PATA announces new Independent Chair

Members of the Performing Arts Touring Alliance (PATA) Council recently announced the appointment of Rachel Healy as the organisation’s Independent Chair.

Healy has been worked in the arts and cultural sector for more than 20 years including four years as Director of Performing Arts for Sydney Opera House, leading a programming, presenter services and technical team delivering hundreds of performance seasons and festivals, and 10 years as General Manager of Belvoir St Theatre, during which time she grew touring as a significant focus of activity.

She has also worked for The Australian Ballet, Handspan Theatre and the State Theatre Company of South Australia and as a cultural industries consultant and independent producer.

Healy was a participant in the Australian Prime Minister's 2020 summit and has served on many arts boards including the Sydney Opera House Trust, Live Performance Australia, Legs on the Wall, Kage Physical Theatre, Arts on Tour, Arts NSW and as Deputy Chair of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council. In 1998 she was awarded an inaugural Nugget Coombs Award for Arts Administration and her essay on the role of arts centres in the 21st century was recently published by Skira. She is currently Executive Manager, Culture for the City of Sydney, a board member of Hothouse Theatre and represents the City of Sydney on the Sydney Writers’ Festival board.

Rachel Healy’s appointment follows the departure of Karilyn Brown last year, after her appointment as Chief Executive of Performing Lines.

PATA is an alliance of peak organisations and representatives of the performing arts touring sector in Australia, including the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA), Regional Arts Australia (RAA), Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG), Theatre Network Victoria (TNV), tour coordinators, producers and presenters.

Since PATA hosted the National Touring Programming Futures Forum in February 2013, some major developments have occurred in the national touring landscape.

New rounds, categories and closing dates were announced for Playing Australia in December 2013 by the Australia Council, and discussions facilitated by PATA on the future of Long Paddock and Cyberpaddock, between RAA and APACA are expected to result in a significant announcement about touring selection mechanisms at the Adelaide Long Paddock in March 2014.

Planning is now underway for PATA’s hosting of a second National Touring Futures Forum in Sydney in late 2014.

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