Forum | Speaking Plainly: Honest conversations for a sector in transition
Description
The cultural sector is facing profound change. Organisations are navigating financial pressures, workforce challenges, shifting community expectations, leadership transitions, and evolving funding landscapes. Leaders cannot admit their organisation may be at peak maturity without it reading as failure. Funders cannot raise questions without withdrawing confidence. Boards cannot discuss endings without breaching duty. This forum creates a protected space for candid discussion about organisational change, adaptation, and sustainability.
Together, we will explore organisational transitions, mergers, partnerships, collaborative models, new funding approaches, succession planning, and end-of-life considerations. The focus is not on success or failure, but on adaptive strategy: recognising where organisations are today and considering what they need to thrive tomorrow.
Throughout the day, speakers from across the sector will share their experiences of navigating change, offering practical insights into what worked, what didn't, and the lessons learnt. The afternoon workshop will bring participants together to develop practical tools and resources to support organisations considering key transition pathways.
Going beyond the tradition professional development offering this forum is an opportunity to build collective understanding, strengthen sector resilience, and create the language, frameworks, and relationships needed to navigate change.
TICKETING
Tickets are available for in-person or online attendance, and as morning-only or full-day options. Online tickets are offered at a reduced rate reflecting the difference in experience. We'd love to see you there in whatever form that takes.
Program
- 9:15 am - 9:30 am
Registration
- 9:30 am - 9:45 am
Welcome & Housekeeping
Sophie Lieberman, Freelance consultant
- 9:45 am - 10:30 am
1. Keynote | Reframing Transitions: From Crisis to Adaptive Strategy
Iona Lawrence, Co-Founder and Chief Deceleration Officer, The Decelerator The civil society sector has long treated organisational endings (closures, mergers, fundamental restructures) as failures to be avoided rather than transitions to be navigated. Iona Lawrence, founder of The Decelerator UK, has spent six years building a different kind of infrastructure: one that meets leaders where they are, holds the complexity of what endings actually involve, and helps organisations close, change, or transform with strategic intention and dignity. In this keynote, Iona shares the model behind The Decelerator, the need it responds to, and what it has revealed about how we support — and too often fail to support — leaders through some of the hardest moments of organisational life. This work holds two things at once: the reality of loss, and the possibility of renewal. When organisations end badly, knowledge disappears, communities are left without support, and the people who gave years of their lives are left without acknowledgement. When they end well, assets can find new purpose, missions can endure, and the sector can grow wiser. Better endings are those which make space for honesty about what is being lost and who is paying the price, and take time to celebrate what was achieved too. Handled with care, endings are not the opposite of a thriving civil society, they are part of how one gets built. Iona will explore how the ability to anticipate and navigate endings and new beginnings may just be the leadership superpower the cultural sector most needs to develop through these uncertain and turbulent times. For those grappling with a changing world and a shifting funding landscape, this keynote offers honest reflection and perhaps even a more generous and hopeful way of thinking about what it means to lead with purpose. Q&A Session: Facilitated by Sophie Lieberman, via Slido or in-person
- 10:30 am - 11:30 am
2. Case Studies: Transition in Practice
Speakers share their lived experience through organisational transition: what worked, what didn't, what they wish they'd known. Facilitated by Kate Larsen, Writer and Arts and Cultural Consultant Panellists: • Katrina Nitschke, Interim CEO, Sovereign Hill • Ineke Dane, Curator, Lismore Regional Gallery • Sophie Kahl, Freelance museum professional, Historical Societies Q&A Session: Questions via Slido or in-person
- 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
3. Sector Panel: The Bigger Picture
Peak bodies and sector leaders validate the lived experience of organisations in transition, provide funding reality checks, and identify barriers to collaboration while exploring new pathways forward. Facilitated by Emily Sexton, ACMI Panellists: • Amrit Gill, CEO, Theatre Network Australia • Kristi Monfries, CEO, Multicultural Arts Victoria • Jo Porter, CEO, Regional Arts Victoria • Dr Ash Robertson, Executive Director, AMaGA Victoria • Dr Kent Wilson, Director, National Exhibitions Touring Support Victoria
- 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Self-catered Lunch
- 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
4. Workshop: Action & Agency in Rebuilding the Sector
Facilitated by Andrew Hiskens, Consultant In groups, participants will respond to a series of questions across three facilitated rounds, forming the basis of a group discussion and report-back. Their collective responses will shape AMaGA Victoria's forum outcomes: an Executive Summary, sector toolkit, or other format decided by participants. Chatham House rules apply.
- 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Afternoon Tea
- 3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
5. Forum Wrap-Up
Facilitated by Andrew Hiskens, Kate Larsen and Sophie Lieberman In this session we will revise the content received from the workshops and make decisions on what AMaGA Victoria can feasibly deliver as a result of the day’s proceedings. It is expected that every participant will leave with one action for them to complete in the next 30 days. This is a shared responsibility and discussions on how to stay involved and follow up will form part of this session.
