The Hon Rod Kemp was Minister for the Arts and Sport from Friday 23 November 2001 to Tuesday 30 January 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Australia Council Theatre Board appointment

The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, today announced the appointment of Ms Elizabeth Butcher AM, one of Australia’s leading performing arts administrators, to the Australia Council’s Theatre Board.

“Ms Butcher has a long and distinguished career in the arts and I am very pleased that she has accepted the appointment,” said Senator Kemp. “Her experience will be invaluable to the work of the theatre board.”

“Ms Butcher was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1984 for her services to the performing arts in Australia, and her involvement in this area has continued unabated since then.”

Ms Butcher has been the general manager of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts for 37 years.

In 1979 she helped establish the Sydney Theatre Company. She administered the company’s interim season at the Opera House and helped establish a home for the company at Wharfs 4 and 5 Walsh Bay in Sydney. From 1984 to 1989 Ms Butcher was a member of the board of management of the University of Sydney’s Seymour Theatre Centre.

From 1989 to 1995 she was Chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust, having been a member of the trust since 1986. From 1992 to 1993 she was Deputy Chair of the Playing Australia Committee, the Australian Government’s national performing arts touring program.

Ms Butcher has chaired the selection panel for the Loudon Sainthill Memorial Scholarship, which awards a travelling scholarship for emerging theatre designers, and the University of Technology arts management course advisory committee. She has been a member of the New South Wales state regional committee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia.

The Australia Council is the Australian Government’s principal arts funding and advisory body. It encourages the creativity and development of Australian artists and aims to increase access by all Australians to arts and cultural activities.

MELBOURNE
4 July 2006