Strategic Plan - Arts Centre Melbourne

Strategic Plan Looking to 2027

Arts Centre Melbourne exists to enrich the lives of all Victorians culturally, educationally, socially and economically. For us, that means bringing people together to share in remarkable experiences.

Nearly 40 years after first opening our doors, we have much to be proud of.

We’re Australia’s biggest and busiest performing arts centre with the very best theatres in the country. Our prestigious Resident Companies, major hirers and the best international performing arts companies present their work on our stages and we engage a diversity of audiences in programming that transforms lives.

As we look to an exciting future, we’re not resting on our laurels. So, I’m delighted to present Arts Centre Melbourne’s Strategic Plan: Looking to 2027, mapping out our plan for achievable and sustainable success.

The plan reflects our ambitions for: long-term financial and environmental sustainability; cementing Melbourne’s national competitive advantage and international positioning; playing a key role as an

attractor of cultural tourism; supporting a thriving creative industry; and providing opportunities for everyone to engage in the arts.

The 2027 horizon was consciously chosen to align with the reimagining of Arts Centre Melbourne, our ambitious masterplan for the redevelopment and long-term future of our iconic venues, and the broader transformation of the Melbourne Arts Precinct.

We’ve considered the demographic, social and cultural trends for the next decade in developing our plan: from artificial intelligence and the ageing population to the growing importance of local connections within a global context.

We were also mindful that our future will not be tied to a physical place thanks to our online presence and virtual reality opportunities. The plan is underpinned by our statutory purpose to enrich the lives of all Victorians, and the responsibility to constantly welcome a changing community, through the lens of our vision: To Create, Connect and Enrich.

The plan is structured around our five strategic priorities:

• People • Performing Arts • Customer Focused • Custodianship • Business Excellence

The “Why?” behind each strategic priority will provide an important guiding light through the coming years of Reimagining Arts Centre Melbourne and the associated design, construction/disruption and reopening activities.

Our future will be financially and environmentally sustainable, locally and globally connected and, as always, delivered by a team that is the very best at what it does.

We look forward to you joining us on this journey.

Claire Spencer Chief Executive Officer Arts Centre Melbourne

Foreword and Welcome

Vision Arts Centre Melbourne enriches the cultural, educational, social and economic lives of Victorians by bringing people together for remarkable experiences.

By 2027 we will have reimagined Arts Centre Melbourne – physically, creatively and organisationally.

Purpose

To create remarkable experiences that connect artists with audiences, audience members with each other and visitors with the wider precinct.

What we do makes a difference:

• MakingVictoriamorecreative and vibrant.

• Makingtheartsmorewelcomingand accessible.

• Presentingworksoflocal,nationaland international significance to engage, inspire and challenge our audiences.

• BeingtheVictorianhomeforAustralia’s leading performing arts companies.

• Bringingfamiliesandcommunitiestogether across generations and cultural divides.

• Inspiringcuriousmindsofallages through innovative and contemporary arts practice.

• Preservingthelegacyofandbuilding the Australian Performing Arts Collection.

• Leveragingouruniqueposition in the industry, providing leadership within the creative and cultural sector.

Our Commitment

Building on Victoria’s original vision for Arts Centre Melbourne, we shall:

• bevisionaryandpioneering• buildvitalityandrelevanceinthe

arts for the next generation• demonstrateleadershipacrossthe

creative and cultural sector• turnperformancesintoevents,and

events into memorable stories• be“curtainup”;always

performance-ready.

Our Values

LeadershipWe are part of a highly connected industry and add value through collaboration and advocacy.

We work with courage and conviction to achieve our strategy.

CommunityWe connect people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the arts as audiences, as performers, as learners and as critics.

We take a positive approach to communication and knowledge sharing, which embeds trust and cooperation both within our organisation and the broader arts community.

We foster partnerships and inclusivity with integrity.

Care MoreWe create a safe and secure environment for everybody, where we respect and look after each other, our visitors, presenters and artists.

We take the additional steps necessary to make everyone feel welcome and do it with integrity and pride.

CreativityWe use our imagination and sense of adventure to stay one idea ahead.We are innovative and agile in our dynamic environment and industry.

Our Strategic Framework

PeopleBy 2027 Arts Centre Melbourne will be a place where the very best in the industry aspire to work and collaborate.

Why?People are the lifeblood of our creativity and capability and the delivery of our strategy depends on attracting the best available team and collaborators.

Strategic Priority 1


How

What

By 2027 we will… We will achieve this by… The measures for this are…

Have a healthy, high-performing culture that permeates all areas of the organisation and harnesses the team behind a single strategy.

• Recognising that people bring their whole self to work and supporting them to be their best selves and whole selves.

• Building on our culture statement The Role You Play, to engage as one team in achieving our strategy, to perform at our best, to embrace learning and to create new ways of working.

• Always striving to Care More.

• Arts Centre Melbourne team engagement is maintained at a consistently high level and isinthetopquartilefortheindustry.

