# Cultural Wealth is Not a Luxury: Why QUT’s Performing Arts Programs Matter [Dr Jeremy Neideck](https://www.waapa.ecu.edu.au/about/our-staff/profiles/performance/performing-arts/dr-jeremy-neideck) _Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts @ Edith Cowan University_ ## The Threat to Queensland’s Creative Core The recent announcement of a review of the performing arts at Queensland University of Technology (QUT)–which incorporates the disciplines of drama, acting, dance, and music–signals a precarious moment not only for the university, but for our nation's creative identity. As an undergraduate student at QUT in the early 2000s, I was a witness to the power of drama, not only as the driving force of live performance making, but as a transformative site for the exploration of personal and collective identity and the mechanism for the kinds of transcultural exchanges that have animated my creative, academic, and pedagogical practices ever since. Now, as the Course Coordinator of the Bachelor of Performing Arts at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), I can see QUT’s performing arts programs for what they are–an integral part of Australia’s performing arts ecosystem–a network under threat from a wave of cuts, consolidations, and closures across the nation. Recent reporting by A New Approach (ANA) underscores the [substantial economic and social contributions of Australia’s cultural and creative economy](https://newapproach.org.au/insight-reports/australias-cultural-and-creative-economy-a-21st-century-guide/). In 2016-17, cultural and creative activities contributed $111.7 billion to the national economy, representing 6.4% of GDP and employing 868,000 Australians, or 8.1% of the workforce​. The report also highlights the resilience of cultural and creative industries, noting their high spillover effect on other sectors, and their resistance to automation, positioning them as essential drivers for a 21st-century economy​. Performing arts programs such as those that have been offered for more than 40 years at Kelvin Grove, where the QUT campus now stands, help to fuel these economic benefits, with graduates’ skills–collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation–vital to sectors ranging from education to tourism. The potential loss of these programs–news of which came in the same month the university’s Art Museum was described by management as a “luxury” and its staff [instructed to suspend its 2025 programming](https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/qut-art-museum-told-to-cancel-2025-programming-2763275/)–is not just a local issue; it would send shockwaves through the state’s cultural fabric, weaken an [already struggling national network of performing arts education](https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/october/julian-meyrick/drama-hell), and compromise the wealth of Australia’s cultural and economic vitality. ## QUT is a Global Gateway for Queensland’s Creativity I am writing this in December 2024, from a cafe in the central cavern of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), the colosseum-cum-interstellar amoeba that my QUT drama classmates and I watched rise from the rubble of a baseball stadium in downtown Seoul over repeated study tours in the 2000s, a program led by our lecturers in collaboration with LATT Children's Theatre in Seoul and its visionary artistic director Roger Rynd. Stretching over 22 acres, the DDP is a location that is both iconic and deeply connected to its context. Designed by Zaha Hadid as a "[metonymic landscape](https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a2986-dongdaemun-design-plaza-seoul-by-zaha-hadid-the-metonymic-landscape/)", the DDP integrates Seoul’s historical, cultural, and social fabric into its structure, making it synonymous with the city's identity as a hub of creativity and innovation. The building does not merely exist in its environment; it embodies and reflects the forces that shaped it, serving as a symbol of Seoul's ongoing cultural evolution. Just as the DDP reflects Seoul’s evolving identity, QUT’s performing arts programs have embodied and influenced the creative fabric of Queensland. I am here in Seoul with my collective [Company Bad](https://www.companybad.org/) for the third time this year. There are four of us: Nathan Stoneham, M’ck McKeague, and I are all alumni of QUT’s performance studies and drama education programs. Younghee Park [completed her masters](https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229269/) in the department in 2022 and is currently undertaking her doctorate in the power of multilingual theatre for children to increase social cohesion and bridge intercultural divides. We are in the middle of facilitating a series of skills-sharing workshops with performance makers at the [Korea Disability Arts & Cultural Center](https://www.kdac.or.kr/board/read?boardManagementNo=1&boardNo=3658&searchCategory=&page=1&searchType=&searchWord=&level=2&menuNo=2). Although