Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Minderoo Foundation have entered into a transformational $30 million, 25-year philanthropic partnership to advance Australian arts and culture by supporting a state-of-the-art new home for the university’s Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Minderoo Foundation have entered into a transformational $30 million, 25-year philanthropic partnership to advance Australian arts and culture by supporting a state-of-the-art new home for the university’s Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
The biggest-ever gift to the performing arts in Australia will support the future excellence and sustainability of the revered Perth-based performing arts training academy. It is one of the largest donations received by a WA university and in the top ten of all philanthropic contributions to any Australian university.
The partnership with Minderoo Foundation builds on the significant $853 million investment made between ECU, the Western Australian Cook Government and Australian Albanese Government in the new ECU City campus through the Perth City Deal, amplifying the activation and vibrancy it will bring to Perth for the benefit of all Western Australians.
It recognizes the significance and ambition of the new ECU City campus, which is currently under construction in Perth’s CBD and on track to open in semester one of 2026. ECU City will bring more than 300 public performances a year to world-class theatres in the heart of Perth.
As the centerpiece of the $1.7 billion Perth City Deal, ECU City will bring together creative industries, business and law, and emerging technologies. The 65,000m² university is set to invigorate the Perth City Link precinct and the Perth CBD by introducing a community of more than 10,000 staff and students to stimulate economic activity and patronage for surrounding businesses.
The new WAAPA at ECU City will complement a number of major performing arts projects being delivered across Perth to grow WA’s creative industries and support economic diversification, including the Cook Government’s $233.5 million state-of-the-art screen production facility near Malaga, $150.3 million Perth Concert Hall redevelopment and transformation of the Perth Cultural Centre.
Minderoo Foundation’s gift will support ECU and WAAPA’s bold vision to deliver nation-leading, state-of-the-art performance and learning venues within the new ECU City campus, as well as internationally distinguished performance training for emerging artists.
Incorporating the specialist fit-out of WAAPA’s performance spaces and an endowed fund, it will help WAAPA deliver its long-term strategic programming for decades, and have a transformational impact for students, staff, artists and audiences by connecting all Western Australians with the arts.
The specialist fit-out grant will equip WAAPA’s six public performance venues and two performance-capable rehearsal spaces with advanced acoustics, box-in-box engineering and best-in-class technology. With cutting-edge design inspired by the world’s best theatres, the facilities will create exceptional opportunities for students to hone their craft.
WAAPA’s performance venues include a Recital Hall, Playhouse Theatre, Dance Theatre, Jazz and Contemporary Music Studio, Flex Theatre and Aboriginal Theatre, as well as Music Rehearsal and Playhouse Theatre Rehearsal spaces.
The groundbreaking agreement also establishes investment in a new Premier Visiting Artists Fund, which is intended to foster deep, sustained training for WAAPA students across residency programs, teaching and other high-impact formats, led by world-renowned artists. The fund will enable the delivery of an ongoing program of teaching excellence that attracts the best talent to Perth’s doorstep, building WAAPA’s global profile.
WA Premier Roger Cook comments:
“ECU City and WAAPA will transform the face and very fabric of Perth’s CBD.
“The relocation of these Western Australian institutions will draw thousands of students, staff and audience members into our city center, driving economic activity, supporting businesses and creating a thriving and vibrant CBD day and night.
“Today we are excited to unveil the development of WAAPA’s exceptional city performance theatres, which will put our State on the map as a world-leading center of arts and culture.
“The bigger picture for the future of performing arts in WA is beginning to emerge, with remarkable talent set to pass through the doors of ECU City WAAPA in 2026 – as our new $233 million Perth Film Studios welcomes its first productions and the revitalized Perth Cultural Centre opens to the public.
“The vision for ECU City and WAAPA is coming to life, and I welcome ECU’s partnerships with leading philanthropic organisations such as Minderoo Foundation that build on the significant investment by the Cook and Albanese Labor Governments.
“There’s so much to be proud of in WA, and I can’t wait to see the amazing outcomes this transformational project will deliver for our State.”
Comments attributable to Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King:
“The Perth Cultural District transformation delivers on our commitment to revitalizing cities through projects that will boost jobs and stimulate economic activity.
“With the campus now well into construction, ECU City will offer a powerhouse precinct right on the doorstep of the cultural district, bringing more visitors and vibrancy to the area.”
Comments attributable to WA Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:
“This partnership is great news for the future of the arts in our State and nationally.
“WAAPA is an important cultural institution in Western Australia, and it is incredibly exciting to bring it to the cultural heartland of Perth – our city center.
“Future generations of homegrown performing artists will learn from the very best in world-class training and performance venues, before going on to exceptional careers that will see them take to the finest stages in Perth, and across the globe.
“Together with our investment into the revitalization of the Perth Cultural Centre and the future Perth Film Studios, our city is set to be transformed into a thriving, vibrant beating heart, with WAAPA at ECU City the jewel in the crown.”
Comments attributable to WA Lands Minister and Member for Perth John Carey:
“ECU City will become a major draw card for Perth, with WAAPA at its center, as the Cook Labor Government continues to drive the revitalization and change the cultural landscape of our city.
“The benefits delivered under this partnership and WAAPA’s move to the city will not only support the arts and our local talent, they will also drive economic growth, and importantly, support the vision of Perth City Link to reconnect the CBD and create a vibrant and active beating heart.
