$30 million philanthropic partnership for WAAPA
Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Minderoo Foundation have entered into a transformational $30 million, 25-year philanthropic partnership to advance Australian arts and culture by supporting a state-of-the-art new home for the university’s Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
The biggest-ever gift to the performing arts in Australia will support the future excellence and sustainability of the revered Perth-based performing arts training academy. It is one of the largest donations received by a WA university and in the top ten of all philanthropic contributions to any Australian university.
The partnership with Minderoo Foundation builds on the significant $853 million investment made between ECU, the Western Australian Cook Government and Australian Albanese Government in the new ECU City campus through the Perth City Deal, amplifying the activation and vibrancy it will bring to Perth for the benefit of all Western Australians.
It recognises the significance and ambition of the new ECU City campus, which is currently under construction in Perth’s CBD and on track to open in semester one of 2026. ECU City will bring more than 300 public performances a year to world-class theatres in the heart of Perth.
As the centrepiece of the $1.7 billion Perth City Deal, ECU City will bring together creative industries, business and law, and emerging technologies. The 65,000m² university is set to invigorate the Perth City Link precinct and the Perth CBD by introducing a community of more than 10,000 staff and students to stimulate economic activity and patronage for surrounding businesses.
The new WAAPA at ECU City will complement a number of major performing arts projects being delivered across Perth to grow WA’s creative industries and support economic diversification, including the Cook Government’s $233.5 million state-of-the-art screen production facility near Malaga, $150.3 million Perth Concert Hall redevelopment and transformation of the Perth Cultural Centre.
Minderoo Foundation’s gift will support ECU and WAAPA’s bold vision to deliver nation-leading, state-of-the-art performance and learning venues within the new ECU City campus, as well as internationally distinguished performance training for emerging artists.
Incorporating the specialist fit-out of WAAPA’s performance spaces and an endowed fund, it will help WAAPA deliver its long-term strategic programming for decades, and have a transformational impact for students, staff, artists and audiences by connecting all Western Australians with the arts.
The specialist fit-out grant will equip WAAPA’s six public performance venues and two performance-capable rehearsal spaces with advanced acoustics, box-in-box engineering and best-in-class technology. With cutting-edge design inspired by the world’s best theatres, the facilities will create exceptional opportunities for students to hone their craft.
WAAPA’s performance venues include a Recital Hall, Playhouse Theatre, Dance Theatre, Jazz and Contemporary Music Studio, Flex Theatre and Aboriginal Theatre, as well as Music Rehearsal and Playhouse Theatre Rehearsal spaces.
The groundbreaking agreement also establishes investment in a new Premier Visiting Artists Fund, which is intended to foster deep, sustained training for WAAPA students across residency programs, teaching and other high-impact formats, led by world-renowned artists. The fund will enable the delivery of an ongoing program of teaching excellence that attracts the best talent to Perth’s doorstep, building WAAPA’s global profile.
The $30 million agreement will increase the WA arts and culture sector’s access to global talent and networks and will help position WA as a leading destination for creative talent and the arts.
David Templeman, WA Culture and the Arts Minister, said: “This partnership is great news for the future of the arts in our State and nationally.
“WAAPA is an important cultural institution in Western Australia, and it is incredibly exciting to bring it to the cultural heartland of Perth – our city centre.
“Future generations of homegrown performing artists will learn from the very best in world-class training and performance venues, before going on to exceptional careers that will see them take to the finest stages in Perth, and across the globe.
“Together with our investment into the revitalisation of the Perth Cultural Centre and the future Perth Film Studios, our city is set to be transformed into a thriving, vibrant beating heart, with WAAPA at ECU City the jewel in the crown.”
Nicola Forrest, Minderoo Foundation, said: “I am proud that Minderoo Foundation can support Edith Cowan University’s visionary approach for WAAPA to be one of the world’s best performing arts institutions.
“By enabling new generations to experience the transformative power of performance, we can harness the extraordinary ability of the arts to inspire, unite and uplift communities.”
Andrew Forrest, Minderoo Foundation, said: “Minderoo Foundation has long held the belief that the arts can bring communities together and foster social cohesion. It also has an incredible ability to create awareness and challenge ways of thinking – indeed, art has proved time and again that it can change the world.
“Minderoo is proud to support the next wave of groundbreaking WAAPA artists at this new world-class facility. This will be the birthplace of ideas that motivate people, companies and governments to act, reassess their behaviours or start a movement.”
More information is available here.