Minister Andrea Michaels announced the creation of the Artists at Work Taskforce, a body tasked to investigate work insecurity and income inequality experienced by some South Australian artists and arts workers.

After a call for expressions of interest last November, 27 experts from across the arts, cultural and creative industries were chosen to make up the taskforce. Among them, the Art Gallery of South Australia Chair and former Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, Adelaide Festival Chief Executive Kath M Mainland and Artistic Director Ruth Mackenzie and Greek Australian actress and writer Elena Carapetis.

Members will convene regularly over a four-month period to provide expertise and advice on current issues and industry trends and developments.

“It’s fantastic to announce the members of this important taskforce and I would like to sincerely thank all who applied,” Michaels said.

“There is tremendous passion and experience in South Australia’s arts, culture and creative sector, reflected by the representatives who have joined this taskforce, and who will help create better outcomes and opportunities for artists and arts workers in our state.

“Our arts, culture and creative sector contributes so much to South Australia and to the wellbeing of our community and it is vital that we ensure the sustainability of the sector for the long-term. I want South Australia to be a place where our arts, culture and creative sector grow and thrive and I look forward to working with the Artists at Work Taskforce to achieve this,” she added.

ABOUT ELENA CARAPETIS

Carapetis is a NIDA graduate and an award-winning actor, writer and director whose international stage and screen career spans 30 years. She has performed in, directed and written plays and films across independent, commercial and mainstage industries, and is proud to have taught and mentored dozens of emerging actors, writers and directors based in South Australia. A fierce advocate for artists and the arts, Carapetis has been an active campaigner for best practice work standards, and is a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the Australian Writer’s Guild. She also participated in the culture shifting Safe Theatres movement which designed policies which were adopted nationally, as well as the MEAA Diversity Committee which advocated for better representations of underrepresented cultural groups on our stages and screens. Elena is the daughter of Greek and Cypriot migrants and now has the privilege of living on Kaurna land.

The full list of members includes:

Alison Lloydd-Wright (Chair)

Elena Carapetis

Daniel Connell

Aaron Connor

Mimi Crowe

Christopher Drummond

Sarah Feijen

Jennifer Greer Holmes

Angela Heesom

Justyna Jochym

Amanda Macri

Ross McHenry

Nicholas Linke

Nathan Luscombe

Kath M Mainland / Ruth Mackenzie

Lewis Major

William Mellor

Jo O’Callaghan

Anthony Peluso

Rhys Sandery

Simon Tait

Sandy Verschoor

John Wardle

Emma Webb

Patricia Walton

Samuel Whiting

Rebecca Young