sECTOR DEVELOPMENT

CARE FRAMEWORK

A SET OF VALUES AND PROCEDURES THAT PRIORITISES CARE AND SAFETY
OUR ARTISTS, AUDIENCES AND COMMUNITY

Australian Dance Theatre creates work that sparks social change and pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance. This framework enables us to do so safely and with care at the core of our creative, administrative, and operational processes.

Embedding Psychological Safety at ADT

In 2023, we connected with Amanda Pulford from Awaken Consulting to begin to develop a set of practices that embed psychological safety in every aspect of company life.

Amanda has been a lifelong ADT fan - even doing her high school work experience with us - and is now a leading professional working with organisations across many sectors in articulating what psychological safety is and can be in the workplace.

For us, this means making sure that we are proactively making safe spaces across our organistion, from the studio, to our meeting rooms and offices, as well as on the road - whether we are performing, delivering workshops, or supporting our colleagues across the sector.

Acknowledging the tremendous upheaval caused by the pandemic and historic unsafe practices across the industry, we have made care a strategic priority. This is a transformative opportunity to embed care into every aspect of the work we do, making it a foundational aspect of our relationships with our community of artists and audiences.

In developing our new Strategic Plan we collectively identified the potential challenge of bringing care to life, making it front and centre for every decision we make and action we take. We acknowledged that this should not rest with just one person or a specific role, but rather that this responsibility must be held by everyone across the Company.

Through a series of sessions across three months, we began to identify common issues experienced by artistic and administrative staff, breaking down any barriers or separation between the two in order to create a spirit of community across the company. We also acknowledged that while there are actions and motivations that we share, there is also a specificity of life in the studio and also in our offices.

Operating as a collective, we will continue to work with Amanda throughout 2024 to formulate a collective care statement and a series of strategic priorities that will ensure that all community members feel held, safe and able to engage completely with our work.

Collective Care Statement

As part of the development of our psychological safety framework, the entire company gathered to create a Collective Care Statement that clearly outlines the values, expectation and priorities of all members. This statement, which is still in draft form, will eventually be available in all contracts, be made available throughout the venue and digitally across Australian Dance Theatre’s various platforms.

The statement seeks capture not only the deep sense of respect each company member has for each other, but the sense of joy and humour that is not only at the core of the company but is inherent in the creation of world class works of art. This statement is a set of values but also an actionable set of standards that we all hold ourselves by. It will continue to develop as our company evolves and will respond to the changing nature of the world in which we operate.

Please read our current care statement below.

—

We are all artists.

Australian Dance Theatre operates as a collective, with every member of our community working collaboratively towards the creation of art that sparks social change. We acknowledge that this work is complex and, by its very nature, challenging. We prioritise care at every opportunity and see this as essential to our collaboration with artists, creatives and audiences.

We take the diversity of our community as a creative opportunity. We check-in with each other, celebrate each other and make space to dream, to fail, to experiment and to champion growth at every level of our company.

We meet each other where we’re at. We prioritise rest. We take breaks. We like parties. We don’t eat lunch at our desks ... or, we try not to.

We do our best by each other, by our work, by the company and by our lunch … wherever we eat it.

Five Ways of Being

Alongside our Collective Care Statement, we’ve created a series of observable behaviours to aid in the process of embedding care into our daily practices and operations. These are a guide and reminder, supporting us to realise our goals and care for each other as best we can.

—

We listen deeply:

  • Assume good intent

  • Receive openly and give authentically

  • Check in / Check Out

We celebrate the collective:

  • Space for play and dreaming (creativity is not just in the studio)

  • We meet individuals as they are

  • Courage to take risks / to fail / to succeed / be challenged

We create space to dream:

  • We welcome all ideas

  • Respect the time and energy of others

  • Create time for reflection

We practice equity of care:

  • We acknowledge who is not in the room

  • We consider the needs of others

  • Our communication is considered

We are all creative:

  • We respect the artisanship of all

  • We are all invested in the vision