About Us

Supporting the Arts in Regional Victoria

Regional Arts Victoria backs artists and communities across regional Victoria to make, participate in, and experience creative work.

Regional Arts Victoria is an independent, not-for-profit, membership-based organisation working in long-term partnerships with every level of government, fostering contemporary and innovative regional cultural practice. We advise and impact on decision-making across multiple portfolios and levels of government.

Our Vision

Regional creatives leading the way in diverse communities. 

Our Purpose

RAV is the peak body for regional creatives. We enable regional Victorians to make, participate in, and experience creative practice.  Anchored by our members, we activate our networks to inform public policy, identify resources and seek “a seat at the table” for creatives in the decisions that impact them.

Our Values

Leadership, care, transformation, equity and celebration

Regional Arts Victoria’s Constitution

On 2 May 2024, at the Annual General Meeting of Regional Arts Victoria Members a revised constitution was adopted.

Child Safety Standards

Regional Arts Victoria is a Child Safe organisation. View our Child Safety Standard Policy

RAV Sustainability Action Plan 2024-2025

Regional Arts Victoria is implementing an action plan to guide RAV’s environmental impact.

Equity Action Plan 2024-2025

RAV’s original Equity Action Plan was drafted in 2020 after RAV participated in the Fair Play Initiative delivered by Diversity Arts Australia. In 2023 the Plan was reviewed to address the interrelated themes of Inclusive Practice and Cultural Safety.

What We’re Working On

Regional Arts Victoria’s Strategy 2024-2028 sets out a revised strategy that responds to:

  • Demographic and economic changes in regional Victoria.
  • RAV’s current operational structure and financial capacity and the wider economic sector.
  • Regional audiences and their behaviour as well as general economic conditions impacting our sector.

The organisation’s mission has been revised to centre our members, and the relationships among creatives and audiences in regional settings.

Regional Arts Victoria will empower artists, venues and communities in our regions to see their creative practice as a driver of their local community, their creative work as a driver of their local culture, and themselves as drivers of creative places.

We have articulated four strategic initiatives that we will pursue to deliver this mission:

  1. Supporting nodes of capacity
  2. Advocacy and membership
  3. Participation
  4. Strategic Growth and Equity for Good Governance.

Each of these initiatives is outlined in further detail in the Strategy.

Our History

Founded in 1969, the Victorian Arts Council began its life as an umbrella body of regional arts councils, serving as the Victorian branch of the Arts Council of Australia (now Regional Arts Australia). Initially, the Victorian Arts Council supported performing arts touring, as well as offering resources and support for its affiliated regional arts councils. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the organisation developed in complexity in response to regional arts needs, and its formal incorporation in 1981 streamlined its business practices.

A comprehensive independent review in the late 1990s undertook valuable work in reflecting on the artistic legacy of the Victorian Arts Council’s first three decades. Its key recommendations centred around the need to create a unique suite of Victorian arts programs, rather than serving as the Victorian branch of the national body.

In response, the organisation’s artistic programming in the 2000s developed sophisticated new focuses in education, cultural partnerships, major projects, and of course touring, in what was fast becoming an increasingly intricate national touring landscape. Government partnerships were strengthened, resulting in devolved grant relationships with all levels of government, as well as partner-funded Regional Arts Development Officer positions.

Today’s organisation is a company limited by guarantee, rebranded as Regional Arts Victoria in 1999. The organisation broadened its vision and its scope to encompass artists and arts organisations across Victoria, connecting artists and communities. Regional Arts Victoria’s current scope encompasses all artforms, all creative practices, and all modes of artistic experience.

Donate to Regional Arts Victoria

Help us to provide support to regional Victorian artists and communities.
All donations are tax deductible.