The Struggle for Survival: A Call to Action for the Australian Design Centre
As the end of the financial year approaches, the Australian Design Centre (ADC) in Darlinghurst has issued a desperate plea for support. With 30,000 social media followers, the centre is asking each of them to donate $100 to help keep its doors open. For an organization that has been nurturing the skills of thousands of artisans and designers since 1964, this is a do-or-die moment.
Executive director Lisa Cahill expressed her concerns about the future of the ADC, which is the only government-supported centre in New South Wales dedicated to craft and design practice. The organisation has lost $200,000 in federal funding and was recently informed that it had missed out on four-year state operational funding, despite being recommended by peer assessors. From 2026, the ADC will no longer have the $500,000 in base-level funding needed to pay staff and maintain operations.
“It was a shock. It was so unexpected,” Cahill said. “I thought at least we’d get $450,000, an uplift to ameliorate what we had lost in federal money. We got nothing.”
This funding crisis has affected more than just the ADC. Among the 76 applicants knocked back for four-year funding were over a dozen regional public galleries. These galleries rely on Create NSW’s Arts and Cultural Funding Program for partial support. Other successful arts organisations received significantly less than they had requested, which compromises their ability to deliver events and programs.
The next two-year funding round is expected to be even more competitive, as unsuccessful candidates are forced into this last-resort funding round. This situation has raised concerns within the arts sector, particularly regarding short-term government investment decisions. For example, spending on one-off festivals that don’t have ongoing effects for the rest of the year has become a point of contention.
Despite these challenges, there have been some positive developments. The latest funding round included a dramatic increase for arts and cultural festivals, with over $1.9 million committed in 2026 and beyond. Four new First Nations organisations were successful, along with three regional galleries: Murray Art Museum Albury, Ngununggula/Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, and Lismore Regional Gallery.
Brett Adlington, chief executive of Museums and Galleries NSW, highlighted the impact of the funding cuts. He mentioned a $1.2 million drop in funding to public galleries, which he described as the lifeblood of regional communities. These galleries provide quality exhibition programs and initiatives that bring connection to diverse communities.
“We fear that programs such as art and dementia, children’s programs and access programs could be the first to be cut,” Adlington said. “Additionally, these organisations are often the ones providing early career opportunities for artists of the region, as well as metropolitan-based artists, providing platforms for their work.”
Time is running out for Cahill, who has so far raised $40,000 from the design centre’s public appeal. No option is off the table, including potential part-acquisition or partnership, with the ADC board set to decide if the centre has a future later this year. Sydney Craft Week in October may be the ADC’s ninth and final citywide event unless a guardian angel arrives.
Industrial designer Rina Bernabei, who is working with ADC on an international project for work that will be exhibited at Design Miami, emphasized the importance of the ADC. “As a designer and maker, there is no other leading state organisation for design and craft. It is vital to these fields,” she said. “It is our only voice and our future.”
Post-pandemic, it was a critical time to support and strengthen the small to medium sector, which continues to face precarious conditions. Penelope Benton, executive director of the National Association for the Visual Arts, stressed the need for funding decisions to consider the broader picture. “Funding decisions need to consider the broader picture. It’s not just about which individual applications are strong on paper, it’s about what’s needed to keep the whole arts system going,” she said.
Create NSW has acknowledged the significant contributions made by regional art galleries to the arts and culture ecology across regional NSW. They mentioned that the full funding profile of support for regional galleries would be available following the next new two-year funding program, which is currently at the assessment stage.
