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McIntyre, Phillip, Kerrigan, Susan, & McCutcheon, Marion (2021) Australian Cultural and Creative Activity: A Population and Hotspot Anal- ysis: Coffs Harbour. QUT Digital Media Research Centre, Australia.

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Coffs Harbour NSW Australian Cultural and Creative Activity: A Population and Hotspot Analysis Coffs Harbour and Bellingen

This report is an output of an Australian Research Council Linkage project (LP160101724) led by Queensland University of Technology in partnership with the University of Newcastle, Arts Queensland, Create NSW, Creative Victoria, Arts South Australia and the WA Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

Suggested citation: Phillip McIntyre, Susan Kerrigan and Marion McCutcheon. 2021. Australian Cultural and Creative Activity: A Population and Hotspot Analysis: Geelong and Surf Coast, Brisbane. Digital Media Research Centre. Available https://research.qut.edu.au/creativehotspots/.

Strategic summary The Creative Industries in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen saw growth of 2% for 2011-2016, with 915 people earning their primary income from CI employment. • Coffs Harbour’s creative employment growth rate was 1.9% between 2011 and 2016, with 795 people earning a primary income within the Creative Industries. • Bellingen’s creative employment growth rate was 2.8% between 2011 and 2016, with 156 employees earning a primary incomes within the Creative Industries. • Creative Services is a key growth area for Coffs, particularly Architecture and Design, and Software and Digital Content. • Embedded creatives employed in Coffs, that are those working in the Advertising and Marketing sub-sector embedded in other industries, have been in a growth phase. Coffs Harbour needs to attract and retain youth and provide employment opportunities. • 2,000 young people left Coffs Harbour and only 1,000 moved in between 2011-2016. • Issues include limited opportunity for young people to learn software and app development contributing to the movement of young people to larger urban areas. • Immediate attention must be given to strategies that will retain youth and provide pathways for future employment, especially in the Creative Industries. Coffs Harbour City Council is leading cultural change with Mayor Denise Knight advocating for cultural change across a range of areas. • Council is planning to upgrade cultural and community facilities and infrastructure and providing strategic direction for the creative community. • Council provides generous small grants for arts and culture. • Council is responding to community criticisms about the new central arts hub, clear communication and marketing for events and activities. The Gumbaynggirr community has a strong and active culture that is supported by all levels of government but strategic support for the traditional arts-based offering is needed to future proof. • Saltwater Freshwater Arts hosts an Australia Day event in Coffs, Kempsey, Port Macquarie and Taree to showcase First Nations artistic talent on the Mid-North Coast.

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Creative and performing arts sector growth requires strategic unity and relationships with local and state government, tourism and local business. • The Festival Shire inspires young performers ‘to stick around’ and formal education pathways, such as TAFE are essential for the future regional growth. • Coffs needs more venues and infrastructure for performing arts events, touring shows and community concerts, like dance eisteddfods. Creative Services have been advantaged in Coffs by the early rollout of the NBN and fibre to the premise, whereas in Bellingen the sector has been severely impacted by inadequate NBN. • The digital economy has benefited from Coffs Council and Jobs for NSW developing the innovation and entrepreneurial program 6 Degrees, which has now been rolled out in Kempsey, Nambucca, and Bellingen. The Creative Industries drives the Bellingen economy; calling themselves ‘The Festival Shire’ they attract 210,000 visitors a year who spend a total of $58.9 million. • Many Bellingen residents operate micro or small Creative Industries businesses involving artists, craftspeople, writers, and musicians. • Bellingen’s key themes are strong Council support, networking, and the ‘Bello’ reputation. • Festivals need key people who are paid wages to cover the ‘invisible’ work needed. • High volunteering levels might be seen to limit professional career opportunities. Screen Industry activity in Coffs Harbour highlights growth in the commercially viable corporate screen production and independent exhibition sectors. • Screenwave International Film Festival, supported by Local and State agencies, runs in January and is a growing event screening 90 films and attracting 7,000 people, 30% of whom are from out of town. • Sawtell Cinema was refurbished because the community raised $2 million locally to buy the building, refurbish it and lease it out to an independent cinema chain. • Coffs’ screen-based businesses sustain themselves by targeting clients from other regional areas. Grant funding aimed at professional input for events to support community-based festivals and media organization that are volunteer run would lift the event quality. • Community radio needs to access ongoing funding to employ a co-ordinator. • General funding to improve preparation for key events and muster volunteers is critical. Regional creative industry practitioners have diverse skills which allows them to survive in CI businesses in regional NSW. • More educational pathways are needed for the Creative Industries to connect to the wider economy, like healthcare • More start-up support has been identified for the development of innovative ideas and business model maintenance Recommendations: • Create sector-wide strategies that will attract and retain youth and provide education and employment opportunities, including implementing a skill-based opportunity for young people to learn app development, integrating these with incubator and accelerator programs and expanding these educational programs and support services to target young entrepreneurs and business owners. • Activate the Coffs CBD by building the new civic cultural building. • Invest in infrastructure and promotion to engage local communities and visitors in the cultural life of the area and to create and maintain vibrant cultural and public spaces. • Install better NBN connections in the Bellingen area. • Simplify festival funding application processes for the Australia Council, Festivals Australia, and Create NSW, to provide ongoing funding for organisers who manage large numbers of volunteers and contributors.

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Contents Strategic summary – incomplete please add ...... 1 Acknowledgements ...... 4 Background and context ...... 5 Strategic theme 1 What are the interrelationships across the sub sectors of the creative industries? ...... 15 CREATIVE SERVICES ...... 16 CULTURAL PRODUCTION ...... 18 Strategic theme 2: The relationship of cultural and creative activity to the wider economy ...... 31 TOURISM and CULTURAL POLICY ...... 36 Strategic theme 3: Hotspot Comparisons ...... 37 References ...... 38 Appendices ...... 41 Appendix A Census data ...... 41 Appendix B Australian Business Register data ...... 41

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Acknowledgements The research team gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the following people and organisations for providing the information and insights that made this report possible:

Nanette Backhouse: saso.creative Fiona Barden: Coffs Harbour City Council Jay Black: Photographer David Brammah: TAFE Leah Briers: Coffs Harbour City Council Sam Chapman: saso.creative Jenni Clement: Readers and Writers Festival Steve Coates: Go4 Multimedia Maxine Compton: Bellingen Shire Council Matt Deans: Coffs Coast Advocate Suzanne Douglas: Vesticam Katherine Emerton: Regional NSW - Regions, Industry, Agriculture & Resources Libby Feez: Red Fez Media Cath Fogarty: Coffs Harbour City Council Ann Gee: g2 Architects Oliver Gee: g2 Architects Michael Grieve: Bellingen Shire Council Louise Hardman: Plastic Collective Jill Haynes: Bellingen Shire Council Adrienne Hmelnitsky: Art Space Urunga David Horsley: Screenwave International Film Festival Seth Jordan: Festival consultant Joanna Keers: I love Bello Shire Rod McPherson: Affirmations publishing Sian Nivison: Coffs Harbour City Council Damien Oliver: Creative Technologist Alison Pattinson: Bellingen Shire Council Simon Portus: Headline Productions Tony Rothacker: Innovation Hub Shane Seccombe: Offbeat Operations Philip Senior: Arts Network Bellingen Stephanie Sims: Uko Ono Sharon Smith: Coffs Harbour City Council Chris Spencer: Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance Jane Tavener: Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance Steve Vallance: Regional NSW - Regions, Industry, Agriculture & Resources Rosie Wickert: Bellingen Fine Music Festival / Bellingen Community Arts Council

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Background and context The Gumbaynggirr people are the traditional owners of the Coffs Harbour region on the Pacific Coast in mid-NSW. As one of the state’s largest coastal Aboriginal Nations, the Gumbaynggirr language group stretches from the Nambucca River in the south to the Clarence River in the north, and west to the Great Dividing Range (Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative, online). The City of Coffs Harbour is about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and has a humid, subtropical climate. It was named after John Korff, who in 1847 was forced to take shelter there from a storm. Timber production was the settlement’s first economy, and the wider region is known as the Banana Coast, as growing bananas was a mainstay of the economy for decades. Now, that is being superseded by blueberries, as well as tourism and fishing. In this report, the terms Coffs Coast and Coffs region are used when referencing a wider context and may include one or more of the neighbouring LGAs of Clarence Valley, Bellingen and Nambucca (CHCC 2017b p.2). Coffs is near numerous national parks, including a marine national park, and there are daily passenger flights to Sydney and Melbourne from Coffs Harbour Airport. The inland town of Bellingen is south west of Coffs. The Bellingen Shire is ecologically diverse with more than half of the LGA being State Forests and National Parks. Through it runs the Bellinger River, which flows from the Great Dividing Range to the Pacific Ocean. Population In 2019, Coffs Harbour LGA’s residential population was 77,277, with a population density of 0.66 persons per hectare, and Bellingen shire had a population of 12,996, with population density at 0.08 (id.community, online). The Gumbaynggirr make up 5% of the population, which is nearly double the state average. Coffs continues to attract people seeking a sea change or tree change and is a popular tourist destination with ‘approximately 1.7 million visitors annually’ (CHCC 2017, p. 6). The Mid North Coast is ‘highlighted in forums as also accommodating socially disadvantaged groups including Aboriginal, unemployed and under-employed sectors of the community’ (Seemann 2011, p. 4).

Figure 1 Demographic profile by place of residence, Coffs Harbour local government area 2016

Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016)

Coffs Harbour City Council group leader community and cultural services Sian Nivison said the population is ‘quite unique in the Mid North Coast in terms of the diversity of the last 10 or so years, compared to say Port Macquarie or Grafton. Coffs has been quite traditionally Australian beach

5 culture … the community is beginning to change. It will be interesting to see how some of the entrepreneurism and the diversity of thinking and people’s influences [are reflected in] the next couple of Censuses’ (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). There are significant differences in community volunteering levels between Coffs (16%) and Bellingen (22.5%). In terms of the Creative Industries (CI), volunteers support festivals and events, particularly in the Cultural Production (CP) sub-sectors. High volunteering levels can also be seen as demonstrating limited career opportunities for CI professionals in the region. Economy The Gross Regional Product for Coffs Harbour LGA is $3.58 billion, which represents 0.6% of the NSW GSP (Gross State Product). There were 34,071 jobs in Coffs at June 2019 (.id.community, online). In the last five years, the cost of housing has grown by 20% (CHCC 2017 p. 6).

Figure 2 Economic activity by ANZSIC subdivision, Coffs Harbour

Sources: ABS (2016), Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018a), Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018b), .idcommunity (2020)

Between 2011 and 2016, employment grew by 8%, with 10,000 jobs created since 2001 (CHCC 2017 p. 6). There are 5,484 local businesses in the Coffs LGA. The largest industry sector is Health Care and Social Assistance (18%), followed by Retail Trade (12%) and Construction at (10%): ‘In combination these three fields accounted for 13,862 people in total or 40.7% of the local workers’ (.id.community, online). Bellingen LGA Gross Regional Product is $0.46 billion, representing 0.07% of the NSW GSP (.idcommunity, online). In 2019, there were 4,198 local jobs with 5,613 employed residents, which

6 indicates that locals travel out of the region for employment (.id.community, online). The largest industry is Health Care and Social Assistance (14.7%) followed by Education and Training (11%). Creative economy There have been few journal articles focused on the creative economy in the Coffs region. Although a decade old, Chris Gibson’s research is still relevant as it points out the importance of music festivals to rural and regional communities (Gibson 2007). Gibson notes that ‘centres of alternative culture like Bellingen, with its Global Carnival, host festivals that celebrate difference, grassroots politics and environmental themes. Nearby, the large and growing coastal centre of Coffs Harbour is able to stage its International Buskers and Comedy Festival’ (2007, p. 73). He notes more generally that ‘events create few full-time jobs, and only briefly support the local economy; they have intangible and usually positive effects on places’ (Gibson 2007, p. 79). Gibson’s research confirmed that regional councils wanted economically marginal festivals to continue because ‘the elusive impacts of image are as valuable as the hard currency of immediate economic success’ (Gibson 2007, p. 79). Coffs Harbour was mentioned in a conference paper from 2011 regarding the collective hope that the city could ‘exploit the NBN in order to raise the general level of health and economic growth of its region’ (Seemann 2011, p. 3). Associate Professor K. Seemann speculated that the NBN could ‘foster a shift in the demographics of the Coffs Coast region towards more professionals and highly skilled individuals’, suggesting strength in ‘local manufacturing design services, where complex engineering, product and architectural building designs could be created in the Coffs region, and sent to high technology semi-automated manufacturing centres elsewhere, or vice-versa’ (Seemann 2011, p. 3). He also suggests that ‘in its surrounds Coffs has the ingredients to connect professionals to creative arts industries, though this area has also been raised in forums as a growth issue, with calls for a major arts and events venue to be included in the region’s planning processes’ (Seemann 2011, p. 3). Seemann was hopeful early rollout of the NBN in Coffs would enable the CI to ‘enhance a rich and diverse creative, and cultural arts sector’ (Seemann 2011, p. 5).

