ASSITEJ Advisory Committee

ASSITEJ is the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (the acronym comes from the original French: Association Internationale de Theatre pour les Enfants et le Jeunesse). It is an international alliance of professionals involved in performance with/for/by young people, and there are 83 national centres globally; TNA is the ASSITEJ centre for Australia.

Established in 2020, the ASSITEJ Advisory Committee is made up of representatives from the performance with/for/by young people sector from across the country. Together with ASSITEJ International President and Australia Representative Sue Giles, the committee provides advocacy leadership and sector consultation and advice.

2023 Committee

Sue Giles AM
President of ASSITEJ International and ASSITEJ Australian Representative (VIC)
With over 40 years of experience in the arts industry, Sue was also the Artistic Director of Polyglot Theatre from 2000 - 2022. She is also currently both the Australian representative and President of ASSITEJ International – the global association of Theatre and Performance for Children and Young People – of which TNA is the Australian host and secretariat. In 2019 she was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Kevin du Preez
Monkey Baa Theatre Company (NSW)
Kevin is an arts executive, strategist and facilitator, currently working as the Executive Director of Monkey Baa Theatre Company. With a career spanning over 22 years, Kevin has pioneered and led internationally recognised programs that are an integral part of transforming creative leadership, knowledge and skills in the Australian arts and cultural industry. Kevin previously worked at the Australia Council for the Arts where he was the Director of Capacity Building. 

Lesley Graham
DRILL Performance (TAS)
Lesley is Chair of DRILL, a freelance curriculum consultant and casual academic at UTAS. She has taught Dance at all levels of education and training including TAFE and Lecturing in Dance and Education at UTAS and Queensland University of Technology, and has served as the Senior Project Officer Performing Arts, DOE, Tasmania. She mentors emerging artists, undertakes rehearsal direction and dramaturgy and teaches contemporary dance technique, choreography and ballet. She writes reviews for Dance Australia and Arts Hub. Lesley is a member of the National Advocates for Arts Education and the Ausdance Awards panel. 

Fleur Kilpatrick
Riverland Youth Theatre (SA)
Fleur is a playwright, educator, dramaturge and director and the artistic director of Riverland Youth Theatre. Fleur’s plays have won the Max Afford, Helen Nonan and Jill Blewett playwrights awards, among others and, in 2020, she was awarded the Monash Student Association’s Arts Faculty award for Teaching Excellence for her innovative lecturing and pastoral care during Covid-19. Fleur lives and works on the lands of the People of the Murray and Mallee country, where she empowers her community through art, creativity and play and works to create safe spaces for young people. Fleur is a person with a disability and a brain that cannot always do as it is told.  

Fiona MacDonald
Imaginary Theatre (QLD)
Fi is a founding member and the General Manager/Executive Producer of Imaginary Theatre, a Brisbane based arts org committed to creating theatre and arts experiences with and for 0-12 year olds and their communities. Her focus is on socially engaged projects and supporting artists to use their unique craft to build and better communities. She has worked as a Producer for QLD Music Festival, Brisbane City Council, Contact Inc, Motherboard Productions, State Library of QLD and  many others. Fi has worked extensively in South Korea since 2004, and in 2018 completed an Australia Council for the Arts placement with the Arts Space for Kids, Shanghai. Fi is also currently a Creative Producer at Brisbane Festival, a mother of two beautiful children, and was a fellow with the International Society for the Performing Arts from 2017 – 2020.

Zoe Scrogings
Corrugated Iron (NT)
Zoe Scrogings is an arts manager and creative producer with over two decades’ of working in cross cultural collaborations, major events, and business development. Her previous roles include Business Development Manager with the Yothu Yindi Foundation, Garma Festival, Development Manager at Darwin Festival, Executive Director of Backbone, and Artistic Director and CEO of Contact Inc. Zoe has produced and developed social circus projects for young people with Rock n Roll Circus, Circa, Vulcana, and Women’s Circus.

Che Skeen
Digi Youth Arts (QLD)
Che Skeen is Wakka Wakka/Birri Gubba mother living in Meanjin. She is a actor/writer and Artistic Director of Digi Youth Arts.

Previous Committees

2022-2023
Sue Giles AM (VIC), Kevin du Preez (NSW), Belinda Kelly (TAS), Romi Kupfer (VIC), Fleur Kilpatrick (SA), Zoe Scrogings (NT), Joshua Maxwell (NSW), Fiona MacDonald (QLD)

2021-2022
Sue Giles AM (VIC), Kevin du Preez (NSW), Helen Hristofski (WA), Aleshia Johnson (ACT), Belinda Kelly (TAS), Zac James (WA), Christian Leavesley (VIC), Penny Harpham/Tariro Mavondo (VIC), Sarah Parsons (NSW), Romi Kupfer (VIC), and Rhen Soggee (SA)

2020-2021
Sue Giles AM (VIC), Helen Hristofski (WA), Christian Leavesley (VIC), Tariro Mavondo (VIC), Sarah Parsons (NSW), Romi Kupfer (VIC), Rhen Soggee (SA), Luke Rogers (ACT), Amanda Wright (NSW), Robert Kronk (QLD), Susannah Sweeney (SA), Jay Emmanuel (WA), and Kyle Walmsley (NT).