we haven't always operated under the Company Bad banner, we have been involved in the curation of programs of arts and cultural exchange between our two nations since 2010, a direct continuation of those earlier projects championed by our teachers at QUT. ## QUT is a Proven Incubator for Australia’s Creative Leaders From seemingly humble beginnings as students of performance studies and drama education, those QUT classmates of mine who found themselves as young adults in Seoul have gone on to [found collectives](https://artsreview.com.au/on-the-couch-with-dave-sleswick/), [tour the world](https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/artists/thom-browning), [helm mainstage theatre companies](https://artsreview.com.au/queensland-theatre-appoints-three-new-artistic-directors-to-meet-state-wide-artistic-vision/), [save vital arts and cultural infrastructure](https://scenestr.com.au/music/brisbane-will-welcome-a-new-live-music-venue-with-the-rebirth-of-the-princess-theatre-from-the-owners-of-the-tivoli-20210409), [smash glass ceilings in the film industry](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-23/queensland-film-animators-taking-hollywood-by-storm-kids-movies/104102658), [become experts in education and AI](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bridgetannpearce_on-the-first-day-of-the-school-year-i-presented-activity-7272781253328670720-mA4Q?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop), and [drive best practice in youth engagement](https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenvankrimpen/) and [community development](https://arc.net/l/quote/syknxcss). As a doctoral candidate in the 2010s, and then casual academic and later a fixed-term faculty member, I was afforded the opportunity to contribute to the ways in which QUT's performing arts programs not only trained skilled creative practitioners and specialist secondary teachers but also nurtured the transferrable skills that have led to graduates of QUT's performing arts programs to become critical thinkers and cultural leaders. QUT's performing arts programs have long been incubators for nationally significant arts and cultural practice. It has been the birthplace of the visual theatre juggernaut [Dead Puppets Society](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/peter-and-the-starcatcher-flies-into-melbourne), the wildly successful indie rock band [Ball Park Music](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ball-park-music-album-interview-18205/), and those absurdist icons of queer live art, the [Architects of Sound](https://qnews.com.au/rough-red-raw-architects-of-sound-talk-being-absurdist-icons/). It has been a training ground for generations of acclaimed actors such as [Deborah Mailman](https://nit.com.au/19-08-2024/13196/deborah-mailman-wins-a-silver-logie-and-mob-shine-on-the-red-carpet), [Brenton Thwaites](https://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/movies/new-movies/brenton-thwaites-on-family-christmas-how-to-make-gravy-and-the-johnny-depp-he-knows/news-story/e18307e93d32b83043e9f9a9ccd7dbcd), [Anna McGahan](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/article/gay-conversion-therapy-celibacy-marriage-my-journey-as-a-queer-christian/h2zwaqnlr), and [Thomas Weatherall](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-16/thomas-weatherall-blue-heartbreak-high-la-boite-theatre/103846084), dancers and choreographers such as [Liesel Zink](https://lieselzink.com/) and [Nerida Matthaei](https://www.neridance.com/), and the newest generation of institutional leaders including La Boite Theatre Company’s [Artistic Director Courtney Stewart](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-01/courtney-stewart-la-boite-artistic-director-2023-season/102028524), Queensland Theatre's Associate Artistic Director (Education and Youth) [Fiona MacDonald](https://artsreview.com.au/queensland-theatre-appoints-three-new-artistic-directors-to-meet-state-wide-artistic-vision/), and its [newly appointed Artistic Director Daniel Evans](https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/queensland-theatre-appoints-local-talent-daniel-evans-as-artistic-director-2762446/). QUT's performing arts programs have also been pivotal in fostering First Nations leadership in this country. QUT's drama and acting programs have graduated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in nearly every cohort over the past decade, and have contributed to the development of thought leaders like [Wesley Enoch](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/21/wesley-enoch-when-i-die-i-want-my-dna-to-go-back-into-that-ground-into-that-earth), [Alethea Beatson](https://www.qut.edu.au/engage/alumni/insights/dr-alethea-beetson-dreaming-loud), and [Nicole Reilly](https://www.qut.edu.au/about/faculty-of-science/news-and-events?id=182508). This legacy is not only worth preserving but expanding, as it embodies the commitment to cultural equity and reconciliation championed by its