Figure 3: Heatmaps showing Bellingen and Coffs Harbour employment in the Creative Industries

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The Coffs Harbour-Bellingen heatmaps (Figure 3) above indicate the concentration of CI across the region, with neighboring LGAs of Grafton and Dorrigo also visible. The first shows CS employment by place of work, indicating these activities are concentrated south of the CBD in Coffs Harbour South and Sawtell-Boambee. The second shows employment in CS as share of total employment by place of work, with pockets of concentration at Korora-Emerald Beach, Bellingen and Sawtell-Boambee. The third shows similar concentrations for the Cultural Production (CP) sector, locating Coffs Harbour South as a hotspot. The last map shows employment in CP as a share of total employment in the region by place of work, revealing Bellingen as the hotspot, followed by Dorrigo and Coramba. Steve Vallance, a business development manager with NSW Regions, Industry, Agriculture and Resources (REAR), believes the true extent of CI is not reflected in Census data: ‘You don’t have to go very far to any of the coffee shops here or in Sawtell or in Bello and there’ll be artwork on the wall that’s local, done by a pretty talented amateur, who doesn’t identify as creative’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Weekend markets are ‘chock a block full of very creative people … what they do is their hobby, and then they get a little bit of money on the side from their creativity’ (Emerton iv, 29 August 2019). In terms of people living in Bellingen, ‘most of the work … [and] most of the practitioners come out of Coffs Harbour. It’s the biggest city, it’s 70,000 people, so there’s that momentum and business there’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). While these attitudes reflect the belief of locals, this research is constrained by Census data that only collects information on primary income sources. To capture the attitudes of locals, the methodology in this research permitted the researchers to visit the regions and interview locals. In Bellingen, we found much more activity in the CI than is captured through the Census. The 2016 creative employment Census data for Coffs Harbour and Bellingen shows that 915 people earn a primary income in the CI sector, with an overall growth of 2.05%. From these figures the creative trident intensity can be calculated, which is the number of people in creative occupations as a proportion of all people employed in each industry. This combined creative trident intensity for Coffs Harbour and Bellingen is 2.8% (See Appendix 1). Separately, Coffs shows 795 employees with a growth of 1.9%, while Bellingen has 156 employees with a growth of 2.8%. For Bellingen, this reflects a 4.35% creative trident intensity, while in Coffs the creative intensity is 2.6%. Looking at the LGAs

8 combined, key growth areas were within the CS sub-sectors of Architecture and Design, with some growth in Software and Digital Content, particularly for creative specialists. With embedded creatives, that is those working in creative occupations embedded in other industries, figures show nearly 10% growth in the Advertising and Marketing sub-sector. For the CP sub-sectors, there is significant decline in employment in Film, TV and Radio, and Publishing, while Music and Performing Arts is at 5%. (Because of very low employment numbers in Bellingen, the calculations default to zero when there are less than three employees in a sector). The mean income for CI workers in Bellingen was $47,200, while in Coffs it was $52,400. The highest mean wage in CI was in Publishing with $84,500, with the lowest mean of $20,700 drawn from Music and Performing Arts (Appendix A.3). Looking at the employed persons in creative and other industries by creative occupation (Figure 4), the very low employment numbers in Bellingen and Coffs for some sub-sectors show that employment as ‘creative specialists’ does not register, whereas ‘embeddeds’ who are employed in creative occupations in other industries, shows greater numbers across both CP and CS.

Figure 4 Employed persons in creative and other industries by creative occupation type, 2011 and 2016, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen LGAs

Sources: ABS (2016)

Changes in CI employment, total earnings and mean income and business registrations have been tracked. The comet chart (see Figure 5) provides a comparison between 2011 and 2016 for Bellingen and Coffs Harbour. In Bellingen, there are more Visual and Performing Arts businesses operating with no-GST registrations and turnover of less than $75,000 than in any other sub-sector. Also, there is very little growth visible across all the sub-sectors, as each is represented by a dot (when there is growth, the sector is represented by a comment). For example, the small yellow comets seen in the Bellingen total earning quadrants show a slight increase in earning for Software and Digital for very small businesses (no GST registration and turnover less than $75,000). The Coffs comets reveal a significant increase in Software and Digital Content for employed persons in very small businesses (or micro businesses, with no GST registration and turnover of less than $75,000) and a slight increase for those in larger businesses (registered for GST). Examination across the other sectors indicates slight growth in Architecture and Design, with significant growth in the mean income for Advertising and Marketing. Publishing shows an increase in mean income, and a decline for both micro businesses and larger businesses.

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Figure 5 Creative industry employment, total earnings and mean income by place of work compared with business registrations, 2011 and 2016, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen

Sources: ABS (2016), Australian Business Register (2019)

Figure 6 Federal, state and local cultural grant and infrastructure funding by source, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen, 2015-16 to 2018-2019

Sources Australia Council for the Arts (2019), Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (2018), Bellingen Shire Council (2019a, 2019b, 2019c, 2019d), Create NSW (2018), Department of Communications and the Arts (2017a, 2017b, 2017c), Department of Infrastructure Transport Cities and Regional Development (2019a, 2019b), NSW State Government (2020a, 2020b)

Funding for CI in Bellingen and Coffs Harbour has improved over the last two years but prior to that there has been very little Federal and State Government funding (see Figure 6). The Federal Government Department of Communications and the Arts contributed $165,000 to fund an impressive First Nations project with Bularri Muurlay Nyanggan Aboriginal Corporation to produce 50 fluent Gumbaynggirr speakers by 2019. The Bunker Cartoon Gallery received State Government

10 funding for an extension from Create NSW’s Regional Cultural Fund for $2.6 million in 2018 (National Cartoon Gallery, 2019), while Coffs Council provided $70,000 towards operating expenses there. In Bellingen, the Memorial Hall upgrade has received $4 million in grant funding from a range of sources, with the largest amount of $3.3 million from the NSW Regional Cultural Fund. In 2018-19, Coffs Council provided a cultural Infrastructure grant for $2 million for the Cultural and Civic Space Project that is expected to have an anticipated spend of $76.52 million. The Council also offers small Arts and Cultural grants totalling $38,000 (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). Bellingen Shire Council has provided funding for three scholarships for Camp Creative students ($726), and the Creative Placemaking Fund ($4,437) has supported artistic events and a street sculpture project for the Arts Council of Dorrigo (Bellingen Shire Council, 2019d p. 40).

Figure 7 Cultural grants by investment type, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen 2015-16 to 2018-2019

Sources Australia Council for the Arts (2019), Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment (2018), Bellingen Shire Council (2019a, 2019b, 2019c, 2019d), Create NSW (2018), Department of Communications and the Arts (2017a, 2017b, 2017c), Department of Infrastructure Transport Cities and Regional Development (2019a, 2019b), NSW State Government (2020a, 2020b) Local government policy context Coffs Harbour City Council has the My Coffs campaign, developed as part of the Coffs Harbour Economic Development Strategy 2017-2022, identifying three strategic economic areas: digital; food manufacturing and agribusiness; and the visitor economy’ (CHCC 2017a, p. 3). These were selected to support traditional economic strengths and focus on potential growth industries to create jobs in the digital and innovation sectors. The Council is attempting to focus on long-term economic prosperity by attracting ‘a younger profile of resident, skilled worker, visitor, or student’ (ibid). It has pledged to ‘work in a collaborative manner with the community (especially the business

11 community), investors, strategic partners and federal, state and local government agencies, to establish partnerships and develop crucial enabling regional public infrastructure which will have a lasting positive impact on the region’ (ibid). Creative Coffs Cultural Strategic Plan 2017-2022 identifies the Council as having a key role in developing cultural life, with an emphasises on ‘collaborations and partnerships with and between local artists, community organisations, diverse communities and creative businesses’ (CHCC 2017b, pp. 2-3). The plan defines ‘Arts’ and ‘Culture’ to avoid criticism and confusion (ibid p. 2) The Cultural Strategic Plan’s five-year goals are: 1. Engage our community and visitors in the cultural life of the area. 2. Create and maintain vibrant cultural and public spaces. 3. Understand and celebrate our Aboriginal and diverse cultural heritage. 4. Value and support our creative industries. 5. Encourage connections, collaboration, and partnerships (ibid p. 1). Community consultation with 900 respondents was conducted through online surveys and focus groups (CHCC 2017b. p.24). The feedback was honest, and the results were mixed, indicating more has to be done to bring the community together. Section 3.2, Arts and Creative Industries Development, notes that ‘a consistent theme was the perceived fragmentation of the arts and cultural sector in the region’ (ibid p. 26). These criticisms were around a ‘lack of a central arts hub, a lack of clear communication and marketing for events and activities, and a lack of communication and coordination between venues and organisations’ (ibid). It was suggested that Council should not be responsible for fixing all these problems, and the Coffs Coast Creative Industries Network was cited as an example of addressing fragmentation. The quality of artists and creative practitioners was noted as a strength by survey respondents (ibid). Positive feedback was received about the offering and quality of festivals in Bellingen and it was hoped that employment opportunities could be created in the arts and cultural sector to ‘engage young people in arts and culture – through activities, partnerships, education and information’ (ibid p. 27). Council’s Sian Nivison believes the creative sector is ‘quite disparate … there isn’t really much networking going on as a collective … and in this town you’ve got other forces and groups that are very strong and well organised, whereas connections in the Creative Industries are not that strong. We need to connect the dots more and help each other’ (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). Nivison pointed out that while Creative Coffs presents ‘quite a strong cultural policy… understanding of actually what it is varies, both within the Council itself at an operational level and politically’ (ibid). This points to further education on what the CI are, and what role local government can have in supporting and developing them. The Council is ‘the most generous in the Mid-North Coast’ for small grants, offering about $38,000 in arts and cultural grants (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). Council is ‘working on some strategic direction around performing arts spaces, looking at issues and options across the area. We’re looking at cultural and community facilities infrastructure and looking at public art as well’ (Briers iv, 28 August 2019). Nivison said Council’s consultations had revealed ‘creative practitioners in all these areas were struggling with professional development. They knew their patch and their world, but to then go and use their skills and expertise in business in a different sector, for example health or aged care, they were really struggling with that … we’ve actually been brokering those relationships between tertiary, training, aged care, health and various arts sectors, but there’s still not familiarity between sectors’ (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). Coffs Harbour LGA is a regional service hub, and Nivison points out that ‘there are a lot of people that I would see as Creative Industries professionals and workers that I know are living in the region and are working outside our LGA. They work down in Valla, live in Urunga [or] Bellingen … and there’s this whole ecosystem of people …. They work in Sydney or other metro areas, or they’re in film internationally’ (ibid).

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Cath Fogarty, Coffs Council’s cultural development gallery and history services coordinator, believes Coffs has a lot of unique potential: ‘It’s the combination of being a centre of major infrastructure, with the airport, the NBN, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. The other thing, from a State Government planning perspective, is it being a designated growth area, designated refugee resettlement area … so you’ve got this confluence of really interesting influences, culturally, economically [and] environmentally’ (Fogarty iv, 28 August 2019). Bellingen Shire Council Bellingen Shire Council’s annual report acknowledges that many of its ‘residents operate small to medium size enterprises in Creative Industries involving artists, craftspeople, writers, musicians, and horticulturists’ (Bellingen Shire Council, 2019d p. 8). Calling themselves ‘The Festival Shire’, they attract 210,000 visitors a year who spend $58.9 million. The Council focuses on sustainable tourism, which features creative communities of craftspeople, writers, and musicians (ibid p. 12). There are seven festivals/events listed in the Council’s annual report:

• Screenwave International Film Festival • Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival • Bellingen Fine Music Festival • Screenwave Rec Ya Shorts • Youth Film Festival • Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival • Bellinger River Agricultural Society EJ Mantova Art Exhibition (ibid). The Council was supportive of the Bellingen Memorial Hall Transformation Project that brought in $4 million in state and local grants that ‘will significantly increase the original footprint of the building and deliver a suite of improvements that will cater for the current 220 events per annum the venue currently attracts and anticipated future usage rates’ (ibid). The Council has supported The Art Space Urunga, transforming an old butcher’s shop into a thriving arts hub which has ‘secured more than 140 participating local artists, hosted 22 individual exhibitions, attracted 10,000 visitors and generated more than $80,000 in sales revenue’ (ibid p. 17). Council runs a series of grants programs, with two focused on arts and events ‘to support either individuals or not-for-profit organisations’ and has also ‘subsidised rent [to] give [creatives] a space to launch and have an opportunity to grow themselves, and after then sustain themselves in their own right (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). Council supports cooperative working with ‘a number of workstations and some IT infrastructure’ and workshops on ‘social media management, finances or business planning’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2010). They supported Small Business Month by organising podcasts for people who could not attend workshops.

