9 Winners Announced for National Performing Arts Awards
Winners for PAC Australia’s IMPACT Awards were announced on Wednesday 9 September 2026 at The West End Electric as part of the Australian Performing Arts Exchange (APAX).
The annual national awards celebrate performing arts leadership and excellence, with a focus on impact on communities, and the broader performing arts sector.
The highest achievement in the awards, the Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award, acknowledges exceptional, longstanding contributions to the live performance sector by an individual or organisation. This Award honours the illustrious career and the services of Wendy Blacklock AM, who was a pioneer of national touring and founder of Performing Lines.
The 2026 recipient of the Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award is Arts on Tour.
Arts on Tour is one of Australia’s most prolific touring service organisations for the performing arts and the peak body for touring in NSW. This year the Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award goes to Arts on Tour for their ongoing and esteemed sector leadership, from the core business of tour management through to responding to the many challenges faced by touring companies and presenting organisations. These include initiatives addressing mental wellbeing on the road, sustainable touring practices, supporting tour readiness for companies new to the field, delivering market development platforms such as Salon and Backroads, championing workforce and skills development by supporting initiatives such as Tour Ready, Tour Fit and improving community engaged practice through initiative such as ENGAGE!
PAC Australia’s Executive Director, Katherine Connor said “Arts on Tour is an organisation which doesn’t shy away from challenges, constantly seeks to improve the conditions within the sector, and understands that lasting change is built through partnership and collaboration.”
Congratulations to Arts on Tour on this incredible achievement.
The 2026 Performing Arts Centre of the Year Award goes to Frankston Arts Centre
Frankston Arts Centre is recognised for their authentic commitment to inclusion, accessibility and community connection and their success in embedding the arts into everyday community life and establishing the venue as a place where everyone feels welcome and represented.
Beyond its venue, Frankston Arts Centre extends its reach into schools, health settings and public spaces, building partnerships that connect the arts with community wellbeing, education and civic life. It has invested significantly in artists and creative development, supporting new work, fostering creative risk-taking and creating pathways for local artists to thrive.
Frankston Arts Centre’s approach to bringing new audiences into their venue is grounded in genuine relationship building, inviting people not to just attend, but to participate, collaborate and help shape the cultural life of their community.
Katherine Connor says “Frankston Arts Centre is a fitting winner of Performing Arts Centre of the Year. Their commitment to inclusion and accessibility has made the venue a genuine place of belonging, while their work in schools, health settings and public spaces shows how a performing arts centre meaningfully embeds the arts in community life. They have also invested consistently in local artists, creating real pathways for creative development. This award reflects the strength of their approach to building relationships with audiences.”
The 2026 Innovator Award goes to Theatre Royal, Hobart
Theatre Royal, Hobart has been selected for the 2026 Innovator Award in recognition of tunapri kani (Speaking Knowledge). The Acknowledgement Project is the only known initiative of its kind in Australia. The project embeds Aboriginal cultural knowledge within a major arts institution through a recording played prior to every performance in Theatre Royal’s venues. Each time it’s played, a royalty payment is made by Theatre Royal into a community-managed fund supporting the development of Palawa/Tasmanian Aboriginal artists.
This award recognises the depth of genuine partnership with Palawa Elder Uncle Jim Everett – puralia meenamatta and cultural leader Sinsa Mansell, and the ongoing royalty trust, which ensures First Nations intellectual property is recognised and remunerated. Rather than functioning as a Welcome, tunapri kani is an imparting of Aboriginal philosophy, creating a moment of reflection and inviting audiences to consider Country, place and responsibility.
“At a time when authentic collaboration is more important than ever, tunapri kani offers a moving example of how organisations can work together to create lasting impact” from Katherine Connor.
IMPACT Award Winner – ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company is selected for a 2026 IMPACT Award in recognition of the extraordinary reach and impact of BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS.
BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS is a rock ‘n’ roll theatre show celebrating the remarkable story of Sammy Tjapanangka Butcher, a founding member of the iconic Warumpi Band. Warumpi Band were the first artists to record music in language and are renowned for communicating politics and activism through song.
This IMPACT award recognises BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS’ ability to connect with audiences in a wide range of settings, from major festival stages to communities with limited access to live theatre. This award is bestowed in recognition of ILBIJERRI’s commitment to adapting the production to tour into prisons (which for many audiences was their first experience of live performance) and engaging in a Bush Tour, performing to sold out crowds in Alice Springs, Barunga, Gulkula, Townsville and the ‘bush capital’ Canberra. These tours significantly extended the reach and impact of the production far beyond traditional theatre settings.