staff. ## QUT is a Vital Node in Australia’s Performing Arts Network Performing arts at QUT is a cluster of disciplines that have their roots in the teaching-intensive environment of the conservatoire in the 1980s and 1990s, were transitioned into the heady experiment that was the creative industries in the 2000s, and helped lead the way in the practice as/practice-led research turn well into the 2010s. QUT is not an isolated institution, but a vital node in a national and international performing arts network. Alongside WAAPA, VCA, and NIDA, and countless other programs across the country, it contributes to a pipeline of talent and innovation that underpins Australia’s cultural industries. QUT drama in particular fills a unique role in Brisbane, offering a praxis-based curriculum that bridges humanities-based and conservatory models of training. No other institution in the region provides this distinctive approach. The volume of contact hours required to instruct the embodied disciplines of drama, acting, dance and music has–until recent exercises in rationalisation that saw the discontinuation of the dance performance discipline–been a major drawcard for future students considering studying in the performance disciplines at QUT. [One of the long-term trade-offs for academics](https://creativematters.edu.au/performing-arts-in-the-academy-withering-on-the-vine/) shouldering the burden of this intensive teaching load and who are attempting to progress in their career is that workload allocations for research are often compromised, and many of my former colleagues have fallen decades behind their peers in other parts of the university in terms of being able to spearhead the kinds of projects that attract the levels of funding that are legible to the institution. Despite this, the roster of ongoing, fixed-term, and casual academics in QUT's performing arts disciplines play an outsized role in the arts and cultural landscape of Australia, and their contributions to the field of live performance research and scholarship is cutting edge. A very short list of these contributions include: - designing [new methodologies for sustainable performance creation and touring of complex visual theatre](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14794713.2022.2099052) - describing [scenography for the end of the world and a more-than-human future](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23322551.2021.1996105) - using [drama to enhance intercultural language learning in a beginner language classrooms](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13569783.2011.617106) - positioning [the arts and drama in the Australian national curriculum](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14452294.2009.12089357) - rethinking [the role of generative artificial intelligence in drama education](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569783.2024.2401335) - championing [consent-based actor training](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19443927.2023.2191986) and [cultural safety as a foundation for allyship in disability arts](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2022.2067468) Perhaps the most heartbreaking recent contribution to the field by this team of academics is the development of [a history of the defunding of Australian theatre organisations](https://www.performanceparadigm.net/index.php/journal/article/view/279). Without the contributions of QUT's performing arts programs, its staff, students, and graduates, Queensland risks losing an important part of its cultural identity and its ability to retain creative professionals. The state’s thriving arts scene–its festivals, theatres, and community programs–depends on a steady influx of graduates from institutions like QUT. The potential closure or erosion of its programs would weaken this ecosystem and jeopardise the state’s ability to meet the creative demands of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. ## The Cost of Losing QUT’s Performing Arts Programs The stakes of this review extend far beyond the university. For many, QUT is one of the few viable options for pursuing a career in the performing arts. Without these programs, students from these communities would face additional barriers, such as the financial burden of relocating interstate, or abandoning their ambitions altogether. This risks eroding the diversity of voices on our stages and screens, further marginalising underrepresented groups and compromising the authenticity and vibrancy of Queensland’s cultural storytelling. Closing or reducing QUT’s performing arts programs would exacerbate existing inequities, as these programs have historically provided accessible pathways for students from low-income, First Nations, and rural or regional backgrounds. As anyone who has participated in the reaccreditation process for a university performing arts program can tell you–the kinds of graduate outcome surveys conducted by universities do not provide the insights necessary to demonstrate community impact or alignment with industry trends. Polling performance art graduates on whether or not they are in stable, full-time employment runs counter to the important work we do as arts academics: [preparing our graduates for a portfolio career](https://www.artshub.com.au/news/career-advice/how-i-manage-my-portfolio-career-in-the-arts-part-1-2757165/). They don’t capture the development of relationships between sector participants, nor between different phases on an individual participant’s career journey. They do not reflect graduate contributions to the workforce as [embedded creatives](https://creative.