ACHAA’s Online Cultural Centre Proposal Gets Nod from Create NSW
22-08-2025
As part of its Creative Communities policy commitments, Create NSW has announced recipients for The Creative Industries Connectivity Grants program; an initiative providing $500,000 for collaborative projects between the arts and culture sector and creative industries. ACHAA has been successful in the program’s inaugural round of funding.
ACHAA successfully pitched the concept of a NSW Aboriginal Cultural Centre Online, a digital initiative that will showcase some of the states Aboriginal culture and heritage, bringing the pre-existent cultural knowledge and storytelling into a digitally interactive online space that can expand over time.
The seed funding of $50,000 will allow ACHAA to work with Pedestal 3D, a small Sydney-based company at the forefront of utilising the potential of 3D in educational outreach and general consumption.
“We’re excited by the possibilities of Pedestal 3D working with our four member centres that have been involved in the Create NSW strategically funded digitisation pilot program for the past three years,” ACHAA CEO Steve Miller said. “This project will allow them to share some of their most significant cultural objects and knowledge in an engaging way with a broad audience.”
The four centres involved are Armidale Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre of Corindi Beach, Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre of Deniliquin and the Wungunja Cultural Centre of Trangie.
The Connectivity Grants are a new initiative from Create NSW, specifically designed to foster collaborative opportunities between the established arts and culture sector and creative industries such as digital media.
The successful projects are all intended to encourage innovative partnerships with the potential for sustainable ongoing outcomes. Such outcomes should offer the potential to export more Australian stories to the world and demonstrate possible future directions for arts and culture and creative industry partnerships.
Ten small to medium not-for-profit organisations were selected in total, each receiving up to $50,000 to pursue new partnerships with creative businesses—ranging from global broadcasters to landscape architects and digital platforms.
It seems ACHAA was the only NSW Aboriginal organisation to receive the Connectivity funding though there were other successful projects with an Aboriginal focus including Arts & Cultural Exchange Inc – The Dharug Voices Digital Archive, Port Macquarie Historical Society Inc – Birrbay Barray Djuyal (Birpai Country Stories); and Ngurragabu (from the last night) by Marrugeku Inc.
See the full list of funded projects and organisations here.
