Board
Campion Decent – Chair and Public Officer (NSW/VIC)
Member since October 2007, Chair since March 2009
Campion is a playwright and Artistic Director of HotHouse Theatre (Albury-Wodonga). Previous appointments include Literary Manager at Sydney Theatre Company, Artistic Director of Next Wave Festival, Festival Director for Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, and Chair of the Australian National Playwrights’ Centre. He has also held senior positions at State and Federal arts funding agencies. Campion holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong and a Master of Arts (Theatre Studies) from the University of NSW. He also attended the NIDA Playwrights’ Studio. His most recent play Embers was commissioned by HotHouse Theatre and produced in 2006 with Sydney Theatre Company. It won an AWGIE Award and the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Drama Script (Stage) in 2007 and toured nationally in 2009.
Lisa Harris – Deputy Chair (Tas)
Member since October 2008, Deputy Chair since March 2010
Canadian by birth and now Tasmanian by choice, Lisa Harris completed a Bachelor’s degree in Music at King’s College, University of London, and a Graduate Diploma, Library and Information Studies, at the University of Tasmania. Her first full-time job was in the Development Office at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, where she stayed for three years. Various jobs in administration, marketing and management have led her to the TSO as Manager, Philanthropy and Special Events where she is responsible for the management of the TSO’s philanthropy programs, fundraising events and the TSO Foundation.
Diane E Matthews – Treasurer & Public Officer (Tas)
Member since April 2009, Treasurer since April 2009
Diane is a partner and co-founder of Macquarie Accounting with some 21 years’ practical experience in public accounting firms. She has a Public Practice certificate and is a Fellow Practising National Accountant with the National Institute of Accountants. Diane is also an arts enthusiast with an outstanding record of philanthropic support to arts and community causes.
David Gurney (Tas)
Member since May 2008
David is a well-known creator of animated cartoons. He created, produced and directed Australia's first fully 3D animated television series, Hoota & Snoz which has sold into over 100 countries. David is a prolific developer of cartoon characters and concepts and with his partner Alicia Rackett, runs Blue Rocket Productions, an award winning cartoon studio based in Hobart, Tasmania. David is also involved in the creation of Blue Rocket’s mobile entertainment, which is sold by over 30 carriers worldwide. he is currently Executive Producer and Director of Pixel Pinkie Series 2, a 26-episode animated television series.
(Dr) Dianne Nicol (Tas)
Member since May 2008
Dianne Nicol is an Associate Professor in the Law Faculty at the University of Tasmania in Australia. She has a PhD in biology from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and an LLM in intellectual property law from the University of Tasmania. She is interested in many aspects of intellectual property law. Her main research focus is on i
ntellectual property issues in health and biotechnology, particularly on use of patented inventions. She teaches in the areas of intellectual property law, equity, media law, IT law and biotechnology and the law. She is a Deputy Director of the Centre for Law and Genetics, a research group based at the University of Tasmania and Melbourne University.
Chris Thompson – Member (Vic)
Member since March 2005
Chris Thompson is a writer, director and teacher. A former Artistic Director of St Martins Youth Arts Centre in Melbourne and HotHouse Theatre in Albury-Wodonga he writes for theatre, film and television. His plays have been nominated for four AWGIE awards, winning twice for Shady Characters and The Bridge. His screenplay for the feature film The Tumbler was nominated for the QLD Premier’s Literary Awards and won the 2007 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. He was co-creator and head writer for two seasons of Shock Jock on TV1-Foxtell, wrote the digital dome-show, Problem With Pluto for the Melbourne Planetarium and wrote and directed Spin and Spinout for the Victorian Arts Centre, both of which are touring Victorian Schools during 2010. He reviews teenage fiction for Viewpoint Magazine, lectures at ACU in theatre and playwriting, is a member of the Grants Panels for the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, and Chair of the Victorian Writers’ Centre. Currently, Chris is working on commissions for new plays from the Victorian Arts Centre and Outback Theatre for Young People.
Chris Tugwell – Member (SA)
Member since August 2005
Chris is a playwright and novelist. His work has been performed by Patch Theatre, Urban Myth, Magpie and the Acting Company. His play Seasonally Adjusted was showcased at the 1987 Come Out Festival, while Runaway toured regional NSW for 12 months. He was a writer for the ABC TV childrens’ series Finders Keepers which continues to screen around the world. Solo Spots, his book of monologues for senior drama students was published by Oxford University Press in 1998. His stage play X-Ray about the plight of Australian David Hicks held in Guantanamo Bay was voted the sensation of the 2004 Adelaide Fringe. A feature film adaptation is in development.
Wesley Enoch – Member (VIC)
Member since March 2010
Wesley Enoch is the eldest son of Doug and Lyn Enoch who hail from Stradbroke Island. His extensive directing credits include Kooemba Jdarra- Murri Love, The 7 Stages Of Grieving, Little White Dress, Changing Time, The Dreamers, Radiance (a QTC co-production), Purple Dreams, Bitin Back. QTC: Black-Ed Up, Sunshine Club, Fountains Beyond. STC: Black Medea; The Sunshine Club; Black-ed Up; and The Cherry Pickers (premiere and international tour), The 7 Stages of Grieving. Playbox/Ilbijerri: Stolen (national and international tours). Bell Shakespeare Company: Romeo and Juliet. Company B Belvoir: The Dreamers, Conversations with the Dead, Capricornia, Parramatta Girls, Paul, Yibiyung and Man From Mukinupin (MTC co-production). Melbourne Workers’ Theatre: 1975. MTC: The Sapphires. Malthouse: Black Medea (Company B co-production), One Night The Moon. Ilbijerri: Shrunken Iris, Rainbow’s End. His works for families include Riverland for Windmill Performing Arts, Nargun and the Stars for Erth Theatre and Boat for Kite Theatre. Writing Credits include The 7 Stages of Grieving, A Llife of Grace and Piety, The Sunshine Club, Black Medea, Grace (a short film) and Cookie’s Table which won the 2006 Patrick White Award and was shortlisted for both the NSW and Victorian Premier’s literary Awards. Wesley conceived and directed My Skin My Life, the Indigenous segment of the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He has been Artistic Director of Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts (1994-97), Associate Artist QLD Theatre Company (1997-99), Resident Director Sydney Theatre Company (2000-01), Artistic Director Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-op (2003-04), and a member of HotHouse Theatre’s Artistic Directorate (2002-04), Associate Artistic Director of Company B, Belvoir St Theatre (2006-08), the Artistic Director of the Australian Delegation to the Festival of Pacific Arts 2008 and a Trustee of the Sydney Opera House.
(Dr) Michael Beresford (TAS)
Member since March 2010
Michael was appointed Associate Professor in Theatre at the University of Tasmania in 2010 Originally from Tasmania, he completed his Masters Research degree at James Cook University and then his PhD at Griffith University. Michael’s research interests include Imagist theatre, Beckettian theatre, new Australian wrting and the language of performance. Michael has written and directed professionally for several years in North Queensland for Tropic Line, TropicSun and Jute Theatre companies. His produced works include Persona non Grata 2, Dump, Body Parts, Ginger Boy, Snap and Tiptoe. Tiptoe was published by Playlab press in 2008. Formerly Artistic Director of HardSun Theatre Co in Townsville, Michael was on the Board of Interplay, the RADAF (Regional Arts Development Committee of North Queensland) and a member of the Peer Assessment Panel for Arts Queensland. His new play Unconfirmed Sightings will be produced by Jute Theatre in Queensland in 2011. Michael is also an adjunct Professor in Theatre at James Cook University, Cairns.