Where did we come from?

The Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare Inc. was formed at a meeting on 25/11/2006 in Sydney of 11 health professionals all involved in one way or another with provision of health care to performing artists.  

The Australian Society for Performing Arts Health Care was formed in Sydney on the 25th of November 2006. Eleven health and performing arts professionals met to discuss their shared vision for the future of healthcare for performing artists in Australia. The meeting was triggered by an attempt to hold a performing arts medicine symposium in Mackay, Queensland in August 2006, as part of the Regional Arts Conference “Pacific Edge”. The symposium didn’t eventuate, but the enthusiasm and momentum from that effort continued, and stimulated the formation of ASPAH.

Using a range of contacts Drs Hadok and Ackermann brought together a core of like minded people who are now the Executive Committee of the Society (pictured above).  Their backgrounds are outlined in The Committee page.

For a brochure about ASPAH in .pdf format please click here.

The Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare has committed itself to be, through its constitution, a not for profit organisation.   It is a registered charity.

What are we doing?

In the first 12 months of our existence most of our effort has gone into defining the Society in the context of best corporate governance.   We have reserved our name and all the relevant domain names, written a comprehensive constitution, formally incorporated in the state of NSW, (INC9886791), become an Australian Registered Body (ARBN 129605143), elected our Executive Committee and appointed our office bearers, established our bank account, become a registered charity and set up this web site.

More recently our focus has been on attracting membership and creatively bringing that membership and its enthusiasm on board. We have also been working to raise our profile, mostly by individual networking efforts but by the time we reach our 2008 AGM we hope to be able to report a number of educational events which have involved us.

How are we doing it?

As a not for profit organisation we expect our basic infrastructure funding to be covered by membership fees.   Until late October 2007 we limited our promotion to word of mouth and resisted taking membership fees until we felt the organisation had established a coherent structure. Now, however, we are more actively promoting membership of the organisation.

At this time the operations of the organisation are entirely on a voluntary basis, and are mainly being undertaken by the Committee. This will continue until we reach a threshold of funds due to memberships which will allow us to contract secretarial support for a 12 month period.   For the foreseeable future, however, the management of the Society will be in the hands of the elected Committee.

What are our Values?

At the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare we value Excellence, Leadership, Integrity, Respect , Creativity, Independence, Fairness and Transparency.

We have, from the outset, incorporated a strong sense of these values into our basic structure.   All new members are required to declare whether they have a history of criminal conviction, any pending criminal proceedings or any history of de-registration from a professional body.   Election to our Committee requires that the standing member reiterate this in the form of a statutory declaration.

Above all else we intend to be an organisation that performing artists can depend on and trust.

Webmaster - Dr Paul Duff