Merrigong Theatre Company named Performing Arts Centre of the Year

The Merrigong Theatre Company has been named Performing Arts Centre of the Year at the 2025 PAC Australia IMPACT Awards, announced during the Australian Performing Arts Exchange (APAX).

Other key awards presented in a ceremony at the Darwin Ski Club saw Rhoda Roberts announced as winner of the program’s highest honour, the Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award.

A Widjabul Wia-bul woman, Roberts is a director, performer, author and executive who co-founded QPAC’s Clancestry, Sydney’s Festival of the Dreaming and the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust.

She has also directed Garma Festival, Parrtjima Festival and Boomerang Festival, and was Head of Indigenous Programming at Sydney Opera House.

Roberts is currently presenting her play My Cousin Frank at Wodonga’s HotHouse Theatre after performances in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Queensland Ballet and Queensland Health received the 2026 Innovator Award for their partnership and programs for veterans, seniors and those living with brain injury, Parkinson’s or arthritis.

Fraser Corfield, former Artistic Director of the Australian Theatre for Young People, was recognised for his 30-year commitment to youth arts. The Adelaide-based theatre company Slingsby was also honoured for its work in the sector, as was the Darwin-based performance organisation Corrugated Iron Youth Arts.

Dancenorth Australia won its second IMPACT Award for the 2024 tour of Wayfinder, which PAC Australia called “a landmark achievement in scale, ambition and community”, while Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre was awarded for its Traineeship Program, mentoring and nurturing emerging technical theatre talent in a time of acute industry shortage.

Merrigong Theatre Company was recognised for its “bold and thoughtful” post-COVID approach including First Nations collaboration, the MerrigongX Artists’ Program and the Strangeways Ensemble of neurodiverse artists.

Having been recognised with letters of support from peers across the performing arts industry, In presenting naming the Merrigong Theatre Company as Performing Arts Centre of the Year, PAC Australia expressed “the company has demonstrated a strong commitment to First Nations collaboration, artist wellbeing, and long-term support for local artists through initiatives such as the MerrigongX Artists’ Program and The Strangeways Ensemble.

“Merrigong’s ambitious programming and deep engagement with its community have helped grow both audiences and influence, earning it the national recognition.”

Receiving the award, Merrigong Theatre Company Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Simon Hinton stated “I’m excited and proud that our wonderful team at Merrigong has been recognised for the hard work they’ve put in over many years, supporting the community of artists and audiences we love, creating new theatre, and bringing incredible performance experiences to our region and beyond.”

PAC Australia is the national peak body for performing arts centres, presenters and producers across Australia.

Presented annually by PAC Australia, the IMPACT Awards recognise outstanding leadership, innovation and best practice in the performing arts, celebrating organisations making a lasting impact on communities.

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Image: Merrigong Theatre Company.