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/creativity-at-work/), or the value they bring to the community through the use of their transferrable skills. These data collection methods are not keeping pace with the significant changes to the nation’s cultural and creative industries and employment classifications. The [ANA report mentioned above](https://newapproach.org.au/insight-reports/australias-cultural-and-creative-economy-a-21st-century-guide/) for example notes that "there are no detailed analyses of Australia’s cultural and creative trade performance more recent than 2008–09". This means that in moments of crisis like the one faced by the performing arts at QUT, its academics are not able to easily advocate for their contribution to emerging areas of strength and risk losing opportunities to strengthen the economy further. This is a gap in the research that WAAPA's collaborative research group, headed up by Renée Newman is seeking to address through our current "Pipelines and Pathways" project, which seeks to collect the kinds of qualitative data that will help us to tell the kinds of diverse and multi-faceted stories that are more indicative of our graduate’s career journeys. The narrative of "declining demand" that is used in the terms of reference of the QUT review obscures a more nuanced reality: systemic underfunding and inaccurate data collection underrepresent the true employment success of graduates and the robust demand for their skills across the sector. As such, dismantling programs like those at QUT risks not only cultural impoverishment but also economic and workforce setbacks at a time when innovation and adaptability are paramount. ## Reframing Arts Education as a Public Investment The challenges faced by QUT’s performing arts programs reflect a broader issue: the framing of education as a commodity rather than a public good. Neoliberal policies that prioritise "cost-efficiency" and "economic impact" over cultural development undermine the fundamental purpose of universities. The cost of delivering practical, industry-aligned training should not be viewed as a burden but as an investment in Australia’s cultural and economic future. The recently published [_Artists as Workers_ report from Creative Australia](https://creative.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/artists-as-workers-an-economic-study-of-professional-artists-in-australia/) indicates that 70% of Australian artists reside in capital cities, primarily due to better access to arts infrastructure, with regional artists often earning more in non-arts work. This disparity suggests that geographic isolation and limited local opportunities make it difficult for artists to sustain careers. Moreover, cultural and creative employment–which fuels economic growth–continues to face systemic challenges, including skills shortages and limited pathways for graduates, particularly into non-arts sectors like education and public administration. Despite these challenges, as [QUT's own research for Creative Australia has shown](https://creative.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/creativity-at-work/), creative arts graduates are likely to be suitably qualified to work in non-arts sectors such as education and public administration as embedded creatives, and in other capacities, due to the highly transferable nature of their skills and knowledge. One question that must be asked is “what happens to the regions, when our flagship metropolitan programs are now under threat?” Threats that drove [Julian Meyrick to write in 2021](https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/october/julian-meyrick/drama-hell): > According to my rough list, seven universities have closed or cut to the bone their drama departments, two have increased their class sizes appreciably, and three have experienced significant leadership difficulties. A few are doing okay, but for these you have to add “for now”. “For now” is right now. As early as 2014, the political and economic confluence bound up in the term “creative industries” was starting to come undone, as [posited by Justin O’Connor](https://theconversation.com/what-got-lost-between-cultural-and-creative-industries-23658): > The cultural economy sits here. Not as a marketing and social media adjunct for the financial services but as a crucial contribution to the livelihoods of thousands of people and to the joys and meanings of lives lived individually and collectively. Reducing culture to a “creative input” runs the risk of squandering our cultural inheritance and shackling not liberating the creative imagination we desperately require to change the world. We must resist the prima facie reading of the economic contribution of the arts in order to prevent a further erosion of its value to society. The Australian Treasury’s wellbeing framework [_Measuring What Matters_](https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftreasury.gov.au%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2023-07%2Fmeasuring-what-matters-statement020230721_0.