Council supports the GLAM sector through libraries, museums and the historical society, and promotes ‘author talks, co-working hubs and meetings in the libraries’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). There are ‘plenty of meeting spaces, free internet and access to computers’ (Haynes iv, 29 August 2019). The shire has ‘three museums, a lot for a small place’ in Dorrigo, Bellingen and Urunga (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). The Dorrigo museum is community-led and ‘goes back 100 years … It’s been quite successful in getting people with dementia socially involved and engaged’; museums in Bellingen and Urunga ‘are more focused on family history’ (ibid). The Council has ‘a lot of linkages’ with regional organisation Arts Mid North Coast, which receives NSW Government funding to support arts (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). The Council was ‘reactive’ to state and federal government objectives: ‘It is not necessarily about what we need here, but we’re trying to accommodate state or federal objectives’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). The Council’s manager economic and business development, Michael Grieve, says ‘that’s how things are shaped … The government will set a theme and then we’ve got to come out with a creative project

13 or a youth project or a sports project’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). The state is ‘also helpful in the museums space’ regarding school packages and practical support to upskill staff’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). Council grants and business development officer Maxine Compton said some of the money might be Federal funds, but most grant activity is ‘generally devolved to us through the State’ (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). A synergy of Council’s Youth Hub was a project using a grant from a power company for ‘school kids to paint poles, come out with the designs, then Youth Hub mentors finetune the designs (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). One was ‘a musical score, it was actually something they wrote the music for, and you could actually play what they painted’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). Arts Mid North Coast Arts Mid North Coast (AMNC) is the peak body for arts and cultural development across the Mid North Coast region, which encompasses Forster-Tuncurry through to Coffs. It is a regional non-profit, incorporated organisation that is ‘part of a state network of 13 Regional Arts Boards that provide the framework for arts and cultural development across regional and rural NSW’ (AMNC 2019 online). Many of the successful festivals in music, arts and literature, as well as the First Nations creative activities, occur because they are managed by passionate local volunteers, and AMNC sees their sustainability as a future challenge in terms of succession planning and because of the limits of regional sponsorship (ibid). AMNC points out what is required for growth is more focused council support and closer relationships ‘with the tourism industry, local business and all levels of government’ (ibid). Coffs has a current Arts & Culture Plan, and arts and culture are reflected in Economic Development and Destination Management Plans. AMNC has a role in encouraging councils’ strategic planning, but identifies a negative as ‘the lack of recognition for arts and culture in the integrated planning processes of the councils and their 10-Year Community Strategic Plans’ (AMNC 2019 online), although there have been some changes with Bellingen and Coffs Councils in 2019 and 2020. Regional Performing Arts Venues There are a limited number of performance venues in the region that can accommodate touring performances of all genres (AMNC 2019, online). However, recent success with $4 million in State Government funding will see the Memorial Theatre in Bellingen upgraded, while in Coffs, existing venues, The Jetty Theatre and the Theatre at Southern Cross University’s Coffs Harbour Education Campus, continue to be perceived as inadequate for large touring shows, concerts and operas. Coffs Council’s Sian Nivison says the 250-seat Jetty Theatre frequently operates under capacity, and there is a community expectation that Council should fund an ‘entertainment centre or performing arts space, for rock concerts or opera … there’s a perception that lots of concerts and shows miss Coffs, they go to Port Macquarie Glasshouse, and they go further up the coast, the Gold Coast, and they skip Coffs’ (Nivison iv 28, August 2019). For seven years, The Jetty Theatre has been heavily subsided by Coffs Council even though it has been operating on a model of ‘60% community theatre and 40% commercial’, and it is still run by Council staff (ibid). The phase one upgrade did give ‘it an amazing vibe … [the] community love it’ (ibid). However, as Nivison asserts, the issue is that ‘nobody really wants to pay for anything’ like an entertainment centre. Even though the university has a 500- seat theatre ‘it’s a lecture theatre really … the acoustics are not too bad, but there is no fly tower or green room’ (ibid). Nivison said the dance ‘eisteddfods really struggle, because there isn’t anything large enough in the region to cater for that demand’ (ibid). Upgrading of the Southern Cross University’s Coffs Harbour Education Campus Block D Theatre is described by David Brammah, who works in investment development at North Region TAFE. Phase one infrastructure improvements were funded by the NSW Government, and covered ‘the lighting grid, improving the sound, putting sound treatment in, putting a dressing room in, a greenroom at the back, improve the access so they can wheel shows straight in’ (Brammah iv, 28 August 2019).

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Phase two funding to fix the roof and provide more sound treatment has been costed at $1.7 million, but has not yet been funded. Brammah adds that phase three, worth $12 million, will upgrade ‘the big-ticket items like improving access and putting a lift in, improving the façade, changing the main entry, fixing the foyer’ (ibid). Somewhat controversially, the NSW Regional Cultural Fund has funded upgrades to the Bunker Gallery in Coffs to the value of $2.6 million. NSW Regional Cultural Fund also provided $3.3 million for the upgrade to Memorial Hall in Bellingen. The project also received a Stronger Country Communities grant ($335,000) and a Heritage Near Me Activation grant ($92,000). Bellingen Council has proposed to contribute $650,000 to upgrade the car park behind the hall (Carey 2020). It has been reported that the grant application ‘involved 46 individuals from multiple community groups’ (Carey, 2018), but that there now appears to be a cost blow-out of 40% on the hall upgrade (Carey, 2020).

Strategic theme 1 What are the interrelationships across the sub sectors of the creative industries? The interrelationships between the CI sub-sectors for Coffs and Bellingen begin with an acknowledgement that the two regions have distinctly different reputations. Bellingen is ‘a creative community that flourishes on a creative level … It is encouraging cultural development … For the size of the town they punch way above their weight for a night-time economy’ (Brammah iv, 28 August 2019). In contrast, local creatives confirm that Coffs Harbour ‘is not really on the culture map [and not] seen by anyone as creative’, frequently described as ‘a desert’ with ‘nothing to do’ (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). Driving cultural change in Coffs has not been easy. While the region has a small creative community compared to regions such as Wollongong or Albury, they are steadfast in their support for each other and their belief that vision and innovation is needed for Coffs. As independent researchers visiting Coffs, we found a connected and united creative community who revealed the interrelationship between the CI sub-sectors by being part of their own ecosystem. There was an overwhelming desire to openly discuss how the creative sub-sectors have ‘been held to ransom culturally for a long time by a small group of people’ (Brammah iv, 28 August 2019). High quality creative work is produced from Coffs businesses, and we found good interrelationship across these sub-sectors, but did identify a ‘horrific … small country mindedness’ (Gee, A. iv 28 August 2019). This has manifested as a substantial community and business rift, which presently is focused on the Council’s desire to upgrade community and cultural facilities in the CBD. The firm g2 Architects has been involved in advising the Council on ‘the big kahuna’, a planned library, gallery, and civic space (Gee, O. iv, 28 August 2019). Architect Oliver Gee explains, ‘the thing is, the people who are bitching and complaining about it are the ones who will be having coffee and attending shows’ (Gee, A. iv 28 August 2019). Local creative entrepreneur Stephanie Sims said even though ‘everyone loves to bag Council’ there are some ‘amazing individuals at Council, with Sian Nivison leading the cultural change’ (Sims iv, 29 August 2019). Sims has been on the Council’s cultural reference group and has high praise for Mayor Denise Knight, whose last election campaign she ran. ‘She’s a passionate supporter of the arts … so through her vision we hopefully will get this new gallery, library, museum civic space’ (ibid). Sims said plans had been ‘hijacked by a small minority of loud people who want this thing to be on City Hall …[but] everything has shown that that’s not the best place for it’ (ibid). This sets the scene for the fieldwork conducted in Coffs in August 2019, where the research team sought out businesses and practitioners were making a living from CS and CP sub-sectors of the CI.

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CREATIVE SERVICES CS include Advertising and Marketing, Architecture and Design, and Software and Digital Content, all of which have grown dramatically in the region from 2006 to 2016, for both industries and occupations. While Coffs was one of the first areas to have NBN connection, there is a small hub down by the jetty that has had high quality NBN connection for some years, (Crozier 2013). Coffs Council’s Sian Nivison explains that over the past five years software and digital content has been ‘a key strategy of our economic development and the growth in that sector reflects this strategy’ (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). Nivison says there is a perception within the Council that ‘digital, software design or innovation is the domain of economic development … not Creative Industries … [although] the local government sector discussions around Smart Cities have changed the conversation a little to broaden [those ideas]’ (ibid). Advertising and Marketing Coffs Harbour’s largest source of creative employment in the CI is the Advertising and Marketing sector, which accounts for the largest numbers of jobs by both industry and occupation. Advertisers and marketers, particularly public relations practitioners, are also more likely to be embedded in non-creative industries than employed in specialist firms. Advertising agencies include Coastal Media, Scouttdog Distributors, and Novel Creative. Marketing agencies include CornerPost Creative, Giant Digital, The Digital Laneway, and Movers and Shapers. saso.creative is a design agency that relocated from Sydney more than a decade ago. Their client base had to change, and they say it was their determination and professional skills that allowed them to survive the ‘localism’ culture and ‘blind spot’ for quality (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). saso.creative When saso.creative was located in Sydney, they had blue-chip publishing clients such as Readers Digest, Compass Group, and IMP, and they designed, contracted and packaged for some of ‘Australia's and New Zealand's largest publishers, including Random House, Hodder Headline, Hachete, Murdoch Books and HarperCollins’ (saso 2019 online). However, the promised ‘digital revolution’ to support remote work ‘… didn’t work’ and they ‘lost a lot of clients’ on moving to Coffs. (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). Owners Sam Chapman and Nanette Backhouse started to chase local marketing work, trying to apply skills gained ‘from metro … and dealing with multinationals’ to selling ‘the concept’ to locals, but found it hard: ‘I think we’ve probably turned a corner in the last two and a half years. But the seven and a half, eight and a half years leading up to that were shocking’ (Backhouse iv, 29 August 2019). They believe they miss out on some local work because their quotes are higher than competitors, and clients have a ‘blind spot’ regarding quality (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). However, on learning a competitor had delivered a website ‘three times over budget [and] nine months late’, they knew there were up against ‘localism: that people will forgive anything if you grow up here’ (ibid). Says Backhouse: ‘anybody who’s been here for less than 25 years is still not local … we’ll never be locals’ (Backhouse iv, 29 August 2019). It’s not just longevity but ‘attitude … regional wanton ignorance, according to Chapman’ (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). Their client base is now 80% local, including the regional health sector (Backhouse iv, 29 August 2019). They experimented with a coworking space ‘because of the cheap rent’ but found it was not for them: ‘People would come to us thinking we were a tech start-up, expect their stuff to be done for about $150 … we’d say to them, we’ve been in business for 20 years’ (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). Privacy was also an issue in a coworking space. Architecture and Design Architecture and Design is the second-largest creative industry in Coffs Harbour. It employs more support people in non-creative roles than specialists. There is more employment in software and digital content roles within architecture and design than in any other creative industry, except for

16 software and digital content itself. Most people working in architecture and design occupations work as specialists within their own industry and in Coffs it is the second largest employer of sector specialists. Firms in the Coffs region include Sarah Armstrong Architects, Design Studio 22, DRA Architects, ArchiDraft & Design, Regional Architects, Vil Brickman Architects, Vibe Architects, Atelier 41 Architecture, ecoliving design, Andrew Ferguson Architects works, and g2 Architects. In Bellingen Shire there are ‘quite a lot of architectural firms for the size of the shire’, from ‘one-man bands’ to those linked with bigger projects (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). Their skills and services have evolved aligned with the work that comes up. For example, Bellingen Council’s Michael Grieve says Fisher Design Architecture ‘started out as an architect firm, but now they’re very much a services firm for local government’, doing masterplans and signage: ‘They looked at where the work was coming from and shaped their skills and services to get that work’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). Regional Architects, an architecture firm established in Dorrigo moved to Bellingen and then to Coffs because of Coffs superior NBN: ‘It was quicker for them, if they needed to move some files, to get in the car with a USB and drive to Coffs to a coworking space and send it from there, than it was to send it from Bellingen, because their internet speed was so poor’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2020). Another firm that uses CAD designers is Infracraft; it does office fit-outs for Google and Amazon ‘that high-end stuff. They’ve got 100 staff, 35 of them are CAD designers … the business is now 10 years old and [has] never advertised for work. It’s just based purely on the quality of what they deliver, and they deliver to that top end, but they deliver it from here in Coffs’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). g2 Architects For g2 Architects, health, council, and theatre projects have been recent commissions, including the refurbished Sawtell Cinema, D-Block Theatre at the university, and the Conservatorium performance space. Ann and Oliver Gee are mother and son partners, and Oliver says Anne is ‘the great saviour of the Conservatorium … [and] the longest-serving board member’ (Gee, O. iv, 28 August 2019). The Conservatorium receives NSW Government funding but is ‘the only Conservatorium in the state that actually owns its own building’ and work had been made possible because of ‘a substantial contribution from a donor early on’ (Gee, A. iv 28 August 2019). Architecture clients come from ‘south as far as Port Macquarie, north as far as Yamba, and west as far as Dorrigo’ and work comes from their website and from repeat business (Gee, O. iv, 28 August 2019). Most projects have a budget of around $200,000. Oliver says they won the Sawtell Cinema job ‘by doing a concept design for free’ (ibid). Employing two other female architects, their practice is unusual in a male-dominated industry, and Oliver says sometimes clients will defer to him ‘even through [Ann] has been designing houses for 40 years’ (ibid). Bellingen Multimedia Designers Go4 Multimedia is a small business in Bellingen. Owner Steve Coates is a web designer who does ‘35% local work and about 65% Melbourne, Sydney or overseas’. He is a writer, member of the Readers and Writers Festival committee and does ‘amateur music’ (Coates iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen Council uses graphic designers, photographers, and advertising agencies to do ‘small-scale advertising campaigns and graphics for brochures and events’ and Council’s Michael Grieve says ‘the advertising is morphed with graphic design and a few other talents’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). For example, the company behind the website I Love Bello Shire ‘do their artistic stuff in-house as a package, as a service. While they may not present as an advertising agency, they can do in-house production fairly easily because they have the digital tools’ (ibid). Grieve said increasingly ‘someone with a website becomes a jack of all trades … and can use software to create a product’ (ibid). Council has contracted 3D Media for library website design (Haynes iv, 29 August 2019).

