Parramatta Council has unveiled a new cultural strategy that puts the city on a bold path—to become the cultural capital of Western Sydney. Backed by community voices, creatives and institutions, the Creative Parramatta Cultural Strategy 2025–2034 was formally endorsed at this week’s Council meeting and will shape the next decade of arts, cultural infrastructure and local creative industries.
At the heart of the plan is a clear ambition: position Parramatta as a thriving centre for creativity, one that is not only anchored by Powerhouse Parramatta and a renewed Riverside Theatres but driven by the artists, stories and communities that call it home.
City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Martin Zaiter described the new framework as “a roadmap for the City’s vibrant future.”
“Creative Parramatta has been developed with our community to help elevate our City to its full potential as a thriving creative hub for people who visit, live or work in Parramatta,” he said.
While the strategy outlines lofty ambitions, it rests on detailed groundwork. The plan was built in consultation with more than 30 creative organisations, 130 cultural stakeholders and a broader community who, as Cr Zaiter puts it, want the city to be a “vibrant cultural destination” and a place where the past, present and future are told through art and storytelling.
It’s not just about aesthetics or reputation. There’s an economic angle to this too. By increasing arts programming, investing in cultural infrastructure and providing pathways for emerging talent, Parramatta Council hopes to boost visitation and unlock jobs across the creative sector.
The strategy is built on five core priorities:
- First Nations First: putting Dharug and other First Nations peoples at the centre of cultural engagement
- Access and Participation: broadening opportunities for artists and audiences alike to create and experience culture
- Creative Workspaces: ensuring artists and organisations can access affordable and secure spaces to work and perform
- Education and Employment: strengthening pathways into arts and cultural careers through local training and skills programs
- Creative Leadership: firmly positioning Parramatta as the cultural engine of Western Sydney
The council’s approach seeks to shift thinking from project-by-project arts funding towards long-term systems and infrastructure that can outlast political cycles and serve a growing, diverse population. Given Western Sydney’s population is projected to exceed 3 million by the mid-2030s, planners say now is the time to invest in culture as much as in transport or housing.
It’s not an unfamiliar push. In recent years, cities such as Liverpool, Penrith and Campbelltown have ramped up their own arts precincts and live music strategies. Parramatta’s claim to cultural leadership will rest not on the tallest building or the biggest museum, but on the strength of what’s produced, shared and remembered.
With this strategy, Council hopes to translate vision into action—and action into outcomes.
The challenge ahead? Make sure the plan lives on beyond its glossy PDF cover and Council meeting minutes.
What will matter most is whether Dharug voices are truly embedded in the city’s artmaking, whether young creatives can find real space—not just theoretical support—to make their work, and whether the broader community gets to see its own diversity reflected on stage, on walls and in the public square.
Whether Parramatta becomes Western Sydney’s culture capital won’t be decided by the strategy’s words. It’ll be decided by what happens next.
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