A Seat at the Table: Regional Arts in Dialogue
Warren Mason performing at Tin Camp Studio, Lightning Ridge place-based music venue, Outback Arts, 2024. Photo: Outback Outloud Rainy King.
Last week our CEO Lorrayne Fishenden joined a regional roundtable hosted by Arts North West, bringing together local arts and cultural leaders with the Create NSW team — Kerri Glasscock (Executive Director), Lauren Judge (Director of Policy and Strategy), and Portia Lindsay (Senior Regional Programs Lead) following the launch of Heartland: A Plan for Regional NSW Arts, Culture and Creative Industries 2026–2035.
We began in the right way, on Country.
The Welcome to Country was delivered by Peter White, a Gamilaroi Murri, who is championing new ways of working with mob. Peter reminded us that this place has always been a meeting ground. For millennia, generations have gathered here to undertake cultural business and this roundtable was an extension of that continuing practice.
He spoke about cultural authority, responsibility to Country, and the reality that Aboriginal people have always had a voice. The question has never been whether we have a voice, it has been whether our voices are heard.
That framing set the tone for honest, open and at times challenging conversation.
The Create NSW team shared insights into the broader policy landscape including the Creative Communities Policy, the regional Heartland plan, and the internal restructure designed to shift focus from building infrastructure to investing in the people who make and activate culture across the state. They spoke about the complexity of working across whole-of-government systems, and the ambition to embed long-term structural change through legislation, reporting, and strategic planning.
But as always, the most important part of the day was what regional leaders voiced back.
Respect and the realities of regional participation
A consistent theme was the way consultation and engagement is structured. Short notice, tight timeframes, and metropolitan assumptions often make participation difficult for regional communities. Travel distances are vast. Family and community responsibilities are real. Cultural obligations do not pause for policy cycles.
When people don’t attend, it can be misread as disengagement. In truth, processes are often not designed with regional realities in mind. Respect looks like adequate notice, accessible formats, and genuine time to prepare and respond.
Cultural authority and lived responsibility
Peter’s Welcome stayed with many of us throughout the day. Aboriginal communities in regional towns are not homogenous, and many people carry strong cultural obligations that extend beyond geography. There is a responsibility to protect Country, to uphold cultural authority, and to care for community including those who choose to make this place home.
Understanding that layered responsibility is critical when designing policy and funding frameworks that aim to strengthen First Nations arts and culture.
Jobs, sustainability and investing in people
Another strong thread was sustainability. Regional organisations are delivering extraordinary outcomes, often with limited, short-term project funding. Buildings can be funded. Programs can be funded. But without adequate investment in the people who run them salaries, administration, governance and operational capacity sustainability remains fragile.
Capacity building is important, but it must be paired with viable, properly paid jobs in regional communities. If we are serious about strengthening creative careers in the regions, we must invest in the people who sustain the work.
Trust, transparency and the path forward
There was also frank discussion about instability in the sector and the erosion of trust over recent years. The stress on organisations and individuals has been real. The openness of the conversation and the willingness of Create NSW representatives to listen was important.
Repairing trust takes time. It requires consistency, transparency and follow-through.
What was clear is that regional NSW is not short of ideas, leadership or commitment. What communities are asking for is partnership that respects distance, understands lived reality, and invests in people not just projects.
Thank you to Arts North West for hosting, and to Kerri Glasscock, Lauren Judge and Portia Lindsay from Create NSW for their time and for allowing open and transparent conversation with the sector.
Having a seat at the table matters. Ensuring regional voices shape the decisions that affect our communities matters even more.