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Software and Digital Content Software and Digital Content specialists are in demand across the national economy, and in 2016 were slightly more likely to be employed (embedded) in other industries than in sector-specialist firms. In Coffs, those employed in software and digital content tripled from 2006 to 2016 but have only equaled the level of those employed in Performing Arts. They are also not as extensively active as the Film, TV and Radio sectors. There are a limited number of small businesses in the region, with desk research identifying firms delivering software solutions for small to medium business, developing digital content including websites, and some games developers. Website designers include Giant Media, F1RST MEDIA and Summit Web Design. The software and digital content sector has really benefited from the NBN, and some businesses have been able to harness this to build national and international reputations. The activities of Coffs Council, such as ‘start-up and digital programs’ benefit the whole region: ‘Even through Coffs Harbour LGA pays for a lot of the programs or the funding comes through us, they very much take a regional view’ (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). Coffs company Janison Insights developed the NAPLAN Online assessment platform used by governments and education authorities. In 2019, 2.6 million tests were completed and submitted over a three-week period and ‘the transaction rates and data stored during these peak times is similar in nature to the loads processed by applications such as Facebook’ (Janison 2019 online). Janison employs about 70 technical staff (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). There are game developers in Coffs, described as ‘quite introverted’, and others have moved away ‘to places like Melbourne where there’s more gaming developed’ (Rothacker iv, 28 August 2019). Tracee, an app for better internet Tracee is a free app that will tell you why your internet is down; it is a ‘trusted guide for those people who want to have reliable internet connection’ (Rothacker iv, 28 August 2019). Coffs developer Tony Rothacker, who has experience running an ISP business, realised a need for such an app. Tracee provides an analysis of ‘certain data around your geolocation, but also around network performance … your WiFi and your router setup. So, if your WiFi is colliding with other WiFis that creates lots of issues … 50% [of the time] the issue is your WiFi or your setup for your router’ (ibid). Creativity was essential in Tracee’s design: ‘It was important that the user experience in the interface is simple and intuitive. So, using human-centred design that many creatives understand, is a key element to get the end user engaged and delight through the entire experience’ (ibid). Creative Technologist Creative technologist contractor Damien Oliver is based in Bellingen but most of his work ‘is coming from Sydney or overseas … with fairly large companies and agencies doing a lot of R&D and prototyping, mostly in the app space’ (Oliver iv, 29 August 2019). Most of his business comes from ‘word of mouth. I’ve been doing it for about 18 years or so … The industry is not as big as it seems, like everyone kind of moves around and talks to each other … your network kind of grows pretty quickly, just through your reputation’ (ibid). In this past five years there has been ‘lots of work in the streaming space’. Oliver has done work for SBS and players for Apple TV, IOS, Android and Freeview: ‘All of the big media companies [are] moving to streaming’. His ARVR work ‘is more agency based … campaign level things for brands that want to do AR off their posters’ (ibid). Oliver was previously a music industry journalist and is ‘part of an amateur writing group in Bellingen’. He has a workshop in Raleigh and says the NBN ‘helps … but it’s not a deal breaker’. While large bandwidth was necessary ‘where I’m building a streaming server’, it was not critical for most jobs (ibid). CULTURAL PRODUCTION Film TV and Radio, followed by Music and Performing Arts, have the highest number of employed persons in the CP sector of the CI in the Coffs region. All sectors of CP were in decline in terms of

18 employment from 2006 to 2016, however some have changed their trajectory since then. The numbers in Visual Arts are low in comparison but have remained steady across the same period. Coffs Council’s cultural development co-ordinator, Cath Fogarty, is concerned about the fragmentation of the CI in the region: ‘People don’t like to see creativity and industry linked, but they are just so important for so many reasons from that connectivity perspective’ (Fogarty iv, 28 August 2019). There is a ‘range in the creative economy, from the professional through to the amateur, the high-end design through to hands-on practice’ (ibid). Fogarty says Coffs has traditionally been politically ‘very safely conservative for a long time … By contrast, you look at Bellingen, which is in our orbit … and very important to actually what makes Coffs an interesting place … you get a lot of commuting between Bellingen valley and Coffs. You look at the results of their last election, it’s like 70% Greens. So, you’ve got this massive quite ideologically different mix sitting alongside one another’ (ibid). Leah Briers, a project officer working across cultural and community services, says the street art in Coffs is ‘a really beautiful part of the culture and the community, because it’s really led by the artists … and it’s a point that Council could really leverage off to work more closely with those artists, and potentially as cultural tourism’ (Briers iv, 28 August 2019). Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance is an Aboriginal not-for-profit. CEO Chris Spencer says the mandate is ‘to position Aboriginal culture as the foundation of our future [through] sustainable long- term growth in economy, social impact [and] social inclusiveness’ (Spencer iv, 28 August 2019). Spencer was fundamental to its formation. A Gumbaynggirr man, he grew up in Coffs and got a maintenance job with Coffs Harbour Local Aboriginal Land Council ‘because I was the only young fellow in town with a licence’. He progressed to cultural heritage officer ‘which gave me direct exposure to my male and female elders, knowledge holders, community leaders … from the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung, Djangadi, Anewan, Birpai and Worimi peoples’, and became CEO, a position he held for 12 years. A reconnection with school friend Alison Page, who had returned to Coffs from Sydney and was ‘extremely passionate about Aboriginal design’, led to the formation of the Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance, with support from 10 local land councils. Saltwater Freshwater social enterprise coordinator Jane Tavener is ‘passionate about creating change and I can see that the arts and culture is one of the best ways to create change because it’s a leveller of people’ (Tavener iv, 28 August 2019). Funding from local, state and federal government is vital ‘to enable us to design and develop and then implement various cultural activities and projects that meet the community’s needs’ (Spencer iv, 28 August 2019). However, ‘there’s a real push around that self-sustainability model’ (ibid), and supporting individual artists to become entrepreneurial is ‘the way of the future’ (Tavener iv, 28 August 2019) Their flagship event is the annual Saltwater Freshwater Festival, held on Australia Day held in various locations such as Coffs, Kempsey, Port Macquarie and Taree, to ‘showcase the artistic talent that thrives here on the Mid-North Coast’ (Spencer iv, 28 August 2019). Saltwater Freshwater Made Deadly, an open mic series run up and down the coast, ‘allows performers to come out and show their wares and then potentially be selected to perform at the festival on the main stage. So, we’re nurturing and looking to really support the Aboriginal people in our region … we try and mentor them, get them into the recording studios’ (ibid). Young filmmakers and actors have also been supported through programs: ‘It’s still about connection back to elders and the culture and their country but it allows them a bit of an idea or a vision to the future’ (Tavener iv, 28 August 2019). The design agency within Saltwater Freshwater is a social enterprise with a commercial focus, working fee-for-service for clients nationally (Tavener iv, 28 August 2019). ‘We’re like a broker between the artist and the client, and there’s such a thirst now for Aboriginal design, to meet

19 people’s reconciliation action plans … [but also] there’s so much more cultural sort of respect and understanding now’(ibid). They ‘spend local’ and contract local creatives including filmmakers, producers, graphic designers, web developers and writers. Television News Local news production does occur in Coffs, and the commercial broadcasters are the Nine Network/NBN, Seven Network affiliate Prime7, and Network Ten affiliate WIN Television. The region is serviced by public television through ABC, SBS and NITV. NBN TV covers local news as part of a nightly bulletin of regional, national, and international news. WIN Television films local stories but produces and airs 90-second news updates from its Wollongong studios. Prime7 News produces a weeknight Mid North Coast bulletin out of Canberra. The local news bulletins are supported by local production houses like Coastal Media, a Coffs advertising and marketing agency also offering video and digital production (Coastal Media, online). Their clients are mostly regional from Coffs, Newcastle, Dubbo, Armidale, and Tamworth. They employ six high skilled staff and are serviced by the high speed NBN connection. Headline Productions Headline Productions is a digital content creator in Sawtell. Director Simon Portus specialises in tourism and aims for mid-level projects which have better production values ‘from a creative perspective, but also from a financial perspective’ (Portus iv, 30 August 2019) A recent project was the Destination NSW Coffs Coast TV commercial. Portus has been ‘out of Sydney for 18 years’, where he found it difficult to break into television. However, he has several filmmaking credits. From 2005 to 2009 Portus received three rounds of short film funding: ‘Screen Australia indirectly has invested half a million dollars in me … that sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore … It’s not about longevity or a career. It’s just about having fun creating projects … a bit of a waste of taxpayers’ money if it doesn’t sustain careers’ (ibid). Portus had developed a feature film project which had actors Toni Collette and Richard Roxburgh ‘attached’ but the production support from Screen Australia did not eventuate (ibid). He believes feature film in Australia is ‘dead for the next 10 years … the only thing you can hope for is that Netflix will eat itself and just implode’ (ibid). He believes ‘as a culture, we don’t value film [and] it’s really up to the government to change that’ (ibid). He said ‘outside of Sydney’ it was even harder to get into TV: ‘… in the regions, there used to be incentives that would develop regional talent. Now we’re basically getting stories of regional Australia told by city people’ (ibid). He said, ‘even the Regional Filmmakers Fund is just basically allowing a couple of tax incentives for producers who want to try to fill the gap’ (ibid). Portus said he had now ‘transitioned’ and his business is ‘fantastically sustainable, in terms of marketing and creating tourism content’ (ibid). ‘Run and gun filmmaker’ jobs he will do himself, but for ‘higher-end stuff’ he will contract crew, mostly local. His ‘niche’ means he does not need to rely on local clients or small jobs, and can accommodate jobs with small budgets around $10,000 up to $70,000. Screenwave Screenwave is the film and screen company that delivers Screenwave International Film Festival (SWIFF), SWIFF Satellite Festival and the Nextwave regional youth film development program. Sister company Film Outreach Australia is a regional film distributor. Screenwave was founded in 2014 by husband and wife team David Horsley and Kate Howat, who had returned to Coffs, where Howat grew up, after working in Canada and Brisbane. Horsley feels that creatives have ‘this unpaid role as an advocate for your industry’ (Horsley iv, 29th August 2019). He said in Coffs ‘everybody here who’s really serious in their industry, their arts industry, does their work out of town… we all make our money out of town and live here because it’s beautiful’ (ibid). SWIFF runs for 16 days in January, screening 90 films and attracting 7,000 people, 30% of whom are ‘from out of town’ (Horsley iv, 29th August 2019). They have struggled to attract Destination NSW support. They employ contractors to help roll out the festival and use some volunteers but ‘pay people in the trade industries’ (ibid). To

20 build a local audience for SWIFF there is a fortnightly screening in Coffs (ibid). SWIFF Satellite Festival involves prepackaged, three-day film festivals, and organisations can ‘buy the program for a flat rate and keep 100% of the box office’ (ibid). The Nextwave program runs in conjunction with headspace, schools, and sponsors to raise awareness of youth mental health issues. In its fifth year ‘it has grown to 70 workshops in 18 council areas’ (ibid). Prizes total $40,000, and three teams of ‘mid-career regional filmmakers’ are contracted to deliver the workshops, with funding from the Regional Arts Fund. These films are then packaged and handed on to Film Outreach who sells the short film screening program, ‘to councils around the country as a youth week screening’ (ibid). Film Outreach Australia was funded with $100,000 by Screen Australia under the business enterprise idea scheme to research and build a business plan on how to take independent films, particularly Australian, to the regions. In the first half of 2019 they organised 60 screenings across ‘every state and territory except the Northern Territory’ (ibid). Their ‘Celebration Screenings’ programs coincide with events such as Youth Week, Seniors Week, Naidoc Week, Reconciliation Day and Harmony Day, and Screenwave ‘match these with funding programs that State and Federal Governments award to local councils’ (ibid). Horsley said they provide councils with ‘a full event that fits within their budget’ (ibid). With funding from the Screen Rights Cultural Fund, they have also developed online workshops to support clients. Social media has been important for networking, and as former members of a Brisbane group Screenwave formed the Coffs Coast Creative Industries Network, which collaborates through Facebook. They also set up the Mid North Coast Film and Screen Industry Network for filmmakers: ‘it’s not completely altruistic. But a lot of it is born out of sort of sheer frustration … when there’s no infrastructure, somebody’s got to create it’ (Horsley iv, 29th August 2019). Summerhill Media Summerhill Media is based in Bellingen and produces mainly online educational films. The business is run by Tony and Rosie Wickert and their son. Rosie says it is based on the ‘concept called trigger films, which was using dramatic construction in order to enable the learning to happen rather than didactic training material. So [we] had a bit of a reputation for producing that kind of stuff, particularly with the unions and so on’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). Clients include training authorities, not-for-profits and ‘the Department of Education and Further Education, particularly when there was money around, particularly pre-Howard’ (ibid). Redfez Digital Media Production Redfez Digital Media Productions is a small media and training business that uses storytelling to promote businesses through various media. Founder Libby Feez moved to Coffs after a career as a TV director/producer in Sydney and found she had to diversify to compete with local companies. Being a television director/producer and web design, she was already highly skilled but had to develop skills to include writing, interviewing, journalism, desktop publishing and graphics (Feez iv, 29 August 2019). She also broadened her skills in social media through becoming involved with the Short Sharp Film Festival and the Readers and Writers Festival. While this and volunteer work boosted her profile, it did little to bring in money, and once an expectation is set ‘that you are doing it for community … you never get paid the kind of value that you should be paid’ (ibid). Relying mainly on training in digital storytelling for income, she has also made short education films for organisations such as Aboriginal Ability Links provider Ngurrala Corporation. Feez has also realised an opportunity in helping other creative businesses launch and she produced ‘one- to two-minute films for Facebook’ to help sell business stories: ‘When you are setting up an arts business, creative industry business, it’s about 80/20; 80% of it is a slog … business and filing … It’s really only about 20% creative’ (ibid).

