The NSW Government’s trailblazing Createability program has selected 16 talented interns to embark on paid internship roles with 14 arts, screen and music industry organisations – the largest cohort of interns and host organisations the program has ever seen.
The Createability Internship Program opens doors for creative practitioners with disability or who are d/Deaf into the creative industries, achieving career-enhancing results.
In 2026, the initiative has been expanded with increased investment, longer internships, more opportunities, and broader geographic reach. Six interns have been matched with leading arts and cultural organisations, five with screen industry organisations and five interns have been matched with new music industry hosts.
More than half of the 14 host organisations are new to the program, including six located in either regional NSW or Western Sydney. For the first time, interns will be placed with Yours & Owls Events in Wollongong, Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, Western Sydney organisations CuriousWorks, PYT Fairfield, Campbelltown Arts Centre and WestWords, as well as Mushroom Group and national broadcaster triple j.
“Create NSW is proud to be a part of the transformative Createability program, now in its fifth year. The initiative demonstrates the simple ways organisations can remove invisible workplace barriers for artists with disability or who are d/Deaf,” said Create NSW Executive Director, Kerri Glasscock.
“Our goal is to increase access, inclusion and representation for creatives with disability, especially in Western Sydney and regional NSW. We’re excited to welcome the largest ever number of organisations and interns for this year’s program and see the significant expansion with more opportunities, wider geographic reach, and longer internships.”
The 2026 Createability Host Organisations and Interns are:
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) – Children’s and Family – Intern: Greyson Kennedy for a 4-week
internship - ABC – Compass – Intern: Kelly Leong for a 4-week internship
- Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre – Intern: Denley Hulands for a 4-week internship
- Bus Stop Films Ltd – Intern: Natasha Reynolds for an 8-week internship
- Campbelltown Arts Centre – Intern: Cassandra Li for an 8-week internship
- CuriousWorks – Intern: William Le for a 4-week internship
- Endemol Shine Australia Pty Ltd, a Banijay Entertainment company – Intern: Nicole Scharf for a 4-week internship
- Erth Visual & Physical Theatre Inc – Intern: Adrian Buntin for 4-week internship
- Mushroom Group Pty Ltd – Intern: Lucius Brand for a 4-week internship
- PYT Fairfield – Intern: Thomas North for a 4-week internship
- Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)- Intern: Sevgi Murphy for an 8-week internship
- triple j – Interns: Byron Smith and Eleanor Violet, both for 4-week internships
- WestWords Ltd – Intern: Alya Egoz for an 8-week internship
- Yours & Owls Events Pty Ltd – Interns: Tara Duncan and name withheld, each for 4 weeks
Interns will gain experience through hands-on roles and build the networks and skills they need to pursue long term professional careers. Meanwhile, host organisations benefit from increased workforce capacity and insight around the small workplace adjustments that make a big difference in accessibility.
Each role is designed to accommodate flexibility and individually tailored adjustments to enable interns to develop valuable skills and make a meaningful contribution to each organisation. Increased investment in 2026 has enabled four interns to be placed in 8-week internships, in addition to 12 four week equivalent roles.
This long-running initiative has delivered profound outcomes for the NSW creative industries. Many alumni interns have realised significant career outcomes, while host organisations gained new perspectives around employing creative practitioners with disability. Research by Create NSW conducted from 2022 to 2024 revealed almost two thirds of interns found work in the industry as a direct result of the internship.
The 2026 intake received the strongest response from organisations and the highest number of intern applications to date. This high demand reveals the significant untapped potential in NSW of talented and motivated practitioners with disability or who are d/Deaf.
The 2026 Createability Internship Program is delivered with a co-funded investment of $150,000 from Create NSW, Screen NSW and Sound NSW, in partnership with disability advocacy organisation Accessible Arts NSW.
For more information about the Createability program, visit: www.create.nsw.gov.au for details.
Image: Createability 2026 Hosts and Interns – William Le (Intern), Ally Burnham (Westwords), David Gordon (CreateNSW), Mouna Zaylah (CAC), Bronwyn Papantonio (CAC) and Cassandra Li (CAC Intern)