Who we are

Martin Foley is Victoria's Minister for Creative Industries, appointed in December 2014. He brings to the portfolio a strong connection to Victoria's creative scene and a passion for what arts, culture and creativity can contribute to the future of the state. He is the State Member of Albert Park, an electorate with a rich cultural heritage and one that is home to a wide range of creative organisations, venues, businesses and practitioners – across arts, screen, digital games and design.

He is also the Minister for Mental Health and Minister for Equality.

Below, Minister Foley tells us what it means to be Victoria's first Creative Industries Minister, why creativity matters, and reveals his hidden creative talent.

1. What is your earliest arts memory?

I remember finger-painting at the Mornington South Kindergarten. Red and green handprints. I remember I took pleasure in doing it.

2. What is your favourite work of art, and why?

When I was 17 I left school and I bought the book Don Quixote, this great big 17th-century piece of work. It was to keep me company on a job droving sheep on the stock routes the other side of Hay in the summer of 1980. There I was on a hot, dry plain, miles from anywhere, stuck with a grumpy old drover who was 10 miles ahead. I had a lot of reading time. I read that book cover to cover four times.

So my favourite piece of art is a Picasso lithograph, Don Quixote. Because I know how the Don feels, tilting at windmills and all that sort of thing. The power of the noble goal and a man who pursued justice and never lost hope despite the odds, even though that sometimes meant a denial of reality. And he had to endure the wicked doings of the Sancho Panzas of the world and their false affections. It resonates. I know how the Don feels.

My other favourite piece of art is The Cricketers, by Drysdale. It's so Australian. Its colours are all about the raw light that sets Australian art apart. And it speaks to me about the way that taking a bat and ball and having a swing at any time works in our culture. The fact that Drysdale would pick that up, with two blokes picking up a bat and a ball behind a pub, appeals to my frustrated longing to captain an Ashes test.

3. Why does creativity matter?

It matters because it's the space in which cultural and civic development happens. It drives our lives, our institutions, our schools - our society.

Wherever there is culture, in the wider sense of what we value, creativity is the engine of it. Not just in the arts but in all sorts of different mediums: science, sport, innovation. It's about new ways thinking and seeing the world.

And in modern Australia, all those many things that speak of creativity must also be at the heart of our future economic story and our social inclusion story. That whole notion of creativity being part of the solution for a whole range of challenges to civic issues, whether it's education, or therapeutic health and well-being, or aged care or disability – you name it.

All of those things have a creative element to them which is common to creative industries and the cultural economy. So creativity matters.

4. You're Victoria's first Minister for Creative Industries. What does this mean, and why is it important?

It means a new opportunity to recast what the cultural sectors in Victoria, both government and community, do, so as to broaden out their relevance and their opportunities. It means a wider cultural, economic and social framework that will allow us to set the course for a new approach to different cultural mediums and their possibilities.

5. What makes you most excited about this new portfolio?

I think it's the chance to broaden out the relevance of creative activities and ensure access and participation for all Victorians as part of that cultural economy. It is also a chance – after a period in which there has been no policy framework for how government operates in this space – to set up a new institutional framework.

6. What makes Victoria's arts scene special?

For over 150 years, the cultural life of Victoria has been at the centre of different schools and different expressions of art. We've had everything from the Heidelberg School, Heide, the Pram Factory and other theatre of the 70s and 80s, to today's  circus boom.  Our small, medium and independent cultural offerings - all intensely participatory and democratic - have been our strengths.

Wave after wave of innovation has emanated from Victoria out to the rest of Australia and to the world.

That's also been supported by our great institutions, like the State Library and the National Gallery of Victoria, over 150 years old and driving Victorian notions of identity.

Victoria was always different to the other colonies. Our cultural story has always been at the heart of where we were for a range of reasons. Our views have always been progressive, by the measure of the day, and cultural and art practice has always reflected that difference.

7. Do you have any hidden creative talents?

I play a mean kazoo. Beyond that, my hidden creativity is well hidden.

Andrew Abbott
Chief Executive 

Andrew Abbott has been the head of Creative Victoria since its formation in January 2015.

Andrew has held executive positions across the Victorian Public Sector, including roles in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development.

In August 2013 Andrew was appointed Director of Arts Victoria – the State Government's former arts and cultural body – and in 2014-15 led its transition to Creative Victoria, with a remit to strengthen and grow a broader array of creative industries in Victoria.

In addition to being Chief Executive of Creative Victoria, Andrew is Deputy Secretary, Creative, Sport and Visitor Economy in the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. He is responsible for the creative industries, sport, racing, tourism and major events portfolios.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Victoria) and has an MBA from the Melbourne Business School.

Max Coffman
Executive Director, Governance and Infrastructure

Max Coffman leads a team that is responsible for overseeing Victoria's seven major arts organisations, as well as infrastructure projects across the arts portfolio. His team also has responsibility for Creative Victoria's corporate operations.

Since migrating to Australia from the United States in 2009, Max has held leadership roles in the planning and infrastructure portfolios in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and with the Office of the Coordinator-General, which delivers the Metro Tunnel and level crossing removal projects, among many others.

Max holds an undergraduate degree in international affairs from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and a Master’s Degree in urban and regional planning from Portland State University in Oregon.

Jane Crawley
Executive Director, Arts Investment

Jane Crawley leads a team of arts sector specialists with responsibility for the design and management of funding programs, strategic partnerships and special initiatives that support Victoria's arts and cultural sector.