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Coffs Coast Radio Radio services are delivered by commercial, government, community, and narrowcast stations. As a mature media sector, radio provides a series of interrelationship both within the CI itself and beyond into the wider economy through it local programming, news, and advertising. Southern Cross Austereo owns two stations in Coffs. Triple M broadcasts on 106.3 FM, which offers national programming, and Hit 105.5 produces a local breakfast show. On the AM band, the Broadcast Operations Group’s Super Network owns 2HC 639 AM, which offers a music, news and talk format with one locally produced program from 12pm-3pm weekdays; the rest of the programming is relayed from 2SM in Sydney. 2HC was purchased by Bill Caralis in 2005. ABC Coffs Harbour is linked with Port Macquarie ‘working pretty much as a unit’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). For the ABC ‘a good half if not more … comes from state and national networks now rather than local’ (ibid) with locally produced mornings and afternoons. Other ABC radio stations such as Triple J, Radio National Classic FM and News Radio are networked. Coffs has two community radio stations, one for youth (CHY FM 104.1) and one for seniors (2AIR FM 107.9), and Nambucca-Bowraville and Bellingen have community stations (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). RawFM 88.0 FM is a narrowcast station. All these stations have an online presence. Community Radio 2Triple Bellingen 2TripleB is supportive of local events and festivals, welcoming information provided by the I Love Bello Shire website (Hmelnitsky iv, 29 August 2019). They had also offered reduced rates for advertising and provided ‘the outside caravan … where they interviewed guests and authors and audiences’ (ibid). Presenters will invite organisers in for interviews about events: ‘they are certainly always supportive’ (Senior iv, 29 August 2019). 2TripleB started in the early ’80s and ‘has miraculously survived. All volunteer … in the early days there were some grants that funded paid staff … It's had ups and downs over the years as far as the skills available from a board standpoint. It's in a pretty good situation right at the moment … with good people on there, with good past broadcasting skills’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Seth Jordan was involved in establishing 2Triple B, and with the former Bellingen Jazz Festival and Bellingen Global Carnival, before moving away to work in radio around Australia. He says 2TripleB have no problem finding presenters but ‘it’s trying to bring things up to a minimum standard of presentation and production. The equipment always needs upgrading, constantly. They are eligible for certain grants from time to time, mostly from the Community Broadcasting Foundation in Melbourne, sometimes from state and local as well … but without paid staff, it’s hard to be going through those application processes for grants’ (ibid). Music and Performing Arts Arts Mid North Coast (AMNC) is the NSW Government mechanism that supports Music and Performing Arts in Coffs, though their officer is based in Port Macquarie. The community has a history of engaging with a wide spectrum of genres, through musical festivals that attract local performers and those from outside the region. Coffs has a Conservatorium of Music ‘providing formal music training and strong music education opportunities within many primary and secondary schools’ (AMNC 2019 online). There is strong interest in theatre and the performing arts in Coffs, with a variety of community companies putting on regular performances. The main venue in Coffs is The Jetty Theatre, which hosts ‘touring performances across theatre, dance and music’ (ibid). Smaller community theatre groups are found across the region and these rely heavily on volunteers and ‘there is little by way of theatre education available outside of secondary schools and private drama teachers’ (ibid). The music scene in the Coffs region is serviced by a number of active musicians, booking agents, music retailers and suppliers, music venues and recording studios. The Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, known as the Coffs Con, “has been part of the Coffs Harbour community since

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1984” (Coffs Con 2020, online). They offer “individual and group lessons, ensembles, music programs for schools, professional development for teachers, and offer performances by our students, teachers and acclaimed musicians from across Australia and beyond” (ibid). The Conservatorium is a “non-profit community based organisation, with partial operating funds provided by the NSW Government Department of Education, Regional Conservatoriums Grant. We also receive additional support for specific purposes from local government, corporate sponsors and private benefactors. We are a founding member of the Association of NSW Regional Conservatoriums, one of a network of 17 across New South Wales” (ibid). Their Adult Chamber Ensemble, Coffs Con Youth Orchestra and Academy present the Classical Showcase Concert as part of their ensemble program for 2020. “Combining on stage for what is sure to be another brilliant performance by all, the concert will see performances of works composed by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Sibelius and so much more” (Eventbrite 2020 online). Tickets are limited “to 50% capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions and all sales will be online only” (ibid). As afar as live music in Bellingen is concerned there’s ‘so much music in this town … there’s so many young people who have cut their teeth here and then go on and become successful elsewhere’ (Coates iv, 29 August 2019). There are a couple of recording studios in the area. Rod McPherson, of Affirmations publishing house, said three of his staff ‘are involved in bands fairly heavily. One’s a bass player, probably plays at least three gigs a week, and the husband of our production manager has got his own band and he works at the Conservatorium. He’s actually professionally employed there and employed at the schools … teaching music’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). Local musicians are also used on video work: ‘it’s very convenient’ (Black iv, 29 August 2019). For music retail The Coffs Guitar Shop is located at 71 Grafton St and has “been serving the local musician since 1996” (CGS 2020, online). They sell “all kinds of instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards, digital pianos, ukes, percussion, amps and PA, and more” (ibid) indicating a healthy and active live music scene in the region. They also “have an in-store repair and restringing service” (ibid). Roots Records & Music is located at 2/52 Hyde St in Bellingen selling a range of guitars, vinyl records and CD releases, eschewing, as its name suggests, any mainstream related music. Scratch and Bite Studios is also indicative of the scene it occupies. While they run as a studio and rehearsal space they also run as an independent record label. The studio itself is equipped with a Yamaha 0V196 Automated Digital Desk which is 5.1 surround capable. It uses a Steinberg UR824 Audio Interface and runs Cubase 4.0, Reason 4.0 and Wavelab 5.0. It also boasts a range of quality plug-ins with industry standard monitors. It has a set of guitars, drumkits including Tama and Ludwig kits, as well as variety of amps and pedals for hire. The live room, drum room and vocal booth are made available for demos and full band recordings servicing all genres played in the region. This includes “acoustic, country, blues, jazz, indie, punk, rock, metal, or anything in between” (S&B 2019 online). As well as being involved in engineering and production the studio offers the services of session musicians, jingle writers and voice over artists. As well as being home to local recording artists the studio has also accommodated performers from Sydney through to Brisbane. The rehearsal room is purpose built and replicates “a popular Sydney pub stage.” (ibid) enabling local bands “to rehearse in a small venue atmosphere, with inhouse P.A. and par cans” (ibid). The label portion of the business began by pressing vinyl records for punk artists and now promotes and distributes its artist digitally, remaining resolutely independent throughout its history (S&B 2019 online). Valleysounds recording studios at Nana Glen is owned and operated by guitar player and audio engineer Pete Dyball, a former Tour Manager and FOH Engineer. Dyball, who has toured the world mixing for internationally famous bands, occasionally teaches as part of the Grafton TAFE music course. While also running it as an independent record label, his popular and well regarded studio houses an ASP 8024 recording and mixing desk linked to Pro Tools HD software and has purpose built acoustically designed rooms, a range of outboard gear, instruments and vintage microphones at its disposal (Valleysounds 2020 online). With over 25 years of professional industry experience

23 including extensive touring in the USA, Canada and Asia, Dyball has a strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Linked In and Twitter. Live music venues have been a mainstay of the night-time economy in Coffs Harbour for some time. The nationally famous Hoey Moey, situated behind Park Beach has been part of the Australian touring circuit for many years with headline touring bands and local musicians gracing its stages (Hoeymoey.com 2020) online. The Coffs Hotel “is an Irish-themed pub that is popular with locals. It offers karaoke and live bands in the main bar” (Hotels.com 2020, online). The Coast Hotel is “one of Coffs Harbour’s oldest pubs, The Coast has a rain forest-themed main bar and a spacious terrace for balmy evenings. There’s a cool cocktail bar with DJs upstairs, and acoustic music during the week, with live bands on weekends” (ibid). The Plantation Hotel in Grafton St, locally known as The Planto, “plays host to big-name bands and touring acts on its main stage, which also converts into a dance club with top DJs. The palm-lined beer garden is the perfect chill-out area” (ibid). Further afield, as well as the Sawtell Hotel and the Diggers Tavern at Bellingen, The Federal Hotel, built in 1901, sits on Bellingen’s main street and “is a welcoming country pub frequented by locals. There’s regular live music, with the emphasis on folk and jazz” (ibid). Offbeat Operations Entertainment Offbeat Operations Entertainment booking agency been operating for 30 years. The family company, run by Shane Seccombe, his wife Lynne and their daughter Sharni, is hands-on: ‘When we go out, we travel with the bands, we do the doors, we do set up, all the advertising etc’ (Seccombe iv, 30 August 2019). Where possible they use local creatives: ‘advertising agencies, we use local printing firms, media, buy a lot of media ads, liaise with all the radio stations and papers’ (ibid). While maintaining Facebook is important, they ‘still get a lot of our bookings from the website’ (ibid). Shane said that after some teething problems the NBN was ‘great … the speed seems to be a lot better now’ and it ‘opens up a whole new world’; however, ‘anyone west of Coffs finds it difficult’ (ibid). Seccombe says Coffs has ‘some really great sound engineers’, including Valleysounds recording studios: ‘The production side of things in this area is really, really high standard’ (Seccombe iv, 30 August 2019). Competitions such as battles of the bands were important ‘to give a platform for local up-and-coming artists’ (ibid). He said venues had ‘cut right back’ on live music for a variety of reasons: ‘different management, more rules, noise … security costs’ (ibid). Four production companies operate, not just for music: ‘The Council’s done a great job with the international stadium, bringing major sporting events. All those production companies are supplying production for them as well as the artists … functions and conferences have been good for Coffs’ (ibid). Coffs ‘has always been the mid-point for touring’ between Sydney and Brisbane, and they pick up international acts, including those doing festival sideshows. To make festivals successful in Coffs ‘the Council and the government could help a bit more, if not financial, more infrastructure-wise’ (Seccombe iv, 30 August 2019). Seccombe says Bellingen is ‘selective of the festivals they do for the clientele they bring in, hence there’s no trouble and it’s good’ (ibid). Whereas festivals tend to bypass Coffs because of ‘regulations’, and the showground site is ‘on the highway and very dangerous … if you’ve got 6,000 people crossing that highway, it’s a nightmare’ (ibid). The stadium and the university theatre were now options. Uko Ono Through her business Uko Ono, Stephanie Sims teaches ukulele to individuals and groups of all ages (Sims iv, 29 August 2019). Sims is using her ‘instrument of joy’ to build community, including holding workshops for women who have been through trauma, for new migrant families, for people who are homeless, and performances in libraries and aged care. She has successfully applied for Create NSW funding to start a Musicians in Hospitals project ‘to get more musicians employed in meaningful work and obviously create change out in the community and bring that connection and all the benefits that music bring’ (ibid). Sims moved to Sawtell so her daughter, a Gumbaynggirr girl, could live on country and because ‘it had a good independent cinema’, which she fund-raised to save

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(ibid). Setting up her business had been ‘all connections’, with local creatives contracted for website design and marketing. Sims does her own social media content, but looks to a local company, Creative Social Solutions, for strategy. Sims says the ukulele revival has been a boost for Coffs Guitar music retail store and ‘every week they’re just having to order more ukulele straps … there’s so much demand for ukuleles and paraphernalia’ (Sims iv, 29 August 2019). Sims has been instrumental in setting up a businesswomen’s group for creatives and some in the ‘techie sort of space’ (ibid) and is involved with Facebook pages for creatives. Sims said courses offered by the School of Social Entrepreneurs had been helpful for local start-ups: ‘Normally you’d have to go to Sydney or Melbourne or Perth to physically do the course … but they’ve done one in Geelong, one in Alice Springs and one in Coffs Harbour. So, they chose little hotspots and came out and delivered it’. Sims said the Alt Collective in Sawtell also had a program to help start-ups called Local Luminaries. One member, ‘DIY Knucklehead …has a YouTube channel … with millions of viewers’ (ibid). And a group called the Coffs Coast Creative Industries Network, which initially met in person monthly, continues to liaise on Facebook. Bellingen Festivals Festival organisers are ‘drawn to Bellingen as opposed to the Coffs Coast. Bellingen’s similarity to Byron and Mullumbimby and Bangalow, that attracts a lot of people [with] the old hippie past’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). The region benefits from its own festivals, but also gets ‘carry over … the stop along the way’ from events in Byron Bay (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). The biggest local festival is Bello Winter Music Festival ‘modelled on the Mullumbimby Music Festival’, which is put on by Red Square Music: ‘everything is done in town. They use existing venues for performance and catering, so there’s no off-site business at all. The locals just absolutely love it because they’re getting the full economic benefit from a festival like that’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). At least ‘70% of the artists are local, so they draw from the actual local talent … and do mentoring’ (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen Fine Music Festival organiser Rosie Wickert says it is important to recognise the ‘less sexy stuff’ associated with putting on creative events, such as ‘accounting and management. It’s not just about the marketing and publicity and design’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). Seth Jordan says festivals ‘really need key people who are paid at least a part-time wage to cover the basic time period that they’re doing, backed by volunteers. The volunteers are all important. But if you don’t have at least one, possibly two, part-time people paid for something, then you’re really dependent on that volunteer aspect to cover all of those things, which can take an enormous amount of time … that’s really the message that has to get through’ to organisations handing out grants, such as Create NSW (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Grants from the Regional Arts Fund, under which Jordan was employed, could help festivals raise their profiles: ‘The support from funding bodies … is really important if they are to rise above a basic service. It can make all the difference within an event to have a little bit of professional input there paid for through grants’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Support from all levels of government was currently minimal. The Council does support an events hub in the Neighbourhood Centre which provides meeting and storage space, and ‘has a grant scheme where there's a maximum amount you can apply for each year … There’s no other source of funding apart from that. So, every year we have to reapply’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). Grants in the order of $2,000 to $3,000 were available, ‘even less for art galleries and visual arts … [and] no subsided rent’ (ibid). Jordan believes the Council is ‘as helpful as they can be, but they’re limited in what they can offer’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Larger grants, ‘being state or federal grants, are usually applied for specific projects within the thing, not for general funding of the event’ (ibid). The Fine Music Festival Music for Youth program was sponsored for some years by Festivals Australia but ‘there’s an assumption that an act or activity is going to become self-sustaining. But precisely that kind of activity cannot become self-sustaining because of the nature of what the activity is. And there’s no flexibility’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019).

