It has been a great pleasure to Chair the AAA Board this year, thank you to all staff and board members for your support and contribution throughout the year, I look forward to working with you in 2017.
Mallika Macleod
Arts Access Australia Chairperson
3.0 Program Highlights
3.1 Presentation and showcasing of work
3.1.1 Arts Access Australia @ Creative Connections, Ireland.
AAA started the year with an international presentation at the Creative Connections Arts & Disability Conversation and Showcase event on 27 and 28 January, at the Town Hall Theatre and Black Box in Galway Ireland. In a session titled Artist, Advocate or Both? CEO Emma Bennison explored the feasibility of sustaining a music career while being an arts and disability leader at a national level. Emma described the conference as “one of the most welcoming, accessible, thought-provoking and just plain fun events I’ve ever been to… Ireland and Australia can learn much from one another when it comes to arts and disability,” she said.
A blog post Emma Bennison about her experience at the event can be found at http://disabilityartsonline.org.uk/?location_id=3004&item=2691
3.1.2 Meeting Place 2016 @ the Adelaide Festival Centre, South Australia.
AAA’s signature event Meeting Place was held in Adelaide on 27th of May this year. Over 120 people attended the event, with the ‘Don’t Pay Us, Play Us’ session on authentic casting voted the most popular discussion, panel members included Sofya Gollan, Sector Investment Manager at Screen NSW, and Kate Hood, Artistic Director at Raspberry Ripple. Other guest presenters and panel members included Jo Verrent, Senior Producer of Unlimited festival UK, and Pádraig Naughton, Director of Arts and Disability Ireland. Thank you to our sponsors and supporters, Uber, Talunga Estate, Captioning Studio and the Department of Social Services. The event was streamed live and videos of each session can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdzLFNml_7s
3.1.3 Berlin Museums Conference
Grassroots NFP organisation Foerderband invited AAA CEO Emma Bennison to speak via Skype on access and inclusion at the Berlin museums conference. This international relationship resulted in the development of the Berlin Exchange project and securing of a Catalyst Funding grant for $101,830, to visit Berlin in 2017.
3.2 Information & Support
AAA responded to an estimated 1180 requests for information and support, attended over 140 meetings and wrote letters of support to ten people and organisations seeking assistance for funding applications. In 2016, AAA had approximately 100 financial members.
3.3 National Conversations and Working Parties
3.3.1 The NDIS Working Group
The AAA NDIS Working Group was created to advocate for the support needs of artists and artsworkers with disability. The group met five times over the year and key activities included a submission to the review of the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Guidelines; arranging meetings with policy staff from the Department of Social Services to put NDIS and the arts on their policy agenda; and contributing to the NDIS pricing review.
3.3.2 Marrakesh Treaty
AAA participated in the Australian Publishers Forum on the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty on 8th November in Sydney. The Treaty aims to facilitate the sharing of books across international borders in alternative formats without the need to seek permission from the copyright holder. The Forum also looked at initiatives to advance ‘Born Accessible’ content in the commercial sector. More information can be found here https://www.publishers.asn.au/policy-agenda/marrakesh-treaty-forum
3.3.3 Other Advocacy Work
AAA supported the National arts election debate held at the Wheeler Centre in June, advising on access and providing Auslan interpreting. The Australia Council for the Arts engaged AAA to undertake an independent evaluation of their Disability Action Plan and dedicated funding round. AAA also contributed to a podcast for the new Masters in Cultural Leadership being delivered by NIDA in January, and also joined Artspeak in their mission to promote the value of the arts in Australia.
3.4 Partnerships
3.4.1 Arts Activated Conference @ Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW
AAA provided significant support to Accessible Arts to implement the Arts Activated Conference in September this year. The premiere biennial arts and disability conference in Australia, ‘Arts Activated’ showcases the accomplishments of people with disability, as leaders, arts practitioners, audience and advocates, alongside best practice initiatives from the arts and cultural industries. AAA joined in a leadership conversation with international guest Pádraig Naughton from Arts and Disability, Ireland and Veronica Pardo, CEO of Arts Access Victoria. AAA also hosted a peer networking dinner for artists with disability, filling the function of the disability-only closed sessions delivered at every AAA Meeting Place.
3.4.2 The Other Film Festival Melbourne
AAA contributed to a panel on authentic casting and screened the Leadership Through a Different Lens film and had a leadership conversation with Veronica Pardo, CEO of Arts Access Victoria and Pádraig Naughton, Director of Arts and Disability Ireland.
3.5 Campaigns & Media
Leading on from the Meeting Place discussion on Authentic Casting much of AAA’s media focus for 2016 was on campaigning to improve disability representation on Australian stage and screen. Coverage included an interview on ABC Radio's PM program, www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4527157.htm; and an article in the Guardian Newspaper:
www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/24/disability-and-the-new-normal-why-australia-needs-to-ramp-up-access-to-stage-and-screen?CMP=share_btn_fb
Other media publications focused on a response to the Federal Budget in June, when AAA called for Equity or Equality. AAA CEO Emma Bennison also presented with Padraig Naughton from Arts and Disability Ireland on 3CR Radio program called 'Are You Looking at Me’.
With a dedicated staff member now focused on social media, AAA has experienced increased engagement on Facebook and Twitter. On average we received 20 (FB) and 15 (Twitter) enquiries for information per month. AAA now has over 2500 e-news subscribers, and the website continues to attract visitors with an estimated total of 77647 page views and 17080 unique visits.
4.0 AAA Board Members and Staff Team
4.1 AAA Board Members 2016
Arts Access Australia is a disability-led organisation governed by a national Board of Directors. At least 50% of our Board must be made up of people with disability at any one time.
· Mallika Macleod, Chair, Manager Participation, Arts and Health at DADAA in Western Australia, original member.
· Jacqueline Hornjik, Deputy Chair, Artistic Director at Grass Arts Company, individual member from NSW.
· Frank Ashe, Treasurer, co-opted individual member from Sydney.
· Jenine Mackay, CEO at Incite Arts formally Arts Access Central Australia, original member (non-voting).
· Gaelle Mellis, Creative Director at Access2Arts, Adelaide, original member (non-voting).
· Belinda Locke, Philanthropy Coordinator at Malthouse Theatre, individual member from Victoria
· Dan Graham, individual member from NSW.
· Paul Calcott, individual member from Queensland. (resigned February 2016)
4.2 AAA Staff Team 2016
· Emma Bennison, CEO
· Sarah Briggs, Financial Officer
· Louise Josephs, Administration Officer (commenced February, ended November 2016)
· Kathie Kelly, Funding and Development Consultant (commenced February 2016)
· Angela Jaeschke, Project Coordinator (commenced July 2016)
5.0 Treasurer’s Report
The organisation recorded a small loss of $1,030 in 2016 on an income of $166,893 and expenditure of $167,923. Our cash balance increased significantly as a result of positive cash flows occurring before required expenditure. We have retained earnings of $100,567 which is a comfortable level considering the financial climate. On behalf of the board, I would like to express my thanks to AAA’s CEO and staff for managing the finances well during a difficult year.
Frank Ashe
Treasurer
Arts Access Australia, PO Box 6064, WOODLANDS, WA 6018
Phone +61 419 201 338 Email Web www.artsaccessaustralia.org