Jane is an innovative and creative public sector leader with a track record in guiding large and complex arts departments and portfolios as an executive manager. Prior to joining Creative Victoria in September 2016, she was Manager of Arts Melbourne with Melbourne City Council (2010 - 2016) where she led a range of significant initiatives including Australia's first local government Arts Infrastructure Framework; strategic partnerships with key arts agencies; and the revitalisation of Arts House as Melbourne's centre for contemporary and experimental performance.

Michael Hudson
Director, Strategy, Screen and Design

Michael Hudson leads a team of industry specialists in design, fashion and screen to deliver programs and initiatives that drive innovation and economic growth, develop Victorian talent and extend Victoria's international reach and policy and program experts with responsibility for international engagement; sector-wide and corporate strategy; and sector research.

Before moving to Creative Victoria in 2014, Michael worked for 15 years at the forefront of innovation and information technology policy, and delivered programs to assist Victorian businesses, communities and government.  He is a former academic and intellectual property lawyer.

Linda Fleet
Director, Strategic Marketing and Communications

Linda Fleet leads a team that promotes Creative Victoria's programs and initiatives and raises awareness and appreciation of the range, quality and value of Victoria's creative industries.

Prior to joining Creative Victoria, Linda worked in marketing and communications in both the private and public sectors. She spent a number of years in international advertising agencies, working on global brands in Sydney, Asia and Europe. including Garuda Airlines, American Express and Microsoft. She has also worked for the New Zealand Government's tourism board in Sydney and London.  Linda holds an Masters in Communications and has a special interest in the application and power of brands within the digital environment.

Staffed by urban planning specialists, finance experts and facilities managers, the Governance and Infrastructure branch oversees Victoria's State-owned creative organisations. The branch is also responsible for a portfolio of State-owned cultural facilities and the state collection, worth $7 billion.

The facilities and assets managed by the branch range from Arts Centre Melbourne with its iconic spire to the acoustically perfect Melbourne Recital Centre; the UNESCO World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building to the state of the art circus centre that is home to Circus Oz. The branch also has responsibility for public artworks including the much loved Keith Haring mural in Collingwood, and the interactive Federation Bells at Melbourne's Birrarung Marr.

Governance and Infrastructure supports the maintenance and redevelopment of these buildings and public artworks and is responsible for projects ranging from internal fit outs and facilities to major capital works projects.

Key projects currently include the State Library Victoria redevelopment, development of the Collingwood Arts Precinct and the Geelong Arts Centre and oversight of the arts incubation space Testing Grounds.

This branch is also responsible for issues concerning storage and long-term care of Victoria's vast collections, ranging from Phar Lap's hide to John Brack's iconic artworks; Ned Kelly's armour to Kylie's gold hotpants.  It helps to showcase these collections through digitisation projects.

For the State-owned cultural organisations, Governance and Infrastructure provides strategic leadership and advice in relation to governance and reporting arrangements, business plans and budgeting, board statutory appointments and legislative reforms. Governance and Infrastructure also oversees Creative Victoria's finance and corporate development functions.

The Governance and Infrastructure branch is headed by Executive Director, Max Coffman.

Creative Industries - Executive Director Jane Crawley

Strategy, Screen and Design – Director Michael Hudson

The Creative Industries group is responsible for leading strategies for the state’s support and development of Victoria’s creative industries, along with the associated design and delivery of the state’s investment into Victoria’s non-government creative industries sector. Comprising experienced creative industries professionals, this is the largest team at Creative Victoria.

The group is responsible for the development and design of Victoria’s strategy for the creative industries in accordance with obligations under the Creative Victoria Act 2017. The state’s creative industries strategy is formally reviewed on a four-yearly basis and guides all state investment into government-owned, not-for-profit and private creative industries organisations, ensuring that state support remains relevant and well-targeted.

Creative Industries manages a suite of funding and investment programs and strategic initiatives that contribute to the development and sustainability of Victoria’s creative industries and oversees the online grants application portal.

This includes direct support for individual creative practitioners, independent creative industries businesses and organisations, collectives and micro businesses along with peak body and service organisations, and oversight of two of the state’s screen agencies, Film Victoria and Docklands Studios Melbourne. The group is responsible for maintaining and managing partnerships with the Australia Council and the Commonwealth Department of Communications and the Arts along with other state government departments and local government authorities.

In addition, the Creative Industries branch delivers a range of strategic initiatives designed in partnership with industry to drive increased industry and market stability and development and international outreach. These include the Australian Performing Arts Market and the Victorian Music Development Office.

The Strategic Marketing and Communications team works to promote Creative Victoria's programs and initiatives and to raise awareness and appreciation of the range, quality and value of Victoria's creative industries.

The team assists the sector to reach new audiences, and to create new markets for Victorian creative products, works and ideas through initiatives such as the Innovation in Marketing Fund. Through the Creative Exchange it helps creative professionals and organisations to strengthen their business capabilities and networks.

Key initiatives for Strategic Marketing and Communications team include Audience Research (Audience Atlas Victoria, COVID19 Audience Outlook Monitor), the DIY Audience Research Toolkit and the Respectful Workplaces program.

Strategic Marketing and Communications offers strategic advice and expertise relating to marketing, communications and digital to the Minister for Creative Industries and to artists and creative organisations.

The team also manages Creative Victoria's website and social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Vimeo) and issues a monthly industry eNews.

The Strategic Marketing and Communications team is headed by Director, Linda Fleet.