Speakers
Keynote | Iona Lawrence, Chief Deceleration Officer, The Decelerator
Iona is currently the Chief Deceleration Officer at The Decelerator where she leads a small team with big ambitions to help civil society navigate endings and transitions with strategic purpose, care and integrity —whether closing programmes, winding up organisations, enabling leadership transitions and all the other endings involved in organisational lifecycles. Previously Iona led initiatives across civil society, from co-founding The Jo Cox Foundation and securing the UK’s first Minister for Loneliness to shaping refugee policy in the refugee and migrant camps in Calais in 2016 with Safe Passage.
Ineke Dane, Curator, Lismore Regional Gallery
Ineke’s multidisciplinary curatorial practice is grounded in contemporary art theory, law, and policy. In 2024 she was appointed Curator at Lismore Regional Gallery. Ineke previously held the roles Associate Curator, International Art at Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art; Associate | Senior Curator at Urban Art Projects | UAP; and Curatorial Assistant at Kaldor Public Art Projects. In parallel she has curated numerous independent exhibitions with preeminent artists, including a major city-wide public art commission for the Museum of Old and New Art's Mona Foma. Photo by Elise Derwin
Amrit Gill, CEO, Theatre Network Australia
Amrit Gill is a respected arts facilitator, curator, and strategist with over two decades of leadership experience across Australia’s cultural landscape. As CEO of Theatre Network Australia, she leads national advocacy and industry development for the independent and small-to-medium performing arts sector. Amrit serves on the Advisory Board for the Centre for Australia-India Relations, supporting bilateral collaboration and cultural exchange. Her previous leadership roles include Creative Programming Lead at the City of Melbourne, Chairperson of Next Wave, and Artistic Director and CEO of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. At the Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia), she was Director International Development, overseeing major projects like the Venice Biennale and Australian Performing Arts Market, and implementing the agency’s first global arts strategy which expanded engagement across Asia and support for global First Nations exchange. Photo credit: Push media
Andrew Hiskens, Freelance arts consultant
Andrew consults with cultural (and other) organisations on issues ranging from education to mentorship and creative problem-solving. His background includes working at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and for the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). He was a member of the Senior Management Team at State Library Victoria for 22 years, at different times responsible for events, exhibitions, school programs, marketing and communications, publishing, youth and family programs and the Premiers’ Literary Awards. Andrew is a past president of ENVi and the national museum education network, Museums Australia Education. He is a member of the AMaGA National Council and President of AMaGA Victoria (to May 2024).
Sophie Kahl, Freelance museum professional
Sophie Kahl is a Narrm/Melbourne-based museum and heritage consultant and the founder of KAHLGRUPPE. With more than 16 years' experience working across museums and the heritage sector, Sophie has worked with organisations of all sizes, from individual clients and small volunteer-run museums through to local and state government. Sophie specialises in collection management and enjoys tackling the special and complicated projects, including large collection audits, provenance research, rehoming projects, significance assessments and community-led collections work. Sophie loves working collaboratively and believes that even the most challenging collections projects can uncover exciting stories and create meaningful outcomes for communities.
Kate Larsen, Freelance consultant
Kate Larsen (she/her) is an arts, cultural and non-profit consultant and writer with more than 25 years’ experience as a sector leader and rabble-rouser working across Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom. Currently based on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm/Melbourne, Kate has particular expertise in arts governance and cultural leadership, workplace culture and wellbeing, digital and community-engaged practice. Photo credit: Ebony Frost
Sophie Lieberman (PhD, GAICD)
Sophie Lieberman (PhD, GAICD) is a strategic and collaborative leader with over 20 years' experience working at the intersection of culture, public policy, and civic participation across Australia's cultural, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Sophie has held senior executive roles at some of Australia's most prominent cultural institutions, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Sydney Living Museums, and the Australian Museum. In these roles she led organisational transformation, audience growth, and multi-million-dollar capital and programmatic initiatives, consistently translating public investment into meaningful public outcomes. She has secured over $21 million in government, philanthropic, and partnership funding, and has led teams across complex, multi-site operating environments. As Principal of Sophie Lieberman Consulting, she advises boards, executives, and government on strategy, governance, and organisational change across the cultural, heritage, and for-purpose sectors. Current and recent clients include Creative Victoria, Museums of History NSW, Opera Queensland, the Australian Museum, RRR, and the University of Melbourne. Sophie has authored a white paper and website REGENERATION on organisational transition, endings, and renewal in the cultural sector. Sophie holds a PhD in History from UNSW, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has completed executive education at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership. She is an alumnus of the Sydney Leadership Program, with deep expertise in adaptive leadership, systems thinking, and people-centred practice.
