Peak body for performing arts touring calls it a day

Changes to the sector, coupled with funding strictures and the need to avoid duplicating services, have led to the Performing Arts Touring Alliance winding up.

A scene from the 2018 regional tour of Skylab, a Black Swan State Theatre Company and Yirra Yaakin co-production.

The Performing Arts Touring Alliance (PATA) was established in 2009 in order to strengthen the touring sector nationally. It has now officially been disbanded.

‘PATA existed as a medium-term national strategy, supported by the Australia Council, to drive better communication and unity of purpose amongst venues, producers, government instrumentalities and peak bodies that deliver performing arts touring across Australia,’ said Rachel Healy, co-Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival and the most recent PATA Chair.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts