Nine Entertainment Co mastheads are reporting that Creative Australia will undertake a major review of Opera Australia’s management and decision-making processes in the wake of the sudden resignation of its Artistic Director Jo Davies after only 18 months in the role.

The Creative Australia review will be helmed by Gabrielle Trainor, a lawyer and former journalist with three decades of experience on boards in the public and private sectors ranging from infrastructure, financial services, transport and urban development, to sports, arts and culture organisations. Trainor led a similar review of Sydney Symphony Orchestra operations in 2019.

Fiona Allan. Photo © Prudence Upton.

Quoted in a Sydney Morning Herald story, OA CEO Fiona Allan said the review was “unrelated” to Davies’ departure and will focus instead on “OA governance processes involving executive and board leadership, that’s my understanding of the scope I’ve seen.”

OA released its Annual Report in May, one an overall operating loss of $4.9m. The OA productions attracting the largest audiences in 2022–23 were its musicals: Miss Saigon (145, 845 across Melbourne and Sydney) and the Melbourne seasons of The Phantom of the Opera (over...