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Festival funding applications to ‘Australia Council, Festivals Australia, Create NSW, those are pretty onerous applications process to go through’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen’s Global Carnival ‘had some successes with the Australia Council … but some organisations have been questioning whether or not it is worth going through the process’ (ibid). Each application has to be tailored, knockbacks offer ‘generic feedback’ and ‘it’s a lot of work and lately there hasn’t been much positivity coming back from that effort’ (ibid). Jordan point out differences between Coffs and Bellingen: ‘They are part of the same region, they draw audiences from the same region, but the community support and the cultural aspects are quite different’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). He says Bellingen ‘for its size has a lot more activities going on …and Coffs is more commercial … Also, Coffs Harbour is continuing to be in the midst of not having a main venue. There's a whole discussion about whether a new venue should be built there. The Jetty Theatre is probably the most permanent and best theatre. But that holds 250 people … so it's quite limited’ (ibid). While the C.ex club offers ‘mainstream and commercial acts … the festivals and cultural activities [in Bellingen] tend to be more community based and community volunteer committees’ (ibid). However, the places ‘occupy the same region. And a fair bit of the Bellingen audiences comes from over from Coffs Harbour, sometimes probably the other way as well’ (ibid). The Fine Music Festival attracts an audience connected with the Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium. Bellingen Camp Creative Bellingen has Camp Creative, which ‘attracts huge, world-renowned people like David Helfgott, who might do a seminar … It’s a huge thing in Bellingen and it’s supported by Coffs’ (Emerton iv, 29 August 2019).The region has ‘a lot of famous people that live here or live here in part … live here quietly’ including actors Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson, and singer Wendy Matthews (ibid). Camp Creative is held each January and includes 200 workshops across a week in ‘canoe building, drum making, circus performing … everything, people love it’ (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). Camp Creative ‘gives out its own grants … similar to the Council’s’ for $2,000 to $3,500, and they have consistent supporters [and] sponsors as well’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). It’s ‘a very solid and professional run organisation, Camp Creative, and they’ve been very supportive of other events in town on an ongoing basis’ (ibid). Bellingen Community Arts Council and Fine Music Festival Belligen’s Fine Music Festival has a budget of $50,000 and relies on 40 to 50 volunteers some ‘providing accommodation, some would be doing travel to the airport and back, some providing food’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). Rosie Wickert is involved with the Bellingen Community Arts Council as well as the Fine Music Festival. Seth Jordan was employed on a small grant from Regional Arts Fund to ‘help raise the profile to the next level for’ the Fine Music Festival and the Readers and Writers Festival (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Most festivals are run by three to six ‘key people, who are the mainstay. That swells up and is backed by volunteers during the actually putting on of the event itself. But the general planning and running of the organisation is down to three, four, maybe five people’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). If some of those stood down, and there were not interested and skilled people to replace them ‘that could be the end of the festival’ (ibid). Wickert says ‘the problem with sustaining an event that is entirely run, or almost entirely run, by volunteers, is changes in personnel. Unless you've got somebody who's really committed to developing all the Excel spreadsheets and systemising how everything is done, there's a real issue when you try to hand over to new groups’ (ibid). As these festivals are ‘run by volunteer committees … what can be done in-house is done in-house. Outside consultants are only brought in if there’s a specific grant to fund that aspect of the festival, or if there’s $1,000 or $2,000 available in the coffers’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Local designers they have used for web design, advertising layout and social media have been paid ‘but minimally … doing a lot, lot more than they get paid for’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). ‘There’s a lot of goodwill in

26 there as well … they have to be supportive of the concept and you’re paying for a token of their time … I can’t think of a festival around here that would be able to afford commercial rates’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). During the festival a stage manager is paid ‘for three days, he gets paid a couple of thousand dollars’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). The festivals ‘try and piggyback on what Coffs Coast Tourism does, without very much help from them. Trying to get onto their events sites and so on’ (ibid). PAs are hired from Coffs Harbour firm Any Entertainment: ‘they’re friends and they’re reasonable and a lot of people use them … there’s different scales they can deliver depending on your needs’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Drama and Dance Dorrigo’s Old Gazette Theatre is home to the Dorrigo Dramatic Club, which has been ‘going for more than 60 years, continuously. They’re a very active theatre group’ (Keers iv, 29 August 2019). Playback Theatre does ‘improvisation’ and another group called Kallang occasionally put things on. The Stables Art Centre ‘is also doing some work with kids in dramatic arts’ (ibid). A Bellingen ballet school is run by one of Affirmations’ graphic designers who ‘works part time, and the other two days she runs a dance studio’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). Dance is also happening in Urunga and there are African dance and drumming groups in the region. Affirmations Publishing Affirmations is a publishing house that has been named Coffs Harbour’s sustainable business of the year for three years. They employ locals and sell retail and wholesale products nationally and internationally: ‘Our whole reason for being is to change the mindset of the planet one card at a time, with a positive message’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). Based in Bellingen, general manager Rod McPherson employs 20 people and contracts writers, photographers, and illustrators, around Australia and overseas. They employ local illustrator Kate Knapp, who lives in Bellingen. McPherson said the reputation of Bellingen and the environment are part of his business’s story: ‘It’s hugely important for us to be here as a business, even though we’re not selling here, because that’s our story’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). McPherson say they ‘make 99.9% of our revenue from outside the Shire’ (ibid). They sponsor Art Space and Nexus Gallery. The Coffs Coast Advocate Newspaper The Coffs Coast Advocate has adapted to the changing media landscape by altering its business model from being ‘delivered free on the Wednesday and Saturday [with] paid titles in between…to being a free home delivered bi-weekly’ (Deans iv, 29 August 2019). They attract good advertising and established an early digital presence. Editor Matt Deans says they were ‘the first non-daily out of the major Australian media companies to introduce premium news as a paid service’ (ibid). This decision was taken to safeguard the future of the business, and ‘safeguard journalists’ jobs in our newsrooms’ (ibid). Deans said, ‘it has been a challenge … [but] we’re the subscriber generation … people pay for music, for films; news should be no different’ (ibid). Writers and Journalists Coffs Harbour Writers’ Group was established in 1986. They meet monthly and provide ‘learning opportunities in the form of seminars, workshops, study group and guest speakers; provide a portal of information on writing competitions and publishing opportunities within and without the local community’ (CHWG 2019 online). They have published a number of anthologies of local writers’ work and host the Grassroots Writers Weekend event. Writers in the Bellingen Shire include children’s author Colin Thompson, journalists George Negus and Kirsty Cockburn, and fantasy writer Ian Irvine, whose wife Anne is a noted drawer. There are a number of bookstores in Coffs including Dymocks, Read More Books, Classic Books, the Eternal Waters Christian Bookshop, and The Book Warehouse Coffs Harbour.

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Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival People come from all over Australia for the annual Readers and Writers Festival, which featured journalists Kerry O’Brien and Peter Greste and cartoonist Michael Leunig on the 2019 program. The festival is held annually and run by a volunteer committee headed for the past two years by Jenni Clement, with support from Seth Jordan. Of the 2019 festival’s 45 participating authors, 15 were locals (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Clement said ‘there are a lot of published authors in town’ including ‘a number of people who have two professions … who write books, but they have another profession as well’ (Clement iv, 29 August 2019). The event is supported by Bellingen Council, Camp Creative and businesses and tourist sites such as Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, Bellingen Shire Events Hub and Bellingen Library. Because of Covid-19, the 2020 festival was held online. In 2019, more than 2,000 children from 20 primary and high schools took part in the schools’ program. Six authors visited schools ‘they do workshops in there for several days, and they’re paid for that’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Sponsorship went towards paying for author visits. Clement said 2019 was the first year the schools’ program ‘had paid for itself’ (Clement iv, 29 August 2019). Although the economic benefit has not been calculated, the festival ‘brings people in … We all know there is an influx because you can’t get a parking spot in town’ (Clement iv, 29 August 2019). It has been sponsored with cash and in-kind by the Councils, Officeworks, a travel agency, and an accounting firm. The festival relies on volunteers but works with umbrella group Arts Network Bellingen and Affirmations publishing house. Through the arts network ‘we have had physical artwork that is literature-themed throughout the whole town’ (ibid). The festival gets good radio coverage in Coffs and Port Macquarie and pays for a community radio outside broadcast. A few years ago, the festival ‘went through quite a catharsis and really had to restructure its entire committee’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). Clement said running a festival is ‘more than a full-time job. I was working six days a week on that festival, sometimes up to 14 or 15 hours a day depending on what was going on, because it was a learning curve for me’ (Clement iv, 29 August 2019). Seth Jordan has been funded for two years as advisor and strategic planner with the Fine Musical Festival and the Readers and Writers Festival under a joint Regional Arts Fund. ‘I was paid to do one day a week for two years for both festivals combined’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). He said the Readers and Writers Festival had been ‘ready to fold’ a few years ago. It had been ‘successful with grants’ in the early years, 2012 and 2013, ‘Australia Council grants, Festivals Australia grants, they had one or two grants for $35,000 to $40,000 … which paid for a director [and] many different aspects … but the environment has changed, mainly because of competition … on one level, every small town now has a music festival … and the pot that’s being brought … has shrunk considerably’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019). He said that was related to ‘the government’s attitude towards funding arts, because the arts generally doesn’t vote politically the way the Federal Government would like it to’ (ibid). Winning grants is very difficult, ‘horrendous … it’s the bane of an organisation like ours’ (Clement iv, 29 August 2019). She said volunteers put in ‘hours and hours’ of time, working out how to ‘bend the grants to fit what it is that you were applying for [and] then just getting knocked back’ (ibid). Coffs Visual Arts and Photography Coffs Harbour Creative Arts Work Group, started in 1974, runs the Showground Gallery and Workshop. Local artists include Trudy Smith, who works on commissions, Jeffrey Baker, and Wayne French. French, who has been painting professionally for a decade, has exhibited internationally and has selected works published in the World’s best landscape artists book (2019 online). French is a keen surfer and creates work for surfboards and other media. In 2010, he was inducted into “The Ocean Artists Society”, in the United States. He co-owns Greenroom Gallery (ibid). Coffs also hosts a significant number of photographers, offering a broad range of commercial photographic services, weddings, and portraiture, as well as a photo booth hire business. National Drones is an aerial photographer that operates out of Coffs, and Camera House is a photography store operating in Coffs.

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Bellingen Visual Art Rosie Wickert is critical of Bellingen Council for discontinuing its arts and cultural committee: ‘Although they didn’t have very much money, it brought together a network of different artists, creative, visual artists … photography, sculpture … That’s completely gone … The artist network feels that there’s no vehicle to be able to get a view to Council’ (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). Wickert said ‘most people wouldn’t know anything about’ the Council’s new Create consultative mechanism: ‘So, there isn’t, as far as I am concerned, a consultative mechanism for the arts community in Bellingen’ (ibid). The Council has ‘a public art plan’ but ‘actually getting any movement in terms of implementing a cultural action plan or having one that’s alive has been an issue for some time. And that’s really annoying to the artist community when this place promotes itself as a creative hub’ (ibid). Arts Mid North Coast is ‘supportive, but not financially’ (Hmelnitsky iv 29 August 2019). Others in the community feel that the Council does support creative arts activities (Senior iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen Council is giving Art Space Urunga reduced rent ‘so that’s hugely supportive’ (Hmelnitsky iv, 29 August 2019). And the Council has been ‘strongly supportive and financially supportive’ of the Readers and Writers Festival and Aboriginal exhibition for Naidoc Week with ‘small event and infrastructure’ funding (ibid). Council had also supported Sunday Bites once a month, a ‘cultural discussion or event’ organised by Arts Network Bellingen (Senior iv, 29 August 2019). Philip Senior, of Arts Network Bellingen, said it was ‘small grants’ that made these collaborative events possible (ibid). The Council had been supportive of Toast Urunga, ‘a cultural event that had bands and all that sort of stuff’, but it ‘just got so big and [because] of compliance, we had to close that down because it was actually getting quite risky … it should have been a professional event. It was too big. It was volunteers running it for nothing; it had to give’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). The Chamber of Commerce is still running a smaller event, and that is being supported with Council grants, which are also funding ‘Aboriginal art along the walkways’ (ibid). Council did a ‘pop-up gallery in Urunga, which allowed artists to congregate and meet’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen Sculptors and Photographers Bellingen has ‘a couple of significant sculptors’, including David Tucker and Sandra Pitkin, who work for commissions of $50,000’ and others ‘who aren’t in that level of recognition’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). There are also ‘painters, potters, people who draw [and] botanical artists … mosaics and murals. There’s a whole range of people in the visual arts’ (ibid). The Council’s Maxine Compton said two of her neighbours were renowned artists: ‘Axel … he’s done some work that’s actually been hung in the PricewaterhouseCoopers buildings in Sydney … and [sculptor] Saskia Folk … who lives here and in Melbourne and goes out to the Northern Territory quite a lot’ (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). Indigenous sculptor Tyrone Sheather ‘who won a Dreaming Award a couple of years back … has gone to Singapore and South-East Asia with his exhibits’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). Public art includes a sculpture of Gleniffer pianist David Helfgott by John van der Kolk and a bust of cricketer Adam Gilchrist. Bellingen is ‘the sort of place where most people have two or three things going on’ (Coates iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen photographer and videographer Jay Black works mostly with community organisations such as Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance, ‘then it could be something like yoga or a café shoot or occasional wedding (Black iv, 29 August 2019). Her work also includes projects for NSW Health. A similar story can be told about photographer Gethin Coles, described as ‘a great photographer, but his bread and butter is working with real estate agents and doing videos on properties for sale … That keeps him in work … [but] his professional skills are around beautiful imagery and photography. I guess part of being in a regional area, you’ve got to diversify and be able to do a number of different things’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019).

