The impetus for the projects comes from the state and territory drama associations that comprise the national organisation. The special projects vary in focus and duration but generally fall into one or more of the following categories:

• A special publication
• The appointment of a special advisor, for a specified time, to assist Drama Australia to enhance its work
• The writing and dissemination of a ‘policy’ or ‘guidelines’ document focussing some aspect of drama education
• A survey or small research project intended to enhance the work of drama educators

Current Projects

Past projects

Some of the past projects from recent years have included a diverse range of initiatives (not all of the Drama Australia projects from recent times are listed here. This is a representative sample)

2004
The Drama Australia Equity and Diversity guidelines document – featuring information and guidelines for teaching drama in relation to issues of gender, culture and linguistics, sexuality and disability

2001-2003
Technology project – this project established the association’s www presence including the launch of the Drama Australia website. It also made recommendations and provided advice about the use of technology in the drama classroom

2001
Working Conditions in the teaching and learning of drama- a guidelines document regarding the conditions for the teaching and learning of drama in schools in Australia

1998
Arts Industry survey – a small research project established to ascertain how the arts industry saw its relationship to drama educators and investigating ways in which this relationship could be fostered and improved

1998
Gender Equity Policy – guidelines for the teaching of drama in relation to gender issues. This was the forerunner to the 2004 Equity and Diversity document

1995
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education and Studies policy statement and guidelines – a document which provide advice for the teaching of drama to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and to the teaching of drama students of all backgrounds about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives

Current Projects

Drama Australia is currently running several projects which will be
completed in the next few years. Each project has a ‘project officer’ who
runs the project. Drama Australia’s Director of Projects oversees the overall
running of the various projects and provides support to the project officers.
The current Director of Projects is Richard Sallis.

Drama Makes Meaning
A new version of the mid-1990s Drama Australia advocacy
and information brochure regarding drama teaching in Australia.
Completion date: July 2005
Project Officer: Sandra Gattenhof

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Guidelines document
A new version of the mid-1990s document. Currently a discussion paper is
being commissioned that will recommend how to proceed with the rewriting
of this document
Completion date: (phase one, the discussion paper) July 2005
(Interim) project officer: Richard Sallis

Tertiary Drama Curriculum Praxis: ‘Up With the Best’
This project was established by Sandra Gattenhof and Noel Jordan. It is to
establish a site within the Drama Australia website where lecturers
of drama education from around Australia will post exemplary drama lesson
plans and unit outlines written by students in their pre-service secondary and
primary teaching courses. This project will be on-going in nature. The
initial establishment of the site will occur soon.
Completion date (establishment of the site): October 2005
Project Officer: Richard Sallis

Sensitive Issues – Drama and Health Project
This project is now completed. It looked at the interrelationships between
drama education and health related imperatives. It was run by Helen Cahill
from the Youth Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. The
findings of the project have not yet been published. Current Director of
Projects (DOP), on a recommendation from the former DOP is to investigate
ways to best disseminate the findings of this important project to the
members of Drama Australia, and beyond.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am interested in suggesting/running a
Drama Australia project, how do I go about it?

All Drama Australia projects start with the completion of a ‘New Project’
from by a member association. A deadline is set each year by which any new
project proposals must be received by the Executive of Drama Australia.
This is usually one month before the Annual Meeting of Council. So, for
projects being proposed for the 2005/2006 year the deadline is June 10,
2005.

Do projects have a budget?

This depends on the nature of the project and whether a budget was sought
at the time of the application. While there is no hard and fast rule, a typical
project is usually funded to pay for out-of-pocket expenses and materials.
A salary to run the project as such is not usually considered to be a cost that
can be met by the association.

Who runs the project?

It is essential that when a member association applies for a new project to be
accepted (at the Annual Meeting of Council) that it has a ‘project officer’
lined up to run it. Without a dedicated project officer, projects may falter
and lose direction. It is therefore essential that the seeking out of a project
officer is conducted by the member association who applies for the project to run.

Are all project applications accepted?

While it is rare for a project proposal not to be accepted outright, sometimes
at the time of Annual Meeting of Council (AMC), when applications for new
projects are considered, there may be recommended changes to a proposed
project. For this reason it is most important that member associations who
propose new projects do not assume that the project will be accepted

outright as they have envisaged it. Work should not, therefore, commence on
a project before it has been accepted at the AMC. It is important to note that
in rare circumstances a project application may be rejected at the AMC by
member associations, and so the completion of an application for a new
project does not guarantee that it will take place.

In the application form it says I have to state
how long the project will go for.
What if I don’t know at this stage?

Projects are reviewed on an annual basis.
For this reason when completing a New Project’ form it is most
important to ensure the activity described for the next twelve months
is as accurate as possible. Then, the following year this will be
reviewed in light of recommendations made by the project officer as to
the future direction of the project. It is however helpful at the time of the
application to give as good an overview as possible of what is likely to
take place over the life of the project.

Drama Australia Projects Proposal Form

Project Proposal Form PDF (110KB)