It’s really exciting, thank you all for the support!

There wouldn’t be any conflicts of interest in board members participating in the roundtables, but bearing in mind the very limited capacities and that Amy Maiden and Creative Australia will also have a voice in determining who is on the final participant list, I can’t guarantee any prioritisation of board members. I also expect there will be a LOT of interest from the sector to participate.

That said, we could also look at convening an agenda-specific board meeting prior to the roundtables for those interested board members so I can ensure all ideas are incorporated, particularly if there is any positioning from a board level you would like to ensure is embedded.

Please let me know who would be interested and we will scope some meeting options in April/May.

Thank you again everyone!
Kath

Katherine Connor | Executive Director | PAC Australia | +61 (0) 419 428 412 | paca.org.au

From: Heidi Irvine (she/her) <Heidi.Irvine@frankston.vic.gov.au>
Sent: Monday, 30 March 2026 7:57 PM
To: Ian English <ian@staijservices.com.au>; Katherine Connor <katherine@paca.org.au>; board@ask.paca.org.au
Subject: Re: Embargoed - audiences project

Agree Ian, and very excited about the possibilities of all this - from the conversations to potential outcomes. Great work!

Side question - are Board Members allowed to participate or observe any of the roundtables?

I would be keen to apply to participate but understand I may not be able to due to my role on the board. If so, then I would love to be a silent observer of one of the roundtables.

Thanks Kath. Happy to have this conversation one on one if more appropriate - but thought there might be other board members who have the same question!

Best, Heidi x

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From: Ian English via PAC Australia Board <board@ask.paca.org.au>
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2026 8:40:05 PM
To: Katherine Connor <katherine@paca.org.au>; board@ask.paca.org.au <board@ask.paca.org.au>
Subject: [PAC Australia Board] Re: Embargoed - audiences project

Congrats on the successful outcome of this.

Great project and a good potential nett contribution for PAC

Cheers

Ian

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From: Katherine Connor via PAC Australia Board <board@ask.paca.org.au>
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2026 8:27:25 PM
To: board@ask.paca.org.au <board@ask.paca.org.au>
Subject: [PAC Australia Board] Embargoed - audiences project

Hi everyone,

I’m very pleased to confirm that Creative Australia have signed off on a funding proposal for PAC Australia alongside Amy Maiden to move forward with a series of roundtables on the critical issues of audience development and retention in Australia. We had originally envisaged this work as an Audience Summit, inviting a whole-of-sector discussion, however through a lot of discussion and workshopping of the concept, we landed on a series of roundtables with invested leaders (CEOs, Artistic Directors, Programmers, Marketing Directors) to identify and confirm the interventions, resources and game-changing strategies to really shift the dial.

The focus will be on performing arts and participants invited from a wide range and scale of organisations (including independents). Importantly, we are looking to de-silo commercial and subsidised organisations in this project.

This is a critical development in shifting the focus in the sector to audiences, and important positioning for PAC Australia.

I’ve attached an outline of the project for your information; conscious that we will be well advanced with this project by the next board meeting.

Please note this project is still embargoed for another couple of weeks. There will be a call out for participants; we expect that there will be wide-ranging interest, and based on our experience with the national touring roundtable, this needs to be managed very carefully.

Creative Australia are supporting this project with approx. $125K – the exact amount is pending final confirmation of travel costs – of which PAC will net $25K before costs, which will support our EOFY position with an expected dip in investment portfolio income etc.

Any questions, please let me know.

Many thanks,

Katherine

Katherine Connor

(she/her)

Executive Director | PAC Australia | +61 (0) 419 428 412 | paca.org.au

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