TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2025
QUEENSLAND ART GALLERY, BRISBANE
Acknowledgements
- The Traditional Custodians of these lands and the Brisbane River (Maiwar), the Yuggera people.
- Adrian Collette AM, Chief Executive Officer, Creative Australia
- Wesley Enoch AM, Chair, Australia Council Board of Creative Australia
- Hannah Pelka-Caven, Board Member, Creative Australia
- Friends in the arts community, their supporters and advocates
Introduction
The Creative Australia Awards recognise the remarkable contribution our artists and creative workers make—not just to their own art forms, but to the cultural life of our nation.
They honour individuals who have reached for, and realised, the highest ambitions for excellence in music, literature, community arts and cultural development, emerging and experimental arts, visual arts, theatre and dance.
And they give us a moment to pause; to reflect on the deep and lasting impression that artists leave on Australian society at large.
Creative Australians enrich our culture and deepen our understanding of ourselves:
who we were,
who we are,
and who we might become.
And Australia needs you now more than ever.
In a time when the differences between us are too often weaponised rather than celebrated, we look to our artists to renew those shared bonds of humanity.
So to all our award recipients: congratulations, but more importantly, thank you.
Thank you for your tirelessness, your boundless imagination and your dedication to your practice.
Thank you for everything you do to uplift us, to challenge us, and to move us.
Too often, our artists and arts workers receive far less recognition than they deserve.
I know that most creatives don’t pursue public adulation or fame.
Few of the artists I meet are in it for the awards.
But I hope that by the end of tonight, you leave certain that what you do is noticed, valued, and deeply respected.
The awards to be presented tonight were judged not by a government agency, and not by a Minister, or Special Envoy.
They were judged by your colleagues in the arts community – your peers, who have watched your careers flourish with admiration and pride.
The path of the artist is hardly an easy one.
Artmaking can be solitary, and it is rarely without its setbacks or disappointments.
But the next time you encounter one of those inevitable moments of doubt, I want you to remember how widely—and how deeply—the admiration for you and your work extends.
Remember, too, how many people—people whose names you may never know—are quietly willing you success from afar.
Because you wouldn’t be in this room tonight, surrounded by so much goodwill, if it were otherwise.
We’re now two and a half years into Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place—Australia’s National Cultural Policy.
A core objective of Revive is that the arts sector reflect the full diversity of Australian society.
People with disability have always shaped Australian arts and screen culture, and the National Arts and Disability Awards we’re presenting this evening honour that vital, ongoing contribution.
It is fitting that these awards are presented alongside the Creative Australia Awards, because artists with disability belong in the mainstream of creative practice in Australia:
not separate from it,
not peripheral to it,
but firmly within it.
The Albanese Government remains committed to dismantling barriers for both storytellers and audiences.
The benefits of a life led with creativity are too profound and too essential not to be shared by all.
Since its release in January 2023, Revive has made major strides in strengthening the creative industries and supporting Australian artists.
Nearly two and a half years on, 72 of its 85 actions have been delivered.
Funding cuts have been reversed, Creative Australia has been transformed and is delivering life-changing new opportunities for artists.
In my role as Special Envoy for the Arts, it has been so rewarding to see the effects of these changes on the ground:
more voices heard,
more stories told,
more ambitions realised.
But we know there is more to do, and we will do more.
The next iteration of the National Cultural Policy is expected in 2027.
And when the time comes to renew it, we will again take our lead from you, the sector.
The Albanese Government does not believe in imposing our will on the arts community.
Government must not be the originator or arbiter of creativity, but it can be an enabler of it.
It was Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who reminded us half a century ago:
“Governments cannot create good writing or great art, but they can create the conditions in which the arts are most likely to flourish.”
Like the Whitlam Government before us, the Albanese Government will do all we can to ensure that creative Australians have the conditions they need - not just to survive, but to flourish.
Not far from where we’re gathered stands Archie Moore’s stunning work, kith and kin, which won the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice Biennale – the most prestigious arts award in the world.
I am proud that the Australian Government has acquired and donated the work to GOMA, so that Australians can stand within it, breathe it in, and feel the full force of this extraordinary creation.
It feels fitting to gather tonight so near to this work, because it stands as a powerful example of what becomes possible when we recognise the talents of Creative Australians and back their ambitions. I promised Archie I’d come and see it and I am so looking forward to keeping that promise.
The success of Archie’s exhibition speaks directly to one of the core ambitions of Revive: to support our artists to create works that resonate deeply, travel widely, and tell our stories with clarity and courage. I have no doubt that next year’s Australian representation at the Venice Biennale will also do.
In their own very different ways, tonight’s award recipients have all helped to realise the ambition of clarity and courage.
Tonight’s awards are a modest token of gratitude offered by a supportive Australian Government, on behalf of a profoundly grateful Australian people.
Congratulations to every artist receiving an award tonight and thank you for everything you’ve done to bring you here.
ENDS