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Arts Network Bellingen Creative industry ‘drives the economy’ in Bellingen, according to local business owner Rod McPherson: ‘It’s the underlying driver of the economy. The tourism, and everything else’ (iv 29 August 2019). Arts Network Bellingen was started by architect Philip Senior and his wife who realised ‘that a lot of creatives work in silos’ (Senior iv, 29 August 2019). While they connect with establishments and galleries, ‘we saw the need to form some sort of loose network … We do organise some events [including] Open up to Art weekends, where we had a number of exhibitions opening on the one night … We see it, not as a breeding ground in a direct commercial sense, but a way of stimulating creatives within the district’ (ibid). They stay in touch via Facebook and Instagram and ‘rely on other people’ including Arts North Coast, and smaller networks of artists, such as ceramicists, to help promote events. Senior says the cultural aspect of Bellingen is important: ‘I knew Bello was an arty place. It has a cultural ethos or reputation and I think that’s quite valuable … It’s good to have venues, but … it’s that undercurrent that allows the other stuff to emerge that is the real core of artistic places’ (ibid). He said supporting artists who were developing was ‘a really important thing’. Bellingen that creative networks are ‘healthy … all the art groups connect, and all promote and support each other’ (Hmelnitsky iv, 29 August 2019). Art Space Urunga Art Space Urunga is a not-for-profit artist-run gallery which has previously held a small sculpture prize, which attracted tourists. Gallery manager Adrienne Hmelnitsky said all participants were volunteers: ‘We’re just really lucky that we’ve got people who volunteer their skills to support and promote the Art Space’, including founding members Gethin Coles and Danielle Hickey (Hmelnitsky iv, 29 August 2019). Locals can see the change occurring in Urunga because of the Art Space: ‘Providing a space where artists can exhibit at an affordable price, and the works are selling, and the tourists are coming. Even the artists of the region are coming specifically down to see what’s on at the gallery. It’s bringing a lot of change and people into Urunga’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). Museums and Galleries There are a number of museums in the region, with some showcasing local history. With the exception of Coffs Regional Museum, they are managed and staffed by volunteers, many who are members of local historical societies. Arts Mid North Coast argues that a chapter of Museums Australia, which provides training and sharing opportunities, would ‘enhance and improve museum practice and the experiences offered in a number of smaller local museums’ (AMNC 2019 online). The region has Australia’s most comprehensive cartoon gallery in the Bunker Gallery at Coffs, which received state funding for an extension in 2018 (National Cartoon Gallery, 2019). Coffs has an established Regional Gallery and there has been planning for a new Gallery/Museum and Civic offices building in the CBD for some time but that has yet to pass Council and has met with significant community opposition, both in terms of its cost and location. Significant galleries, mainly community-run, are in Bellingen, Dorrigo, and Sawtell, and there are other commercial operations. Coffs Harbour City Library and Information Service has branches at Coffs Harbour, Toormina and Woolgoolga. There is a library at the Coffs Harbour Education Campus and a Family History Library at Rose Avenue. Local libraries play an active role “in staging events throughout the year and for younger people in school holiday periods” (AMNC 2019 online). There are a number of Aboriginal galleries and centres, including the Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre, north of Coffs Harbour. There are also pieces of public art found throughout the region. While Bellingen has ‘a few galleries, they tend to come and go, cafes and the pub hang local artists’ work (Wickert iv, 29 August 2019). The Nexus Gallery has been a community-run gallery for 18 years.

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Strategic theme 2: The relationship of cultural and creative activity to the wider economy On the Coffs Coast there is creative industry potential in gaming, agricultural technology, and health, with huge opportunity emerging from within Southern Cross University around ‘allied health, dementia, and aged care’ (Nivison iv, 28 August 2019). The focus of Coffs Council’s economic development strategy is with the ‘tourism economy (the visitor economy), the agri-food economy and the digital economy’ with the goals of job creation, population growth and ‘bringing money from outside of the area’ (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen has a ‘home grown’ community-led festival vibe that brings outsiders into the region and stimulates the local tourist economy, while Coffs is recognised as an award-winning events destination’ (Nivison iv 28, August 2019). Future economic stimulation Coffs Council understands that attracting and retaining youth is crucial (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). ABS statistics show that, in a period when 2,000 people aged 18 to 24 had left Coffs, only 1,000 in that age bracket had moved in. Young people leave to go to university on the Gold Coast, Newcastle, and Brisbane. Coffs attracts and accommodates families and those aged 35 to 55. Fiona Barden, Coffs Council’s industry and destination development section leader, says the largest cohort of creatives is in ‘the education space [with] three major tech companies here that run education programs … utilising developers and app-based software’ (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). However, Barden says ‘we don’t actually have a skill-based opportunity for young people to learn app development here’ which is a ‘gap in that space in what we provide through Council and through our partnerships’ (ibid). Barden says 80% of people moving through incubator and accelerator programs discover that ‘their solutions are app-based, which is as it should be. So, we take them through all the market testing … and then [tell them] off you go and find out how to [build an app] for yourself’ (ibid). There are support service business, ‘but we’re trying to … build that opportunity for our entrepreneurs, whether they be young or existing business owners’ (ibid). State Government funding through Regional NSW offers ‘a lot of funding opportunities’ for a range of industries, according to senior coordination officer Katherine Emerton (Emerton iv, 29 August 2019). Business development manager Steve Vallance says the state has ‘refocused their funding streams from 14 to two, and taken the assessment criteria from 27 to four, making it easier to access their funds’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Programs such as the Stronger Country Communities Fund, which comes out of the Regional Growth Fund, were targeted at regions such as Coffs, and included ‘youth programs in the creative space … it’s a bit of an acknowledgement that the future of youth may not be bricks and mortar and trade, it will be something a bit different’ (ibid). Vallance said the ‘shift into that digital creative space … has been acknowledged’, including at the Future Coffs Forum held in August 2019. Stronger Country Communities funding has been focused on infrastructure development, with grants available only to Councils and not-for-profits such as Local Aboriginal Land Councils. State and federal business development offices ‘network’ together based on the needs and requests of businesses (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Federal support is in funding ‘some of the big infrastructure spend that removes barriers that enable creatives. It’s an upgrade to Coffs Harbour Airport which will enable significant numbers of people in and out … and freight in and out. What it’s done is removed the barrier of the tyranny of distance … ’ (ibid). The Pacific Highway upgrade was also important for visitors from the north: ‘Infrastructure is enabling. As that tourism market drives down here, you need to service them’ (ibid). Funding of $500 million for the Pacific Highway bypass of Coffs was announced in the 2020 Federal Budget. CBD night-time activation and planning There are three key aspects to improving Coffs CBD; activating the night-time economy, encouraging business to stay open, and developing residential accommodation. Night-time activation in the CBD

31 is a central tenet of the city masterplan. A Saturday night in Coffs has been described by locals as ‘a wasteland, tumbleweed blowing down the street’ (Brammah iv, 28 August 2019). Council’s Fiona Barden acknowledges the absence of a local ‘vibrant night-time economy’ (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). There is some night-time activation at the jetty and in the west on Moonee Street but ‘the CBD is very much a place where people go during work time … it’s very difficult to get a cup of coffee in our CBD after 3.30pm. Because people open at 6.30am’ (ibid). The CBD isn’t where people live; locals come into town to work: ‘People live at Park Beach, at the jetty, in the Northern Beaches, Sapphire, Emerald, Moonee, Diggers Beach and they live in West Coffs. They live all the way down to Toormina, Sawtell or Urunga (Smith iv, 29 August 2019). Local planning section leader Sharon Smith said Council had guidelines to allow ‘quite tall buildings around here at the edges of Coffs Creek … but there just doesn’t seem to be that market as much as down there by the water, and you can understand why’ (Smith iv, 29 2019). Smith said student accommodation could help bring people back into the city at night. Barden said ‘it’s a really difficult thing to go to business and say “we know there’s not going to be people, but we want you to open so that we create that atmosphere”’ (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). Events will be key to activating the CBD and this was made possible by new lighting, although not as much as initially planned, and cabling that will allow ‘digital activation’ through Wi-Fi (Smith iv, 29 August 2019). The Council had learned from the jetty foreshore redevelopment the importance of underground power and cabling. Another issue is that the city is divided by the highway (Barden iv, 29 August 2019) and the completion of the bypass will ‘make the east-west movement better for people’ (Smith iv, 29 August 2019). The design process then would be around a ‘T-spine … the old highway and then the T that goes down to the jetty. So those two elements need to be key designed, attractive places and then linking down south to the university, hospital airport [and] sporting hub’ (ibid). Traditional ‘donut planning’ had not worked in Coffs: ‘We need to get over our love of car, bring millennials back to the city and allow those businesses that are entrepreneur-based … to get in here and flourish’ (Smith iv, 29 August 2019). For urban design elements and the ‘big master planning’ projects that have impact, Coffs Council will ‘pull from outside’ the region (ibid). Smith says, ‘there’s not too many companies that have the calibre of finished form that live here locally’, though she advises that ‘for the next scale down projects, wherever possible we use locals’ (ibid). Coffs Coast Future Forum The Coffs Coast Advocate newspaper organised a Future Forum in August 2019 to facilitate discussion of issues affecting the region, at what editor Matt Deans described as ‘a watershed moment … we had two long-standing MPs [state and federal] retiring at the same time …’ (Deans iv, 29 August 2019). Deans said ‘the one issue that stood out for us massively was youth unemployment’, which had reached 23.3% and been among the highest in NSW (ibid). In terms of infrastructure, ‘a Pacific Highway bypass is pretty important … Coffs Harbour is the last spot on the East Coast between Hexham and the Tweed to still have lanes of the Pacific Highway running through the city centre’ (ibid). Deans said the region had ‘seen a lot of start-ups. Bellingen is a classic example: It’s rate of entrepreneurism is higher than the Australian average’ (ibid). These include ‘marketing companies, digital companies, graphic designers [and] web developers’ who have left the ‘rat race in Sydney. They’ve moved out for the sea change or the tree change out there in Bellingen, and they’re the sorts of people who, from a regional perspective, keep our economy flowing. They’re still travelling to Sydney for meetings … but they’re proudly based here in the country’ (ibid). The owners of saso.creative, Nanette Backhouse and Sam Chapman, who attended the Future Forum, expressed concerns about the strength of ‘the old Coast guard … they don’t want change’ and the ‘same old’ politics: ‘It was all about keeping the youth, but … where are the jobs? Where’s the education?’ (Backhouse iv, 29 August 2019). Backhouse said their point was ‘if you don’t give the town any sort of personality or heart or anything for the youth to do, they’re just going to bugger off which is what they’re doing … there is the creative [but] they’re all tucked away … hidden in these

32 little pockets’ (ibid). Chapman added: ‘there is nothing bringing them all together’ (Chapman iv, 29 August 2019). Festivals helped in ‘getting kids to stick around’, but formal education offerings such as TAFE were important for the future of the CI in the region. Regional NSW

Located in Coffs is the State Government office of Regions, Industry, Agriculture and Resources (REAR). Business development manager Steve Vallance says ‘we work with anybody that’s here … the guy what wants to set up some data centres up and down the coast because he acknowledges that there is a transition. They need to get some data so that all of that cloud-based stuff doesn’t have to go elsewhere. It stays in Coffs’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Support includes putting people in touch with each other, such as young filmmakers in touch with Screenwave, and ‘getting people back to Indigenous culture’ through cultural tourism support (Emerton iv, 29 August 2019). Bellingen designer Brett Iggulden’s iconic Planet Lighting has ‘been able to survive because they’ve been able to tap into some of the technology to actually promote it. They’ve got a really great name and the designs are iconic’ (Emerton iv, 29 August 2019). Vallance says ’they used to employ glassblowers. That is an artisan trade. And when they closed that down … they retrained them and kept that skillset within the company’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Coffs Council can see the benefit of the digital economy and is supportive of the start-up space, with the Innovation Hub at the Tech Campus and 6 Degrees: ‘People who work in the space start there and transition into whatever their workforce might be. Screenwave film festival started at the Innovation Hub, and then they moved into bigger premises as it’s grown’ (ibid). Education An innovative and inviting learning environment has been created at the Coffs Harbour Education Campus (CHEC) which incorporates on one site TAFE NSW, Coffs Harbour Senior College and Southern Cross University. The site fosters innovative and creativity through the Coffs Harbour Technology Park and Coffs Harbour Innovation Centre. There are a range of CI courses on offer through TAFE, such as an Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts with courses focused on Arts, Computing, Design, and Industrial Design. In Coffs, TAFE has a second campus which offers Furniture Design, Visual Arts, Interactive Digital Media, and Arts Administration (AMNC 2019a online). Cath Fogarty, Council’s cultural development gallery and history services coordinator, is concerned about the future of the TAFE: ‘We have a TAFE that has an art school. We have got one of the only regionally based TAFEs that has survived the cuts of 2012 and we’ve got a full suite of creative programs, from woodworking, to textiles, to painting, printmaking, ceramics, everything. On top of that, there’s the digital innovation … that creative hub, and you’ve got all these people in there, from young emerging Indigenous artists, through to retirees coming back into that area’ (Fogarty iv, 28 August 2019). However, ‘organisationally [TAFE] is quite hobbled because they can’t promote directly to the community. Because of the centralisation of the TAFE system to Sydney, they can’t market directly to the Coffs regional community, because it has to go through the prescribed funnel, which means the arts are at the bottom of the priority list … things like textiles, which prior to the restructure was always really well subscribed, they have no students now, because they can’t promote to their own community’ (ibid). She also saw an opportunity within the allied health focus on Indigenous health for art therapy. Southern Cross University is a vibrant regional university with campuses at Coffs Harbour, Lismore and the Gold Coast. The School of Arts and Social Sciences is a multidisciplinary and creative learning community which ‘delivers degrees spanning arts and humanities, social sciences and the creative and performing arts’ (SCU 2019 online). Many of the courses are only offered on the Lismore campus but ‘they are also offered by distance education’ (ibid). The School of Arts and Social Sciences provides a Creative Arts Showcase for the region. SCU declares that ‘the jobs of tomorrow require agile digital specialists who can create, deliver and distribute content and resources