• Arts Centre Melbourne cultural programs are recognised and adopted across industry.

• Increased workplace productivity.

Have a representative community at all levels of the organisation.

• Targeted initiatives to increase workplace diversity.

• Removing barriers to entry and retention.

• Cultural diversity is increased at all levels of the organisation.

• Equalgenderrepresentationismaintained.

Leverageourpeople,globaltalent and new technology to realise our potential and constantly lift our capability.

• Supporting our people to be ready to lead, optimise and grow the reimagined Arts Centre Melbourne and the wider sector.

• Providing learning and coaching opportunities to our people to give them a toolbox of skills.

• Giving our people the opportunity to be innovative.

• Embracing new ways of working and leveraging technology to increase our impact, efficiency and effectiveness.

• Our pipeline of talent is nurtured and strong.

• Professional development is targeted and strategic.

• Our leadership alumni populate senior industry positions around the world.

• Strong team engagement (as above).

Enrich the cultural and broader community through our people.

• Developing our leaders to lead and in turn develop the next generation of leaders.

• Providing structured training opportunities that benefit the whole industry through our Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and internship programs.

• Having a clear strategy to encourage Arts Centre Melbourne alumni to remain part of our community.

• Arts Centre Melbourne alumni throughout Australia and Asia.

• Year-on-year increase in traineeships and internships offered.

• Arts Centre Melbourne RTO is recognised as industry leading.

Key performance indicators

Performing ArtsBy 2027 Arts Centre Melbourne will be a contemporary and relevant home for the performing arts that serves the whole of Victoria, including the outer metro and regional community.

Why?Passion for the arts is one of foundations of our success that remains critical to who we are today and tomorrow.



How

What


Be a passionate advocate of the value of arts and culture and a champion of a thriving sector.

• Using our public profile and leadership position to champion for the whole sector.

• Measuring and communicating our social, economic, environmental and cultural impact and value.

• A robust measurement framework is embedded across the organisation.

• Value increases over the life of this strategy.

Create and support excellence through a commitment to partnership and collaboration, investment and entrepreneurship.

• Building a sophisticated understanding of Arts Centre Melbourne audiences and sharing this with our presenting partners.

• Being the trusted partner of our Resident Companies and regular presenters to achieve our mutual strategic objectives.

• Being an incubator, supporter, nurturer, partner and enabler of the small-to-medium and independent sector.

• Resident Companies and regular presenters are successful and express high satisfaction with Arts Centre Melbourne.

• Strong collaboration with a thriving small-to-medium and independent sector.

Provide deeper engagement opportunities with the performing arts to enrich all Victorians culturally, socially and economically.

• Supporting passionate learning in and through the arts to equipyoungVictoriansforthecreativeeconomyandworkforceof the future.

• Being a safe place to create, connect and be enriched in an ever-changing world.

• Creating impact beyond our venues – in other places and spaces, and via broadcast, online and new technologies.

• Offering a broad range of community and access programs and spaces.

• Our arts learning and education program has measurable and increasing impact.

• Our offerings are contemporary and relevant to today’s students and engagement with schools and other learning institutions is high.

• The size, reach and impact of the First Call Fund increases year on year.

• Our spaces are family friendly and engaging.

Nurture a borderless community of artists and performance makers to empower and enable reciprocal storytelling between Asia, Australia and the rest of the world.

• LeadingandenablingcollaborationsbetweenAustralianandAsian artists.

• Presenting the global best on our stages.

• Using technology for global storytelling.

• Audiences for Asian work are growing year on year.

• Works developed with the support of Arts Centre Melbourne have a life beyond Victoria and Australia.

• Arts Centre Melbourne becomes a vehicle for cultural diplomacy, with engagement increasing over the life of this Strategic Plan.


Customer FocusedBy 2027 Arts Centre Melbourne and the surrounding precinct will be a place where everyone feels welcome and can have remarkable experiences.

Why?Arts Centre Melbourne and the Melbourne Arts Precinct belong to all Victorians and our welcome must continue to be inclusive of our evolving community.



How

What


Provide opportunities for our customers to engage with the most enriching experience possible.

• Constantly evolving what we offer, how we interact and the experiences we deliver.

• Bringing the community together for celebration and togetherness.

• Being custodians of venues and spaces that can be intimate, flexibleandtransformativetocreateuniqueexperiences.

• Our customer indicators of engagement grow year on year for ticketed and free attendances.

• Growth in the number of free and low-cost experiences we offer.

• Measured impact increases over the life of this strategy.

Deliver an outstanding and consistent customer experience for a diverse range of precinct visitors.

• Being a welcoming place for visitors to dwell and absorb arts and culture.

• Putting the customer at the centre of the precinct experience by offering a seamless journey.

• Anticipating and exceeding customer expectations through innovation.

• Actively seeking and responding to feedback from our customers.

• Being the gateway to the precinct from which visitors can undertake an intuitive or guided journey.

• Customers return to Arts Centre Melbourne and dwell longer here and in the broader precinct.

