New Creative Industries Taskforce to drive growth and collaboration
Western Australia’s new Creative Industries Taskforce, recently announced by the Cook Government, signals a serious step-change in how the State thinks about culture, innovation, and economic growth.
Framed as a core mechanism for delivering the 10‑year Creative WA strategy, the taskforce is designed to move the arts from the margins of policy into the engine room of diversification.
What the taskforce is
The Creative Industries Taskforce is a newly appointed advisory group charged with strengthening and growing Western Australia’s creative economy over the next decade. It sits within the State’s broader economic diversification agenda, linking Creative WA with the government’s Diversify WA strategy.
According to the announcement, the taskforce will help deliver key initiatives across culture, creativity, and economic development, with a specific focus on industry pathways. Its remit explicitly connects artistic practice to jobs, business development, and market access at home and overseas.
Mandate: from vision to action
Beyond high-level strategy, the taskforce has been given a practical brief that suggests an implementation-focused body rather than a symbolic committee. It will oversee the development of an action plan to guide the growth of WA’s creative industries and to anchor their contribution to the State’s economic diversification agenda.
Key priorities outlined include:
- Identifying and accelerating high‑growth creative sectors.
- Strengthening commercialisation, innovation, and industry capability.
- Supporting access to new domestic and international markets.
- Enhancing collaboration across industry, education, government, and community.
In other words, the taskforce is being positioned as a bridge between artists, creative businesses, policymakers, and export opportunities.
Who is at the table
The membership list reads like a cross‑section of WA’s contemporary cultural ecosystem, from major institutions to independent practitioners and creative entrepreneurs. Screen, music, theatre, fashion, design, architecture, First Nations arts, games, publishing, and creative tech are all represented.
Notable members include:
- Sandy Anghie (Perth Design Week) and Mark Braddock (Block Branding/IN:WA), anchoring design and branding.
- Rikki Lea Bestall (Screenwest) and Ian Booth (Black Swan State Theatre), bringing screen and mainstage theatre perspectives.
- Chad Creighton (Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of WA) and Dalisa Pigram (Marrugeku), foregrounding First Nations leadership and intercultural practice.
- Anna Reece (Perth Festival) and Owen Whittle (West Australian Music), linking festivals and the contemporary music sector.
- Terri‑ann White (Upswell Publishing) and Tasma Walton (actor and author), connecting literature, publishing, and screen talent.
This diversity suggests an intention to move beyond siloed artform thinking towards a more integrated creative industries lens.
Political framing and cultural ambition
Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk has framed the taskforce in strongly economic and social terms: a “strong and thriving creative sector” is described as a driver of jobs, local business strength, and a more vibrant State “culturally, socially, and economically”. Her comments emphasise backing WA talent, fostering collaboration, and positioning the State’s creative industries on both national and international stages.
The announcement also sits alongside major infrastructure investments, including Perth Film Studios, the Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and the revitalisation of the Perth Cultural Centre precinct. Taken together, these moves sketch a picture of a government keen to pair bricks‑and‑mortar projects with sector‑wide strategy and industry development.
Why this matters for WA’s arts ecology
For artists and arts organisations, the taskforce could become a crucial forum for shaping how policy, investment, and infrastructure translate into lived conditions on the ground. With members chosen for “recognised leadership” and the capacity to provide sector‑wide perspective, there is a clear expectation that they will think beyond individual organisations or artforms.
If the taskforce succeeds in aligning creative practice with innovation, export, and education while maintaining artistic integrity and cultural leadership, it has the potential to reshape how WA understands the value of its creative community. The next test will be the action plan: how ambitious it is, how it measures success, and how deeply it engages with artists and audiences beyond the boardroom.
