Helpmann Academy: Major Impact Report and endowment fund launched
Decades of impact meets a vision for the future. Helpmann Academy’s new Impact Report reveals the profound effect early support for creatives can have, while its Helpmann Future Fund sets a bold path forward to ensure that emerging creatives are supported for generations to come.
This week at Government House, Helpmann Academy celebrated a significant milestone: the launch of a major Impact Report alongside the establishment of an endowment fund, the Helpmann Future Fund. Together, these initiatives capture the depth of impact achieved over decades, while setting a clear pathway for sustaining that impact into the future.
The newly released Impact Report provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of Helpmann Academy’s role in shaping South Australia’s creative landscape. Drawing on more than 100 artist interviews, economic modelling and sector analysis, the report confirms what many in the arts community have long understood: early investment in creative practitioners has lasting and compounding effects.
Over the past decade alone, Helpmann Academy has delivered more than $7.2 million in direct support to emerging creatives. In 2025, this translated to more than $1 million being distributed, reaching more than 3000 artists in a single year. These figures represent critical support at early moments in creative careers, at a pivotal time when investment can determine whether a practitioner continues or exits the sector altogether.
Alexander Flood. Video by Black Aperture, courtesy Helpmann Academy.
The impact at an individual level is clear. The report shows that, as a result of participating in Helpmann Academy programs and opportunities, 88 per cent of artists experienced increased confidence and inspiration, while 83 per cent reported strengthened professional networks and creative skills. Just as significantly, 35 per cent of artists indicated they may have left the industry without Helpmann Academy’s support. In a sector defined by precarity, these figures point to a model that not only nurtures talent but actively retains it.
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This impact extends outward. Helpmann Academy’s work contributes directly to a more resilient and sustainable creative ecosystem in South Australia. With 71 per cent of their supported artists employed in the creative industries within the past year, the organisation is demonstrably building a workforce that contributes to both cultural life and economic activity in South Australia and beyond.
The economic modelling reinforces this broader significance. Over the past 10 years, Helpmann Academy’s programs have generated $69 million in wages for emerging creatives, contributed $82 million to Gross State Product and supported the equivalent of 860 full-time jobs. According to the economic evaluation in the report, annually this equates to more than $2.2 million added to the South Australian economy. These figures position the organisation not only as a cultural leader but as a meaningful economic contributor.
Yet the report is equally clear on one critical point: this impact does not occur by accident. It is the result of sustained, consistent investment by partners, and, crucially, by philanthropy.
It is from this understanding that the Helpmann Future Fund has been established.
Launched by Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia and Patron of Helpmann Academy, the fund represents a long-term commitment to securing the organisation’s future capacity. Rather than funding individual projects in isolation, it is designed to build a permanent, invested corpus –one that will generate ongoing income to underpin Helpmann’s work for generations to come.
Driven by a collective of long-term advocates for the Helpmann Academy, the Helpmann Future Fund has been realised through the incredible generosity of the organisation’s key supporters – here known as the Founding Donors.
Nicholas, William and Sam Ross. Video by Black Aperture, courtesy Helpmann Academy.
The intention is simple but ambitious: to ensure the support emerging creatives receive from Helpmann Academy at the very beginning of their careers is not only maintained but strengthened over time. As shared by Mark Roderick, speaking at the reception at Government House, the Helpmann Future Fund is about “shaping tomorrow through what we choose to do today”.
The establishment of the fund also signals a shift in how impact is understood. Where the Impact Report demonstrates what has been achieved by the organisation, the Helpmann Future Fund invites participation in what comes next. It reframes giving as an investment in continuity, ensuring the conditions that have enabled thousands of artists to thrive remain in place for those yet to come.
Importantly, this invitation is not limited to one form of support. While the Helpmann Future Fund provides a powerful vehicle for long-term giving, the broader call remains open. Contributions of all kinds (whether directed to the fund, to programs or through partnerships) play a critical role in sustaining the ecosystem that Helpmann Academy has helped to build.
This reflects a core truth embedded throughout the report: impact is collective. The opportunities described in its pages are made possible through a network of donors, partners and advocates who understand that investing in emerging creatives is an investment in the cultural and economic future of the state.
The launch of these two initiatives offers a simple but important message: the future of South Australia’s creative sector is not fixed but shaped by the choices made and actions taken now.
The Helpmann Academy Impact Report has been made possible through the generous support of the Nunn Dimos Foundation. We invite you to read the Impact Report and discover for yourself Helpmann Academy’s life-changing impact for emerging creatives.
A digital copy of the Impact Report is available here.
The Helpmann Future Fund has been established by Founding Donors: Christopher & Christine Guille; Grosset Gaia Foundation; Sam & Margo Hill-Smith; Philippe & Diana Jaquillard; K&S Langley Family; Lang Family Foundation; LK Law; Paul & Fatima McHugh. David McKee AO & Pam McKee; Nick Ross & the Ross Family; With special thanks to Creative Australia.
Discover how you can give today to shape tomorrow here.
Clara Solly-Slade. Video by Black Aperture, courtesy Helpmann Academy.
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