Please note: Some of the content on this page was published prior to the launch of Creative Australia and references the Australia Council. Read more.

Call for First Nation creatives, arts workers and thought leaders

Conference themes

For the first time in 50 years, we are coming together to tell our stories. Purrumpa is a National First Nations Arts and Culture Gathering, creating space for conversations that reflect:

  • Respectful engagement. Deep listening: Led by cultural protocols and cultural leaders.
  • Legacy: Acknowledging the lengthy and painstaking process that First Nation arts leaders have accomplished over the past 50 years through bravery, courage, resilience and activism.
  • Storytelling: Telling our stories across all artforms
  • Here. Now: Our industry continues to build vibrant creative communities while embedding First Nation Arts and Culture in the national conversation
  • Imagining the future: First Nation young people working in arts and culture, building our workforce, protect Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) and engage in a digital landscape.

Your submission should address the above themes.


You may also want to discuss First Nation Arts and Culture from the following:

  • education
  • health and social wellbeing
  • engaging young people in the arts and/or workforce opportunities
  • the creative industries
  • across all artforms
  • community and collaborations
  • Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property
  • science, environment and technology interface
  • arts, culture and tourism
  • language and cultural protection/maintenance
  • arts and cultural activism.

Or tell us about your exciting project you are working on.

We are not only looking for discussions and panels but also workshop ideas and short performances. There will be a range of different presentation formats available to present:

Type: Presentation

Time allocated: 30 +10 Mins Q&A

Details: May be more than one speaker. Presentations may be based around: research findings, community projects, case studies, industry trend exploration, demonstration of best practice, lessons learnt, new strategies


Type: Facilitated group/panel session

Time Allocated: 60 mins including Q&A

Details: Curate a full session on a particular topic/theme panels of no more than five speakers.


Type: Interactive workshop

Time allocated: Could be set up over a day or two for a slow interactive workshop, or an intensive 90-minute workshop.

Details: Practical, hands-on sessions that encourage participant engagement, interaction and discussion. Give details around timeframe and how you would like to run the workshop.


Type: Performance

Time Allocated: 20 + 10 Mins Q&A

Details: Theatrical or creative presentation of work i.e., dance, song, poetry, film screening, demonstration. May be shorter than 20 mins to accommodate engagement or expanded Q&A.


Type: Other

Time allocated: 40 Mins + Q&A

Details: Alternatively, your proposal could be a combination of all four presentation types.

Proposals for presentations should be made using this form.

Your proposal should contain:

  • a title
  • names of presenters
  • a summary of the themes to be addressed [max 500 words]
  • relevant links as well as a description of the expected learning outcomes
  • contact details
  • Do you have any special requirements needed to present? E.g. interpreter, Auslan interpreter, physical access, vision impaired.
  • Do you have any special AV requirements to present?

Deadline 22 August 2022. Successful presentations will receive a travel bursary.

All proposals will be read by our conference peer panel which will be responsible for putting together the programme for this event. We will come back to all those who put forward a proposal by Thursday 15 September 2022.

Preference will be given to presentations that:

  • Are presented or co-presented by First Nations people and community members/organisations.
  • Result from research conducted in collaboration with First Nations communities/organisations.
  • Are working to develop best practice models for collaborative research involving First Nations communities/organisations.
  • Present new ideas, new case studies, new practices or relationships that suggest future directions for the sector and industry.

You may submit more than one abstract.

Submissions must be written in English. If you need translation assistance, please contact purrumpa@creative.gov.au

Online submission is the only method of abstract submission.

It is the responsibility of the presenter/author to ensure their abstract explains how it relates to the themes.

Where there is more than one presenter all correspondence will be sent to the person who submitted the abstract.

Every effort will be made to accommodate the presenter/author presentation preference however the program committee reserves the right to allocate the presentation to best suit the program.

The invitation to submit an abstract does not constitute an offer to pay travel, accommodation or registration costs associated with the conference. In the submission form please advise if you require financial assistance to attend the event.