Launched in late 2023, the NSW government’s Creative Communities initiative was set the goal of sustainably growing the state’s creative industries sector, one that currently represents approximately 10% of the state’s economy.

A Creative Communities Council of 11 industry stakeholders has now been appointed to advise on policy.

Louise Herron. Photo supplied

Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron and Sydney Fringe festival director Kerri Glasscock will serve as inaugural chair and deputy chair, respectively.

They are joined by curator and Arts & Cultural Exchange executive director Anne Loxley, NSW State Librarian Caroline Butler-Bowdon, Benjamin Lee (co-founder of graphics and FX company Blowfish Studios), MEAA chief executive Erin Madeley, ARIA head of policy and advocacy Julia Robinson, Eastern Riverina Arts’ Tim Kurlowicz, Secretary of the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Elizabeth Mildwater, APRA AMCOS executive director Nicholas Pickard and producer Darren Dale of Blackfella Films.

Among the policy priorities are the development of a new model for creative spaces in which the NSW Government will join with City of Sydney to examine the feasibility of establishing a Creative Land Trust, an independent, not-for-profit trust responsible for securing creative production spaces,...