33 seamlessly across channels and technologies’ (ibid). Southern Cross University is focused on allied health and ‘they’re introducing innovation techniques around training … and game development for older people’ (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). The local health district has an innovation section that is reviewing ‘how they can implement innovation into healthcare, but there's not actually a course that people can do to learn that’ (ibid). There is a strong performing arts program at Bellingen High School. There is a drama club and three creative writing groups and ‘music is huge’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). The school has a youth orchestra, led by teachers who are former Sydney Symphony members, and a jazz band. Innovation Hub Coffs Coast Southern Cross University, TAFE, and Coffs Council own the Innovation Hub. The Council partners with the hub, Google and the Chamber of Commerce and ‘runs two coworking spaces’, with a third privately owned space operating in the city (Barden iv, 29 August 2019). To boost the digital economy, the Council developed the 6 Degrees program to ‘support innovation and entrepreneurialism’ and with Jobs for NSW funds rolled it out in Kempsey, Nambucca, and Bellingen. There is a view that start-up support for creative businesses could be improved: ‘We’ve got the innovation hub … but it’s a source of frustration because there’s all these people around here with these great ideas that are trying to do the creative industries but there’s not a lot of development around the maintenance of the business model’ (Brammah iv, 28 August 2019). Innovation hub CEO Tony Rothacker sees ‘real ‘opportunity to have the collaboration between the creatives and the start-up culture’ (Rothacker, iv 28 August 2019). Rothacker says they want to ‘tap into this lifestyle entrepreneur. So, people who are willing to come to the region and be amongst like-minded people, have super-fast internet, and have life’ (ibid). He believes ‘the global mindset is sometimes missing in a local sense, and that’s where we are driving. We want to attract global thinkers, the global entrepreneurs, to Coffs Coast’ (ibid). One example is saso.creative; while the agency is ‘regional … it’s a global mindset … They work globally, but they are based here’ (ibid). Rothacker said essential to the start-up culture was ‘long-term thinking’, an ‘open door policy’ and leadership ‘by entrepreneurs’ rather than politicians or academics. ‘And you need to create events that are compelling to get those people out of the woods to come together and to create a vibrant community’ (Rothacker iv, 28 August 2019). He launched Startup Grind in Coffs, a chapter of the ‘global movement of two million entrepreneurs … powered by Google for Startups’ (ibid). The ‘key element is we have to host 10 events … with world-calibre speakers coming to the region. I initially pitched it to the State Government and local government and Regional Develop Australia: no interest. I reached out to the business community, to entrepreneurs. They were onboard straight from day one’ (ibid). Vesticam Vesticam an infrared goggle that helps health professionals diagnose the causes of dizziness and vertigo. It is being developed by a Coffs Harbour team of four, led by physiotherapist Suzanne Douglas, who won the StartUp Coffs Coast 2019 Pitch Competition, receiving $5,000 in cash, a workspace at 6 Degrees, business training, e-health mentoring and an entry to an entrepreneurship course at the University of Newcastle. The money will allow the team to move from a prototype to a 3D printed version. Vesticam is in use in three hospital emergency departments and 80 physiotherapy practices in Australian and New Zealand (Douglas iv, 29 August 2019). The processes involved in this success could be provided to similar creative industries startups through a mentoring program involving. Plastic Collective Plastic Collective, started in 2016 by Louise Hardman from Woolgoolga, is developing solutions for waste plastic problems in remote communities and won a $2.5 million Cooperative Research Centre

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Project grant in February 2020. The research partnership with Southern Cross University’s National Marine Science Centre, Environmental Data Acquisition Services and South Pole, a Coffs engineering company (Australian Government Business Grant, 2020) aims to measure the impact plastics have on the oceans and progress the chemical technology for recycling plastics. Plastic Collective aims to complete some localised plastic recycling programs in Bowraville. It is hoped that its portable ‘schruder’, a recycling machine that is both shredder and extruder, will be manufactured in Coffs. Its development was funded through the Innovation Hub Coffs Harbour start-up competition, and one of the judges, environmental engineer Mark Wolf, was so impressed he joined the company. Mentoring processes taken up by this group could also be provided to similar creative industries startups. NBN an advantage for Coffs The early rollout of NBN and fibre to the premise delivery has been an advantage for Coffs Harbour. Tech industries are strong and rely on good internet. Janison Solutions, which works internationally with the education sector, is located in Coffs (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Innovation hub CEO Tony Rothacker said ‘quite often the NBN gets a lot of flak and not justifiably in the media. So, they do the best they can, but there’s quite a lot of blame game happening between the telcos and the NBN’ (Rothacker iv, 28 August 2019). He said his Tracee app, ‘like Airtasker for NBN issues’, was valued by businesses wanting issues solved, and by young people employed as trouble-shooters, and could help creatives wanting to ‘tap into the global market’ (ibid). Good internet has been a ‘huge advantage’ for music producer David Brammah. It has meant ‘huge efficiencies … I can work on tracks simultaneously with my mate in Perth’. And, his wife, who is a photographer, can have photos ‘online in 15 minutes … [rather than] three days swearing and cursing because it keeps dropping out’ (Brammah iv, 28 August 2019). Coffs Council ‘know they are really well placed with the NBN and fibre to the premises’ (Vallance iv, 29 August 2019). Locals acknowledge there were some initial issues but agree it has been a big benefit. Advocate editor Matt Deans said the NBN has enabled businesses ‘to outsource work right around the globe. What was holding them back, a lot of engineering firms … software companies, their data and tech was so large … they were unable to get files through’ (Deans iv, 29 August 2019). Because of good internet, employees ‘can literally live anywhere in the world, and work from a café: you’ll see a lot of professionals just doing their job remotely on their laptop’ (Oliver iv, 29 August 2019). An example from Dorrigo is a media company executive who works from home: ‘She doesn’t even have anything to do with the local community…That’s just an example of how people can now, through the NBN, work remotely very easily and maybe not even get on our radar’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). Others in advertising ‘used to have an office here, now they work virtually from their own space’ (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). NBN a disappointment for Bellingen Shire There was strong criticism of the NBN in Bellingen, which has a number of technologies available: Fibre to the Curb (FTTC), Fibre to the Node (FTTN), Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), Hybrid Fibre Co- axial (HFC), Fixed Wireless and Satellite. ‘Different areas have been given different services depending on their location. Some locations are flood-prone, so fibre to the node can cause problems. Some areas are obscured from reception from the wireless technology, so it’s not very equitable, because some people have got a much better service than others’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). Council has been advocating for better, fairer access (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). In areas such as Urunga, connection is slow on weekends (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). People have been ‘agitating, saying “This is holding back my business”’ (Pattinson iv, 29 August 2019). Others says it is improving ‘… but it’s a shadow of what was promised. We’ve got a number of people who moved to this area specifically to set up businesses on the promise of the NBN who haven’t been able to’ (Jordan iv, 29 August 2019).

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Bellingen Arts Network’s Philip Senior said it was a vast improvement on what was available prior: ‘it’s dramatically changed. It’s bloody essential really, and without it you’re at a disadvantage’ (Senior iv, 29 August 2019). Photographer Jay Black agreed, saying prior to the NBN ‘I had to drive a thumb drive into Coffs Harbour because it was taking so long’ (Black iv, 29 August 2019). But publisher Rod McPherson said poor connection had held up his expansion: ‘We had expansion plans we couldn’t do because we had to upload very huge complex documents to China for print. We had to do it overnight. Sometimes you’d come in the morning, 8 hours, 9 hours later, and it was still doing. We were hanging out for it. It’s made a big difference’ (McPherson iv, 29 August 2019). However, he added ‘on the other hand, I live in Urunga, which is fibre to the node. If I was running my own business from home, I certainly could not do that on the internet I’ve got there. It’s absolutely dreadful. It’s very, very basic, not enough to run a business on … I see it as totally inconsistent and unfair that I can run a business in Bellingen and get proper internet service, but I can’t in Urunga in the same Shire 10 minutes away’ (ibid). TOURISM and CULTURAL POLICY The natural environment is the big attractor for tourists to the region. Coffs Council’s goal is to improve domestic overnight visitation, which was 1.981 million visitors in 2018. Visitors come from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and regional NSW. Council ‘market the destination and individual operators then market to those people that are coming to the destination’ (Barden iv, 28 August 2019). There is some international market testing, and a recent increase in visitors from South East Queensland was encouraging: ‘It’s a good driving distance. Once the highway is finished up that way, then that will be a far greater market’ (ibid). Tourist marketing is mostly digital, (website, Facebook and Instagram) with some collaborative magazine marketing and TV commercials ‘that we place into certain areas at certain times … (ibid). A recent destination branding TVC targeted at South East Queensland received ‘hits’ (ibid). The Council uses local creatives where possible but ‘obviously, it’s around cost and also around quality of production’ (ibid). They recently switched to a local creative for their TVC and were pleased with the quality. There are also cultural and creative relationships that can be seen from the state regional economic development strategy, and tourism strategy, which cover both Bellingen and Coffs LGAs (Nivison iv 28, August 2019). Nature-based tourism is prioritised over cultural tourism. Council’s Sian Nivison feels that cultural tourism is not ‘really understood’, though there has been some effective cultural tourism based around Aboriginal communities (ibid). The Gumbaynggirr community has a strong and active culture. Leah Briers says the Council ‘has been able to partner and work with those communities … that is a really great offering and a really unique offering. But I think what then does get left behind is the more traditionally arts based cultural offerings that we could have …tours, public art … they’re not high on the agenda’ (Briers iv, 28 August 2019). Figure 8 Tourism activity, Coffs Harbour

Sources: .idcommunity (2020), Tourism Research Australia (2020)

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I Love Bello Shire I Love Bello Shire website ‘promotes what’s going on in this region … the creative arts and whatever’s happening’ (Keers iv, 29 August 2019). Creator Joanna Keers said ‘we saw a need in this community to get the word out about what was going on’ (ibid). They provide information to 2TripleB and prepare a weekly email newsletter for thousands of people across the shire. An arts trail app is being built, which will be provided through their website (ibid). Bello Festivals and Events There are seven to eight large events on the calendar each year ‘that would easily bring in two, three thousand people [who] all converge in one spot. Business love it … retail, accommodation, all different businesses tend to benefit’ (Compton iv, 29 August 2019). Being involved with regular festivals ‘sharpens the skills of creatives in the area’ (Grieve iv, 29 August 2019). Events and festivals ‘bring those elements together … because obviously you’ve got to promote it, you’ve got to create the stage and performance angle of it, you’ve got to rally stakeholders together and you’ve got to do the sales of tickets and venue management (ibid). Bellingen had been ‘constrained for accommodation [but] that’s opened up quite a bit with Airbnb. We’ve gone from 92 listings three years ago to about 295 listings’ (ibid). For big festivals and events, Coffs Harbour locals will come here for the day’ (ibid).

Figure 9 Tourism activity, Bellingen

Sources: .idcommunity (2020), Tourism Research Australia (2020)

Strategic theme 3: Hotspot Comparisons The regional CI are interconnected across sectors, networked within and between each other and exhibiting complementary activity at all scales for all the NSW regions in the study, which included Wollongong, Albury-Wodonga, and Marrickville. In all regions, evidence was gathered showing ecological interdependence and the constraining and enabling effect of policy actions was observed, while each exhibited a very deep connection between digitisation and the ability for regional players to operate competitively in both the local and the global environment. Cultural tourism is becoming increasing important; it is successfully connected to the Creative Industries, and this improves the ability of regional centres to weather economic cycles through the resilience that solid mixed economies provide. One of the drivers of the CI are active agents, and evidence from this research shows they are vitally important and are working at scale in all these regional communities. The effects of this labour exhibits as patterned sets of demographic movements. Similar to other regions, many sectors have a reliance on volunteers while in others creative professionals must maintain multiple jobs to gain a composite income. The relationship between innovation and start-up culture with the CI has become more entwined and there is an increasingly wide array of approaches to gain

37 an income. For Coffs Harbour, the need to retain youth and provide pathways for future employment across the economy, and specifically in CI, requires immediate and concerted attention, whereas Wollongong has been able to maintain its youth, though this may be primarily due to its location. Local infrastructure, such as an airport, provides reasons for demographic movements and strong connections to locality; for Coffs there is a natural flow between Nambucca, Bellingen, and Coffs. Funding for the highway bypass is good news. But the lack of absence of modern cultural infrastructure in Coffs CBD needs to be addressed with haste.

Table 1 New South Wales hotspot comparisons Wollongong Coffs Harbour Albury & Marrickville & LGA & Bellingen Wodonga Sydenham LGAs LGAs SA2s ASGS remoteness category Inner regional Inner regional Inner regional Major cities of Australia Australia Australia Australia RAI region type Regional city Regional city Regional city / Major Industry & metropolitan service hub Resident population, 2016a 203,630 85,612 90,427 34,380 Employed persons, 2016b 88,250 32,495 41,098 18,441 Total creative employment, 2016b 3,624 915 1,340 1,746 Total earnings from creative $208.1m $46.9m $64.1m $89.5m employment, 2016 b Total businesses, 2016 44,083 22,064 21,361 12,576 Total creative businesses, 2016 4,100 1,484 1,125 2,428 Proportion of all businesses 46.0% 48.8% 51.4% 49.9% registered for GST, 2016 Proportion of creative businesses 33.4% 39.2% 39.9% 34.9% registered for GST, 2016 Regional domestic product, 2017-18 $11,012m $3,857m $5,192m $1,929mc Mean age a 39.6 42.4 38.7 38.1 Unemployment ratea 7.7% 7.3% 6.9% 5.6% Youth unemployment ratea 16.3% 15.3% 13.3% 11.4% Youth unemployment ratioa 48.5% 48.0% 42.0% 43.4% Indigenousa 2.6% 4.8% 2.6% 1.7% Volunteera 15.2% 17.1% 17.4% 14.2% Notes a. These statistics are provided by place of residence, and b. are by place of work c. RDP for Marrickville/Sydenham is estimated by multiplying RDP for the Inner West LGA by the proportion of employed persons located in Marrickville/Sydenham Source: ABS (2016), ABR (2019), .idcommunity (2019), Regional Australia Institute (2014)

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