Katherine Connor said “PAC Australia deeply admires ILBIJERRI’s work in adapting the production for entirely different audiences, and demonstrating a deep understanding of who and where your audience is. Congratulations to the entire ILBIJERRI team on a project that has generated immense pride, connection and opportunity for communities across the country”.
IMPACT Award Winner – GUTS Dance Central Australia
GUTS Dance Central Australia is recognised with an IMPACT Award for their extraordinary contribution to arts and culture in Central Australia over the past eight years.
As a small, remote organization, the sheer scale of what GUTS has built in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, is extraordinary, as is the generosity and care woven into everything they do.
GUTS has created opportunities for thousands of young people to experience dance and championed artists through a sector-leading commitment to fair remuneration.
Katherine Connor said “GUTS epitomises what community-centred cultural leadership can achieve. Congratulations on this richly deserved recognition of your commitment to artistic excellence, cultural equity and the future of young people in Central Australia”.
IMPACT Award Winner – Harley Stumm
Harley Stumm is recognised with an IMPACT Award in 2026 for the extraordinary impact he has made across the sector, working behind the scenes and without the backing of a major institution.
Across his career Harley has worked with Utp (formerly known as Urban Theatre Projects), Performing Lines and founded Intimate Spectacle in 2012. In these roles and in his independent practice he has, and continues to, champion artists and companies, creating touring pathways that support independent work and mentoring emerging producers.
Katherine Connor says, “We’ve long recognised the work of Harley Stumm, and it’s so wonderful to publicly acknowledge Harley’s career – one defined by generosity, leadership and an unwavering commitment to artists and their work.”
IMPACT Award Winner – Virginia Winter
Virginia Winter is recognised with an IMPACT Award in 2026 for her leadership at Portland Arts Centre and the creation of Oceanside Pride, Portland’s first Pride event.
Virginia is the recipient of an IMPACT Award in recognition of what she has achieved within a regional community where resources are limited, and creating change requires persistence, courage, and collaboration.
From Katherine Connor “It’s important that we not only recognise the work of organisations in our industry, but the individuals so meaningfully leading those organisations. Virginia’s leadership and commitment to building genuine, culturally safe connections within Portland’s LGBTQIA+ and First Nations communities demonstrated thoughtful and inclusive leadership, creating spaces where people feel seen, supported and connected.”
IMPACT Award Winner – ROOKE with Theatre Royal, Hobart, Theatre North, paranaple arts centre and Burnie Arts
Our final IMPACT Award of 2026 goes to performing arts company ROOKE with performing arts centre partners Theatre Royal, Hobart, Theatre North, paranaple arts centre and Burnie Arts.
Rooke and the Tasmanian Performing Arts Centres Network (TPAC) made up of Theatre Royal, Hobart, Theatre North, paranaple arts centre and Burnie Arts are recognised for the Circus Across Tasmania program.
The initiative is built on collaboration, bringing world-class circus directly into the halls and hearts of small-town Tasmania. The network brought Tasmania’s major performing arts centres together to collaborate on a shared touring strategy, which in turn resulted in expanding access to high-quality contemporary circus, reducing financial and geographic barriers, strengthening regional communities, and creating more sustainable employment opportunities for artists. This program is an example of how venues can work together to deliver accessible, high-impact culture straight to small communities.
“Partnerships are really what continue to make the performing arts sector hum, and contribute so significantly to the impact of arts in our communities. Congratulations to ROOKE and to the TPAC venues on a program that shows what is possible through thoughtful and meaningful collaboration.” from Katherine Connor.
This year, PAC Australia chose to bestow a posthumous IMPACT Award to arts leader Fiona Winning.
Fiona worked with creative organisations across Australia. She led Urban Theatre Projects (now Utp) as Artistic Director until 1995, moving the organisation to Western Sydney in 1990. She later served as Director of Performance Space, where she oversaw its transition to Carriageworks and launched the inaugural LiveWorks Festival, then as Head of Programming at Sydney Festival and subsequently at Sydney Opera House. She was also instrumental in establishing NIDA’s Master of Fine Arts (Cultural Leadership), co-designing the program and teaching in its early years.
This award honours the arts leader whose influence shaped contemporary performance in Australia for more than four decades, and whose work inspired and mentored a generation of cultural leaders who continue to carry her values forward. Her career was defined by her deep commitment to artists, audiences, and the transformative power of live performance.
PAC Australia’s Executive Director Katherine Connor said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, whose work reflects genuine leadership, new thinking and lasting impact in our communities. These awards exist to recognise contributions like theirs, and tonight has been a valuable opportunity to celebrate the artists, producers, presenters and venues driving that impact across the sector.”
The Australian Performing Arts Exchange continues until Friday 11 September in Magandjin | Brisbane with conversations, panels and networking opportunities for a delegation of over 500 live performance sector artists, producers and presenters.