Who we are
The Australian Craft and Design Centres (ACDC) network brings together organisations across Australia dedicated to supporting professional craft and design practice. We develop designers and makers, connect them with audiences, and advocate for the conditions that allow this sector to thrive.
Through exhibition programs, residencies, retail, education, and public engagement, ACDC member organisations collectively reach hundreds of thousands of Australians each year, supporting the careers of makers at every stage of their practice.
artisan
Queensland
Queensland's home for craft and design, based in Bowen Hills, Brisbane. artisan runs exhibitions, events, workshops, retail, and the Unleashed program for emerging practitioners, and has been connecting Queensland makers to national and international platforms since 1970.
Australian Design Centre
New South Wales
Based in Darlinghurst, Sydney, ADC has supported Australian designers and makers for 61 years through exhibitions, Sydney Craft Week, touring programs, and the MAKE Award. ADC is currently facing closure after the withdrawal of core operational funding.
Australian Tapestry Workshop
Victoria
Based in South Melbourne, the Australian Tapestry Workshop creates contemporary hand-woven tapestries in collaboration with artists, architects, and designers. It is one of a small number of studios worldwide where this tradition is still practised at the highest level.
Canberra Glassworks
ACT
Canberra Glassworks is Australia's leading centre for contemporary glass art, craft and design. Based in the historic Kingston Power House, we support artists through world-class studios, exhibitions and commissions, connecting audiences, industry and community through the extraordinary possibilities of glass.
Canberra Potters
ACT
Established in 1975, Canberra Potters is the leading ceramic arts organisation in the ACT and one of Australia’s only fully integrated ceramics centres. Canberra Potters promotes excellence and innovation in ceramics through education and training, exhibitions, professional making facilities, an artist-in-residence program and retail space, supporting practitioners from beginners to professionals.
Craft Victoria
Victoria
One of Victoria's oldest arts organisations, Craft Victoria has run exhibitions, public programs, and retail from Melbourne for over fifty years. It is where many Victorian makers have shown their work for the first time, and where established practitioners continue to exhibit.
Craft + Design Canberra
ACT
A membership organisation supporting artists, craft practitioners, designers, and makers at every stage of their careers. Craft + Design Canberra runs exhibitions, retail, an Artist-in-Residence program, and a biennial festival.
Design Tasmania
Tasmania
Lutruwita/Tasmania's centre for design, based in Launceston. Design Tasmania runs exhibitions, a Design Store that exclusively stocks Tasmanian designers and makers, and holds a significant collection of Tasmanian craft and design. Approaching its 50th anniversary, it is one of Australia's most enduring craft and design institutions.
Guildhouse
South Australia
South Australia's peak body for visual artists, craftspeople, and designers. Guildhouse has been running mentorships, fellowships, and residencies for over 50 years, and works to connect South Australian practitioners with collecting institutions and career opportunities.
JamFactory
South Australia
Based in Adelaide and at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa, JamFactory is best known for its Associate Program, which has trained generations of makers in ceramics, glass, jewellery, and furniture. Its retail and exhibition spaces connect the work of makers directly with buyers and collectors.
Infrastructure under pressure
The ACDC network operates in an arts and culture funding environment that has tightened significantly over the past decade. Core operational funding, which keeps doors open, retains experienced staff, and allows organisations to plan beyond the next project grant, has declined in real terms across this period.
This is the context in which the ACDC network made its submission. The three asks – a workforce plan, a national body, and an export strategy – are not abstract policy positions but minimum conditions for a sector that is currently doing exceptional work on inadequate resources.
The network in numbers
This is a productive sector delivering public access, creative employment, skills development, cultural tourism, manufacturing capability and national cultural value – yet it remains under-recognised and under-invested in federal cultural policy.
- In 2025, ACDC member organisations reached more than 4.1 million people. The network supported 4,507 artists and enabled 4,884 artworks to be fabricated, presented or shown.
- The network paid $5.2 million in artist fees and commissions and $9 million to arts workers, totalling $14.2 million in direct income to artists and arts workers.
- Against $6.6 million in government investment, the network generated $13 million in self-generated income – approximately $2 in organisational revenue and $2.16 in direct artist and arts-worker income for every $1 of government investment.