Creative Industries Pathways: imagining a creative future for the Great South Coast
The Creative Industries are traditionally misunderstood and misrepresented within Australian culture. It’s a common refrain from parents, teachers and careers advisors to, ‘Make sure you have something to fall back on’, when students express an interest in a creative career. Yet the $111 billion industry has a multitude of career paths, with plenty of opportunities to ‘fall forward’. It may be that a simple cultural shift, in which we learn to see the value of the Creative Industries and their impact on our daily lives, could open up a wealth of jobs and educational opportunities in our region.
The South West region holds a special place within creativity and innovation. For example, the oldest musical recording in Australia was recorded in Timor St. Some time later, the lyrics for Waltzing Matilda were penned here, and later still Shane Howard and Archie Roach would change the world with their own Aussie anthems, ‘Solid Rock’ and ‘Took the Children Away’ respectively.
We’re also home to some of the country’s finest performers, designers, movie makers, musicians, fashion designers, milliners, painters, sculptors, street performers, comedians, photographers and writers. Albert Namatjira was taught to paint by Warrnambool artists. The Fletcher Jones and Gorman fashion labels arose from here. Paul Jennings immortalised our people and places in some of the most popular children’s books and television shows that Australia ever produced. Yell Design create animations for the world’s biggest companies out of their studio in Woodford. Richard Pritchard created special effects for The Great Gatsby and Mad Max IV from his home computer.
It’s remarkable just how often you’re watching or listening to a Great South Coast creative without even realising it.
In 2020, with the release of the Creative Industries Strategy for Great South Coast, a series of opportunities have been identified for the development of the creative industries in our region. The strategy has prioritised the need for increased participation in the arts by young people, as a career, education and wellbeing imperative.
The creative industries represent a significant opportunity for the South West, as a low footprint, low impact industry, in many instances requiring small seed funding for significant economic returns not only for practitioners and businesses but also for the broader economy.
South West Local Learning and Employment Network (South West LLEN) has identified a significant gap in opportunities for students to participate in both work experience and structured workplace learning (SWL) activities in the Great South Coast region. There are no locally delivered undergraduate level courses now available in the Great South Coast in creative arts, and the certificate level offering is small. With no traineeship or apprenticeship opportunities currently provided across the sector, alternative pathways are left predominantly to the design of individuals, rather than systemic within the industry. The paucity of these opportunities, combined with drastically reduced local education pathways, are of concern.
That’s why we’re proud to be partnering with Regional Arts Victoria and One Day Studios to bring together schools, careers practitioners, education providers and most importantly, creative industry leaders, to inspire the development of pathways to rewarding careers in the creative industries, right here in the Great South Coast.
The Creative Industries Pathways Forum will be held in September at Deakin University. Further information will be available via our website soon!
Emily Lee-Ack - Executive Officer South West LLEN
Gareth Colliton - Producer, One Day Studios
Co-convenors, Creative Industries Pathways Forum