Kristi Monfries, CEO, Multicultural Arts Victoria
Kristi is an arts leader and cultural strategist with more than 20 years' experience shaping experimental and cross-cultural artistic practice. Kristi's career has been defined by long-term collaboration and a commitment to supporting grassroots initiatives, mentoring emerging artists and championing Global Majority and Diaspora voices. Having lived and worked in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, immersed in its early vibrant arts scene and deeply community-rooted creative culture, she brings a grounded, first-hand understanding of artistic practice outside Western frameworks. Those years shaped her thinking about what it means to build arts ecosystems that are genuinely self-determined, locally embedded and internationally connected. As a Javanese-Australian who spent her formative years living across Southeast Asia, Kristi developed an early and intimate familiarity with cultural multiplicity, navigating between languages, traditions, and ways of making.This lived experience sits at the heart of her practice and continues to inform how she approaches collaboration, community and creative possibility. She is passionate about supporting and creating cultural diversity, nurturing self-determined artistic communities and expanding the narratives that define Australia's contemporary cultural landscape, bringing to that work not just professional expertise, but a life shaped by crossing borders, both geographic, personal and cultural.
Katrina Nitschke, Interim CEO, Sovereign Hill
Katrina Nitschke is a cultural tourism and museum leader and Deputy CEO/Chief Museums Officer of the Sovereign Hill Museums Association. With more than 20 years’ experience across museums, cultural institutions, and across the research sector, Katrina has led complex organisational transformation to strengthen purpose, financial sustainability, and public value. Her work includes senior leadership roles at the South Australian Museum and the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, always working at the public face of organisations. Katrina brings deep experience in navigating change within publicly significant institutions, with a clear focus on mission, relevance, community trust, and access for diverse audiences. Her governance experience spans private and public sector boards and governance bodies. She currently serves on the Tourism Midwest Victoria Board and Women's Health Grampians Board. She holds an MBA from the University of Adelaide and is known for an inclusive, people-centred approach grounded in evidence and long-term impact.
Jo Porter, CEO, Regional Arts Victoria
A theatre producer and consultant in not-for-profit and commercial theatre, Jo was the Co-Producer of Victoria’s inaugural Regional Centre for Culture (2018) and has worked with independent artists as a producer and in mentorship roles. Other roles in Australia, UK and USA have included: CEO of the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, Executive Producer of Malthouse Theatre, General Manager of a range of commercial theatre productions and head of creative development at Richard Frankel Productions in New York and Head of Business Development at Really Useful Group in London. A former Chair of Back to Back Theatre, Jo is the current Chair of Chamber Made.
Dr Ash Robertson, Executive Director, AMaGA Victoria
Dr Ash Robertson is a museum professional and executive leader with two decades of experience across the culture and heritage sector in the United States, Scotland, Indonesia, and Australia. Her career has included roles with the National Museum of Scotland, UNESCO Jakarta, and Museums Victoria. She is currently the Executive Director of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) Victoria, the state branch of Australia’s national peak body for museums and galleries. In this role, she leads policy advocacy and strategic partnerships across government, universities, and cultural institutions, and oversees programs and resources that support a network of more than 1,000 collecting organisations across Victoria. Her work focuses on strengthening the long-term sustainability and capability of the sector through workforce development, improved collection care and access, secure funding, and support for the many small, community-led organisations that form its backbone. She is driven by the conviction that the creative sector thrives when expertise and opportunity are widely accessible, rather than concentrated in the best-resourced or most visible institutions. Ash holds a PhD in Indonesian Studies from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Museum and Gallery Studies from the University of St Andrews. She chairs Deakin University’s Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies Advisory Board and is a member of the Arts Industry Council of Victoria.
Emily Sexton, Director of Curatorial, Programming and Education, ACMI
Emily Sexton is Director of Curatorial, Programming and Education for ACMI, Australia’s museum of screen culture. Her ongoing interest in the radical and relevant aligns strongly with her current role, in a future-focused, vibrant museum whose audience is majority under 35. Emily has a leading practice for storytelling in multidisciplinary arts contexts. In her current role she has collaborated to lead major videogames, animation and children’s exhibitions and programs, commissioned new moving image works, and revitalised film programming to return attendance at ACMI Cinemas to pre Covid levels. From 2018-2023 she was Artistic Director for Arts House, Melbourne’s home for contemporary performance and experimental practice. Previous roles include Head of Programming for The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas (2015-17), Artistic Director of Next Wave Festival (2010-14) and Creative Producer for Melbourne Fringe (2008-10). Emily is a Sidney Myer Creative Fellow, alumni of Creative Australia’s Leadership programs and serves as a trustee of the Malcolm Robertson Foundation.
Dr Kent Wilson, CEO, NETS Victoria
Kent Wilson brings a wealth of experience from corporate, government, and educational sectors to leverage his passion for driving engagement with art and building a wider appreciation of its social and economic power. He co-founded a regional non-profit in Kyneton, Victoria, that has produced two successful triennials, co-curated the largest visual arts program of the Castlemaine State Festival’s history, and delivered dozens of exhibitions in public institutions, festivals, schools, and commercial galleries. He, and his projects, have been the recipients of numerous grants including an Australia Council research grant for a curatorial residency in Tokyo and Creative Victoria grants for multi-site festival events in regional Victoria. He has been Curator at City of Boroondara’s Town Hall Gallery, Senior Curator at La Trobe University, and Co-Director/Secretary of Kyneton Contemporary Inc.
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