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Cj.neideck%40ecu.edu.au%7C490ac204f1504c6921f908dd1c166627%7C9bcb323d7fa345e7a36f6d9cfdbcc272%7C1%7C0%7C638697604896745899%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=J9HcHqXs6KOg9g8F9FE5FavR0IjM1mtFCRPTK4hhnIM%3D&reserved=0) advocates for the measuring of factors that contribute to a sense of belonging and culture, QUT drama’s own Professor Sandra Gattenhof is a leader in the evaluation of the [role of arts and culture in communities](https://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Gattenhof,_Sandra.html). Policymakers, alumni, industry leaders, and the public must unite to champion QUT’s performing arts programs. This is a fight not just for an institution but for the principles of access, creativity, and diversity that underpin our shared cultural future. ## Protecting QUT to Secure Queensland’s Cultural Future Just as the Dongdaemun Design Plaza stands as a bricks-and-mortar embodiment of the flowing fabric sold in the busy markets it butts up against, and its LED-lit organic forms erupting out of the ancient ruins of the city's protective walls evoke the chaos of the "[miracle on the river Han](https://asiafoundation.org/south-korea-the-paradox-on-the-han-river/)", so too is QUT a metonym for the arts and culture of Queensland. As the newly elected LNP Government in Queensland considers Barrambin (Victoria Park)–a major site of historic and cultural significance adjacent to QUT’s Kelvin Grove Campus–as the location for the 2032 Olympic Games, it is vital to remind policymakers of QUT's integral place in the state’s cultural and creative landscape. The last time an LNP Government was installed in Queensland, the first major budget decision was the [scrapping of the Premier’s Literary Awards](https://www.crikey.com.au/2012/04/04/can-do-economy-244k-saved-on-arts-awards-in-4-6b-deficit/), which turned out to be just the thin end of the wedge, with $12.4 million of [arts and cultural funding cut in its first budget](https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/queensland-budget-slashes-arts-191575-2300238/). This state-level gutting of the arts sector in 2012 was itself a rehearsal for the federal slashing of investment in the arts [under the ministry of George Brandis in 2015](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/04/australias-arts-funding-crisis-george-brandis-one-man-show). Although as an industry, we attempted to make the best of this downward turn by appreciating the solidarity found in [advocacy and uniting behind a common cause](https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/brandis-might-have-done-the-arts-a-favour-252757-2354599/), the [weakening of our cultural infrastructure, the loss of transparency, and the entrenching of inequality](https://theconversation.com/latest-arts-windfalls-show-money-isnt-enough-we-need-transparency-154725), left us ill-equipped to survive the ravages of COVID-19, and even the [most nimble and entrepreneurial of institutions in the Queensland have suffered the long-term consequences](https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/why-did-this-multi-arts-organisation-lose-its-federal-arts-funding-2694971/). QUT's performing arts programs are not merely academic courses; they embody and reflect the creative ambitions, diverse stories, and community connections that define the state. QUT’s programs have shaped and been shaped by Queensland’s artistic ecosystem. To diminish or erase QUT’s performing arts programs would be akin to losing a part of the landscape itself. QUT’s programs thrive on their interconnectedness with the broader cultural and social environment. They embody the essence of Queensland’s creative identity, and their survival is essential to sustaining that identity for future generations. If we are not careful, we risk leaving future generations to watch stadiums rise where cultural icons once stood. The arts are not a luxury; they are a lifeline, a mirror, and a compass for society. Protecting QUT’s performing arts programs is an investment in a richer, more inclusive, and innovative Australia. --- **Created**: [[2025-01-10|Friday 10 January 2025]] **Published**: [[2025-01-13|Monday 13 January 2025]] **Updated**: 07:33 [[2025-01-14|Tuesday 14 January 2025]]