Lizzie Butterworth Appointed CEO of the Australian Festival Association
Lizzie Butterworth has been appointed chief executive of the Australian Festival Association (AFA), the trade body announced on 19 August 2026. She succeeds Olly Arkins, who departs on Friday, 21 August after five years with the organisation.
Butterworth arrives from the New South Wales government, where she spent six years working alongside NSW minister for the arts, music and the night-time economy John Graham. Her most recent role was director of policy for arts, music and the night-time economy, jobs and tourism — a brief that put her at the centre of several policy shifts affecting how live music operates in the state. Billboard
Her contributions in that government role included the formation of Sound NSW, a dedicated body for the state's contemporary music sector; reforms to festival regulation, which had been a flashpoint for organisers facing high fees and stricter policing at outdoor events; protections for live music venues under threat from noise complaints and redevelopment; and the development of new regulatory and funding frameworks for the sector.
AFA chair Adelle Robinson welcomed the appointment, and the association said Butterworth would bring policy expertise and government experience to the CEO role, according to The Music Network and The Music.
The AFA publicly launched in December 2018 and represents festival organisers, suppliers and stakeholders across Australia's music festival sector. Its members include Fuzzy, CMC Rocks, Live Nation, Hardware, Laneway, Groovin' The Moo and Lost Paradise — a roster spanning independent promoters and the local arm of the world's largest live entertainment company.
Butterworth's move from government to an industry trade body is a notable shift. The AFA has operated as the collective voice for festival operators dealing with regulation, insurance costs and audience behaviour, and its CEO is the person who carries those concerns to ministers, departments and the public. Butterworth's six years inside the NSW policy machine mean she knows the machinery from the other side of the table.
For festival-goers, the change is unlikely to be visible at the gate. But the AFA's advocacy shapes the conditions under which festivals are staged — everything from licensing requirements to the availability of government support — and those conditions ultimately affect which events go ahead and what they cost to run.
Arkins leaves after five years that spanned the pandemic shutdown and the sector's uneven recovery, a period in which several Australian festivals cancelled or folded while others returned to capacity. The AFA has not named a specific agenda for Butterworth's tenure beyond the handover itself.
