Apply
Join our capacity-building program to promote greater equity and inclusion for arts and cultural organisations in regional Victoria.
MEDIA RELEASE: OPEN FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST – FAIR PLAY REGIONAL VICTORIA
Following the success of round 1 of the Fair Play Regional Victoria, applications are currently open for a second round which will run from 5 July-2 October 2023.
Launched in early 2023 by Diversity Arts Australia and Creative Victoria, ‘Fair Play Regional Victoria’, is a capacity-building program supporting greater equity and inclusion for Council-run and owned arts and cultural venues.
Tailored to regional venues in Victoria and the specific issues that they face, Fair Play focuses on developing each venue’s skills and capacity in working with First Nations people, culturally and racially marginalised people and People with Disability. Organisations are matched with a mentor and receive training from specialist educators.
The program’s first intake included Gippsland Art Gallery, Colac Otway Performing Arts and Cultural Centre (COPACC), Riverlinks (Greater Shepparton Council) and Horsham Regional Art Gallery.
Diversity Arts Australia is the national voice for ethnocultural and migrant racial equity in the arts, cultural and creative industries. However, through working with Koorie Heritage Trust and Arts Access Victoria and other key partners, the program’s focus includes First Nations, Disability and Culturally and Racially Marginalised communities.
“Fair Play encourages systemic change by empowering and supporting organisations to develop the foundations and strategies they need to participate in more equitable creative industries,” said Lena Nahlous, CEO of Diversity Arts Australia. “It is a truly groundbreaking program and I want to thank and congratulate Creative Victoria and the Victorian Government for their vision and support. Their investment is paving the way for significant change in our industry.”
Venues – museums, galleries, performing arts centres – learn how to change their structures and practices to improve accessibility, respect and inclusion of marginalised communities. Teams undertake educational and practical workshops where they are given the tools and support to critically assess and dismantle existing workplace participation barriers and work to set realistic goals for creating organisational change.
Participant feedback from the first round has been resoundingly positive, with one participant saying, “[The trainer] put the concepts of systemic racism into a way that was easy to navigate and gave me insight and understanding into what we are doing as a society and how I can begin to make change and equity within such a conservative space.” Another participant spoke about the impact of their accessibility training, “[I will] work towards making access thinking my default way of thinking.”
After completing the program, organisations will have developed an Equity Action/ Diversity and Inclusion Plan tailored to their venue.
Fair Play Regional Victoria is open to council-owned and operated venues, including galleries and performing arts centres (PACs) in Creative Victoria’s Regional Partnerships project.
Interest in Round Two of Fair Play Regional Victoria can be expressed here.
Find out more about Fair Play.