Australian Music Venue Foundation Taps John Collins, Fiona Duncan for Board

The Australian Music Venue Foundation (AMVF) welcomes several board members, its first batch of "artist ambassadors" and a raft of sponsors.

Ahead of BIGSOUND 2025, the trade association welcomes to the board Fiona Duncan, CEO of Music Victoria and Executive Director, Loog Management; John “JC” Collins, co-owner and venue director of The Fortitude Music Hall, former bass player with Powderfinger and inaugural Nighttime Economy Commissioner for Queensland; Tyla Dombroski, Director and CEO of Crowbar; James Legge, Director of Freo Social and Treasurer of the AMVF; and Tim Northeast, co-owner of the Corner Hotel.

Also, Julia Robinson, head of government relations and programs for ARIA and PPCA, joins in an advisory role.

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They join founding board members Harley Evans (Managing Director of Moshtix), Howard Adams (founder of Corner Soul and Chairman of ALMBC), Mardi Caught (founder of The Annex) and Tam Boakes (founder of Jive).

Also announced are the AMVF’s first group of artist ambassadors, including The Rubens, Phoebe Go, Velvet Trip, Darcie Haven and Anna Lunoe, plus the organisation’s first sponsors – Universal Music Group, Moshtix and UNIFIED Music Group.

The Australian Music Venue Foundation (AMVF) launched March 13^th, and is modelled on Britain’s Music Venue Trust (MVT), whose co-founder Mark Davyd is an advisor.

“Grassroots music venues are where artists learn, grow, and connect with audiences — they’re essential to Australia’s cultural heartbeat,” reads a statement from AMVF.  “We’re here to protect them, together.”

With AMVF up-and-running, GMVs finally have a collective voice, one that will engage all sectors of the music industry and beyond on behalf of its members.

GMVs around the world “are facing a series of shared challenges, from rising costs and poor legislation, to creeping gentrification and the decline in touring," Davyd said at the launch of AMVF. The new organisation, he continued, "is an important moment in recognising that venue owners and operators in Australia need proper representation through a national body, one that can talk with authority to Government and to the music industry itself on behalf of the incredible venues right across the country."

JC used the platform of the 2025 QMusic Awards to shine a light on the new organisation. The proposed model of taking a “small levy” on the price of tickets for stadium and arena shows to benefit the grassroots music industry was “a great start for what we need across Australia,” he remarked from the stage. “The future of music is safe if we do this stuff.”