When boards and orgs don’t provide the accountability each other needs, it may fall on us to do so.
This month’s ‘and another thing’ vlog was inspired by Creative Australia, whose self-combustion over last few weeks has made international news headlines for rushing through a dodgy governance decision that seems to have gone directly against their purpose and values, and used ‘social cohesion’ as an excuse to censor artistic expression, harm individual artists and the broader sector (as well as its own reputation, peers, board members and staff), while setting a terrifying precedent in the lead-up to the upcoming federal election.
Which has got me thinking, amongst many other things, about power and powerlessness, and how we receive and respond to harm – not just within organisations (which is what most of this series has focused on so far), but as individuals, those of us on the receiving end of bad decision-making who rely on the funders, governments and organisations whose actions, increasingly, seem to harm us and our sector as much as they help. A reliance that also makes it really very scary for many of us to speak out.
Here’s Part 1:
And Part 2:
Read more
The episode draws from or references:
- Who Stands with the Arts? by Jess Scully, Kill Your Darlings
- The politics of “social cohesion” by Jeff Sparrow, Overland
- New shadow arts minister Claire Chandler signals funding shake-up amid concerns over ideological agenda in arts grants, SkyNews
- Creative Equity Toolkit, Diversity Arts Australia and The British Council
- How to Disagree Better by Veronica Pardo TEDxCastlemaine
- Veronica Pardo on LinkedIn, October 2024
- Maria Dimopoulos on LinkedIn, February 2025
- Veronica Pardo on LinkedIn, February 2025
Further reading: Palestine as a governance issue
Check out all of the articles and resources in my series on Palestine as a governance issue.
AI policy
I am a concerned and conscientious objector to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. You can read more about my many objections in my recent piece on raining on the parade of generative AI in the arts (and everywhere else).
If you consume or use my work or writing, you can be sure that the creativity, labour and language that goes into it are either my own or drawn from the wisdom of the clever humans I reference or cite, and that I do not intentionally use Al to research, generate or edit in any part of my writing or publishing processes.
Subscribe or support
I undertake the majority of my research, writing, advocacy and sector development work on a self-funded basis.
If you’d like the full versions, transcripts or archives of these rants, you can join me as an advocate, ally or accomplice for rethinking arts governance on Patreon from just $2.50/month.
Or subscribe to my free occasional enews for future updates.
LARSEN | KEYS 
24 thoughts on “And another thing: receiving and responding to harm”