• Average spend per customer increases.

• Increase in customer feedback and customer satisfaction.

Identify future customers and provide them with a tailored offering.

• Developing and implementing a tourism strategy that complements the Visit Victoria strategy and is informed by data.

• Making it easy for customers to choose from a range of ticketed and free precinct experiences.

• Year-on-year growth in “new to file” customers.

• Visitation increases overall and specifically from regional Victoria, interstate and international.

• Increased yield on ticketing inventory across the precinct.

• Growing membership and donor community.

Have a recognisable and emotionally resonant brand.

• Articulating and enhancing our overall offering through evolutionary brand positioning, including enticing and personalised campaigns for all Arts Centre Melbourne offerings.

• Brand recognition increases.

• Positive brand associations.


CustodianshipBy 2027 Arts Centre Melbourne will be part of a connected precinct that treasures the past and creates new stories.

Why?Melbourne aspires to be a global creative city and must leverage its assets and invest in connected and contemporary cultural infrastructure.



How

What


Be the entrance gateway to a thriving and accessible arts precinct.

• Providing a welcome that reflects the Indigenous history of the precinct.

• Providing better physical, digital and artistic connections.

• Opening more of our spaces to the public.

• Leveragingthenaturalpathwayentrancetotheprecinctspine to create a more intuitive visitor journey.

• Visiting the arts precinct is inherent to more Melbournians.

• Arts Centre Melbourne and our precinct partners are more vibrant and successful.

Enhance community wellbeing and liveability within a framework of sustainability

• Developing a resilient arts community.

• Creating a collaborative culture of sustainability that makes efficient and effective use of our resources.

• Ensuring Universal Access is intrinsic.

• Improvement in environmental performance relative to visitor numbers.

• Arts community wellbeing increases from previous results.

• Arts Centre Melbourne contributes to the liveability of the Southbank community.

Have contemporary venues and spaces that meet the needs of the next generation of artists and visitors.

• A building design that entices visitors to engage with the performing arts outside and inside.

• Being responsive and flexible throughout our venues and spaces.

• Using our spaces to tell stories and create community connections.

• ReflectingtheuniquequalitiesofMelbournethroughoutour venues and spaces.

• Arts Centre Melbourne’s visitor numbers are growing year on year and are increasingly diverse.

• Arts Centre Melbourne impact increases from 2017 levels.

Have collections visible to the world.

• Creating opportunities for the Australian Performing Arts Collection and Art Collection to be experienced in a variety of ways to meet audience preference.

• Storing the collections in appropriate conditions for future generations.

• Increase visibility of the physical collection through multiple channels.

• The collections are stored to industry standards.


Business ExcellenceBy 2027 Arts Centre Melbourne will be a value-for-money state asset that supports the Victorian Government to achieve its goals.

Why?Through Business Excellence we will become a stronger and more resilient institution that generates greater value for the Victorian community and the interconnected Creative Industries.



How

What


Have a robust financial model that sustainably realises our potential.

• Capitalising on the opportunities created by the precinct redevelopment to achieve our vision.

• Maintaining strong fiscal discipline.

• Innovating to grow as a social and commercial enterprise with a higher proportion of earned revenue to be invested back into our community activities.

• Strong financial performance in line with redevelopment business case projections.

• Objectives in Performing Arts, Customer Focused and People are met.

Deliver fit-for-purpose systems and processes that lead the creative industries.

• Being lean, agile and responsive to our customers and environment.

• Being skilful users of systems and digital tools and experiences.

• Constantly evolving our business processes to maximise productivity.

• Our business costs decrease in relative terms as our organisational output grows.

Achieve the optimal balance of risk and reward and actively manage the risks that may prevent us from achieving our strategy.

• Using our risk attitude and risk appetite to inform our decision making and optimise returns.

• We achieve our strategic objectives.

Be the leader on physical, mental and virtual security and safety in the creative industries.

• Managing our cybersecurity risks to keep personal and business information safe from exploitation.

• Prioritising safety at all times.

• Our venues and spaces are fully compliant whilst remaining flexible and responsive to the needs of our presenters and customers.

• Our health and safety results are the benchmark for the industry.

Have a broad range of philanthropic, government and strategic partners.

• Communicating a strong case for support to current and prospective philanthropic supporters.

• Engaging a broad, passionate and committed donor base to enable hundreds of thousands of Victorians to experience the magic of the performing arts.

• Developing strategic partnerships with government (at all levels), corporate, industry and educational institutions to grow our business and support our aspirations.

• Philanthropy and partnership proposals are well received and effectively contribute to attaining business objectives.


Victorian Arts Centre Trust Arts Centre Melbourne ABN 83 295 983 059

100 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004 Australia 1300 182 183 artscentremelbourne.com.au

Front cover image: Memory Field: Waangenga Blanco + Laurence Pike at Supersense, 2017. Photo: Mark Gambino.

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Strategic Plan - Arts Centre Melbourne