“Through ECU City and WAAPA, and the programs that will be enabled through this philanthropic partnership, a dynamic environment will emerge where the community can come together to enjoy outstanding performances and experiences in the centre of our city.
“Bringing 9,000 to 10,000 students through the inner-city ECU campus a day will provide a major boost to small business and breathe more life and vibrancy – and this is exactly what our city needs.
The $853 million ECU City project is part of the $1.7 billion collaboration between the Albanese Federal Government, the WA Cook Labor Government and ECU, to deliver Perth’s first inner-city comprehensive university campus.”
Comments Federal Member for Perth Patrick Gorman:
“The ECU City campus is another example of the Albanese Government investing in education and opportunities for the next generation.
“Our government is also cutting HECS debts for current and future ECU students.
“WAAPA students and the Perth community will both benefit from the new theatres to host public performances, creating cultural and entertainment opportunities.”
Comments Nicola Forrest, Minderoo Foundation:
“I am proud that Minderoo Foundation can support Edith Cowan University’s visionary approach for WAAPA to be one of the world’s best performing arts institutions.
“By enabling new generations to experience the transformative power of performance, we can harness the extraordinary ability of the arts to inspire, unite and uplift communities.”
Comments Andrew Forrest founder of the Minderoo Foundation:
“Minderoo Foundation has long held the belief that the arts can bring communities together and foster social cohesion. It also has an incredible ability to create awareness and challenge ways of thinking – indeed, art has proved time and again that it can change the world.
“Minderoo is proud to support the next wave of groundbreaking WAAPA artists at this new world-class facility. This will be the birthplace of ideas that motivate people, companies and governments to act, reassess their behaviors or start a movement.”
Comments of ECU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Clare Pollock:
“Today we are excited to begin revealing just how extraordinary ECU City will be, and there’s more to come.
“This unprecedented partnership will unlock extraordinary opportunities that will impact generations of young people from Western Australia and the region more broadly.
“The investment will support the world’s best in stage engineering, acoustics, lighting and audiovisual technology to deliver eight new world-class performance venues within WAAPA, which will further bolster Perth’s burgeoning cultural precinct. It will also support bringing world-leading artists to WAAPA to train and perform with our emerging talent on the screen and stage.
“We are immensely proud of WAAPA, and deeply honored to receive this generous gift from Minderoo Foundation. This investment takes our enduring relationship to new heights and will deliver enormous benefits for students, the arts and the community, with impacts that our State can take great pride in.
“We will continue to build on the transformational vision and benefits that will be delivered by the ECU City campus with our partners, and as part of our valued collaboration with the Australian and Western Australian Governments under the Perth City Deal. An exciting future is ahead for Western Australia, Perth and ECU.”
Dr Andrew Forrest AO is a global business and philanthropic leader dedicated to ending the use of fossil fuels, creating green energy solutions and tackling global challenges like climate change, conflict response, modern slavery and oceanic destruction through overfishing and plastic pollution.
In 2003, Dr Forrest founded Fortescue Metals Group in Western Australia. 21 years later, Fortescue is one of the world’s largest iron ore producers and a global green technology, energy and mining group with a laser focus on accelerating the commercial decarbonization of industry.
Under Dr Forrest’s leadership, Fortescue has developed some of the world’s most efficient and lowest cost mining infrastructure, rolled out world-leading green mining equipment across its Pilbara operations and become the company globally with a plan to achieve Real Zero – elimination of fossil fuels and carbon offsets – on its Australian mine sites by 2030.
Through Tattarang, Dr Forrest owns Squadron Energy, Australia’s largest renewable energy developer, delivering 30 per cent of the Federal Government’s 2030 82 per cent renewables target. Squadron has five utility-scale wind farms in operation, delivering 1.1 gigawatts of green energy, 900 megawatts under construction and is working to build enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of six million Australian homes by the end of the decade.
Dr Forrest’s other commercial interests reflect his dedication to the economic livelihood of all Australians across sustainable agriculture and food production, critical minerals, health technology and manufacturing, including investing in iconic Australian brands, R.M.Williams and Akubra, to ensure they stay in Australian hands and grow their legacy of exceptional local craftsmanship.
Dr Forrest established Minderoo Foundation in 2001 and is a member of the Giving Pledge, committing to give away his wealth over his lifetime. With an endowment that now exceeds AU$9 billion, the Foundation focuses on global challenges, such as climate change, ending plastic pollution, urgent humanitarian responses, gender equality and returning our natural ecosystems to a healthy state.
Minderoo Foundation rapidly responds to both Australian and global crises including providing more than AU$70 million in the aftermath of the 2019/20 bushfires, AU$19 million to help get humanitarian aid to civilian populations in Gaza, and AU$20 million to assist the people of Ukraine, as well as a commitment to provide US$500 million in funding to kickstart post-war reconstruction.
Dr Forrest has a PhD in Marine Ecology, serves as an IUCN Patron of Nature and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to philanthropy, mining, employment, and sustainable foreign investment.
In 2013, Dr Forrest was appointed by Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to lead the country’s response to tackling Indigenous disparity. Dr Forrest is also Co-Chair of the Australia-China Senior Business Leaders’ Forum and a Board Member for the Boao Forum.