Sydney Opera House and the Global Goals

In spring 2021, with much of Sydney still locked down, the Opera House hosted the Australian chapter of a unique worldwide event. Global Citizen Live, a 24-hour broadcast featuring the likes of Billie Eilish, Elton John, Paul Simon, Jennifer Lopez and Ed Sheeran, was a once-in-a-generation day of unity calling on world leaders, philanthropists and corporations to defend the planet and defeat poverty.

Taking place on September 25-26, the marathon broadcast was part of Global Citizen’s year-long campaign to kickstart global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside participants in New York, Paris, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, London and Mumbai, Delta Goodrem represented Australia from the steps of the Opera House. Her performance, featuring special appearances by Hugh Jackman, Cathy Freeman and Celeste Barber, was framed against a sails lighting montage on both the eastern and western sides of the Opera House.

The livestream was watched by more than 95 million people worldwide. And the impact was clear: commitments of more than US$1.1 billion, 157 million trees and 60 million COVID-19 vaccines were announced during the event as a result of partnerships between government, philanthropy, non-governmental organisations and the private sector. 

Suspended high above Sydney Harbour, a woman scrambles to protect a 2.7 tonne piece of ice from the elements as it slowly melts into the water below. Over three days in January, crowds lined the Western Broadwalk to witness the world premiere of Thaw, an ambitious, urgent work by Legs on the Wall, co-presented by the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Festival.

Broadcast live on Stream, this stunning performance spanned eight hours each day as the ice disappeared in the summer heat. To accompany the installation, we presented Enough Talk, a set of climate change-focused soapbox mini-speeches. Thaw combined beauty with environmental alarm, encouraging visitors to reflect on their role in the unfolding climate emergency. At the Opera House, we believe art and culture can drive positive change, which is why we provide the stage for artists to explore the issues that matter. As Time Out put it: “Part art installation, part performance art, and part slow-drip suspense thriller, Thaw delivers a climate change message you won’t soon forget.” 

Building on the robust and constructive conversations that contributed to the Opera House’s new Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DI&B) Strategy, as well as the work of our passionate Global Goals-related staff groups, this year we launched a new forum for staff to discuss ideas, experiences and challenges related to diversity and inclusion. Fittingly, the first event was held on March 21 – Harmony Day.

Once a month, all Opera House employees are invited to the DI&B Hub to discuss some of today’s most pressing issues in a safe, welcoming environment. There is no set agenda and no question is too large or small. The only requirement is that everyone comes with an open mind and curious attitude, as we work to foster a safe, inclusive workspace that values diversity of thought and experience. Wherever the conversations take us, we use the sessions as a way to empower us all to drive change. 

Support from the NSW Government’s Culture Up Late stimulus enabled the Opera House to present 70 community engagement activities that attracted more than 20,000 people to the precinct and generated more than 370,000 online views.

The Forecourt hosted Everybody Dance Now, a series of free, COVID-safe dance classes, and four free concerts of contemporary and classical music, including: the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Australian singer songwriter Jack River and friends; and Barrabuwari (meaning "tomorrow" in the Gadigal language), an Indigenous-led showcase of some of the country's most trailblazing voices in music, and a concert by Ziggy Ramo.

After a hiatus of more than a year due to COVID-19 restrictions, a new edition of Badu Gili was launched in 2021. In a collaboration to mark the Art Gallery of NSW 150th anniversary, we presented Badu Gili: Wonder Women, curated by the Gallery's Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Coby Edgar.

As part of our SOH Connects staff program, which provides opportunities for informal learning and social connections, we launched online Lunch & Learn events to highlight community dates of significance and raise staff awareness of the UN Global Goals.

The series kicked off during NAIDOC Week 2020 with First Nations artist Richard Frankland in an event that was enthusiastically received by employees, with some saying it was a “recharge for the soul” and “one of the most incredible stories I’ve ever heard”.

A Lunch & Learn event on World Autism Awareness Day featured guest speaker Rachel Worsley from Neurodiversity Media. It was especially well received by those with lived experience of neurodiversity, with a staff member saying, “As I say to my fantastic son who has autism, it’s not a disability, it means that you have different abilities, and that’s what makes you the person you are!”

Environmentally Aware Staff Culture Our Sustainable Environment Action Leaders (SEALs) continued to foster a positive and sustainable workplace culture.

A new environmental awareness training program was launched for all staff, as part of the Opera House’s Learning and Development program. A staff engagement panel for World Engineering Day, Engineering for a Healthy Planet, further raised awareness of environmental issues.

Staff participated in a range of activities throughout the year that support community awareness and action, including Clean Up Australia Day, clean-up by kayak for World Oceans Day, Earth Hour, Wear the Change, and a community bike-riding challenge, Biketober, to promote wellbeing and sustainable transport.

In 2021, we welcomed our new Global Goals Partners, aligning with Global Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals, which encourages organisations to share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources.

In a three-year partnership, Honeywell and the Opera House will collaborate on initiatives aligned with the Global Goals, including helping the Opera House become climate positive by 2023; collaborating on events to discuss how engineers are contributing to positive social and environmental change; and launching a program to support First Nations tertiary graduates with their chosen profession.

In a two year partnership, Dettol will enable activities in our new Centre for Creativity and promote good hygiene habits for children through creativity, including supporting free creative play activities that bring together art and wellbeing.

In March 2020, in response to closing our doors to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we launched our digital program From Our House to Yours, supporting the local industry and maintaining a vital connection between artists and audiences. As of September 2020, we have presented almost 50 shows and produced over 100 hours of digital content.

The program has been enthusiastically received with close to 6 million views and downloads and more than 21 million minutes watched.

The program was praised by media as a “game-changer” and won three ‘Time in’ awards. FOHTY provided a crucial platform for NSW, national and global communities at a time when it was most needed.

The Opera House participated in the 2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade with a float called House of Love.

Thanks to the generous support of our Major Partner Energy Australia, 80 staff resplendent in multi-coloured fluoro outfits took part in Sydney’s iconic annual parade, with 189 more involved in the production, costume and craft workshops.

In addition to the Mardi Gras float, an Opera House Pride group leads initiatives with the goal of supporting LGBTQI staff and promoting inclusivity. 

A series of eight modular artificial reefs were installed alongside the Opera House sea wall in 2019. The reef is made up of eight pods placed underwater around Bennelong Point. The project, led by UTS Professor of Marine Ecology David Booth and funded through a NSW Environmental Trust grant, aims to explore ways to increase marine biodiversity and native species in Sydney Harbour.

Since then, eight new marine species have been spotted near the reefs. To help raise awareness about the reef and the importance of marine habitat protection and conservation, educational resources were developed and distributed to schools.

In 2019 - 20 Opera House staff undertook training in improving support services for visitors with vision impairment by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and Audio Description training by Vision Australia.

Following this training, Opera House staff can better support visitors who are blind or have low vision when onsite and can now run audio described tours about the Opera House via our website. 

Since 2017, the Opera House’s Bennelong sail has been transformed by light and sound to host a free daily lighting experience that explores ancient First Nations stories in a seven-minute projection. In that time, it has attracted more than 500,000 visitors with 183,000 visitors watching the projection in 2019 - 20.

In November 2019, the Opera House launched Badu Gili LIVE – which gave a new dimension to the popular experience with  First Nations artists performing a free concert under the luminous sails projection.

In 2019 performances were by First Nations artists  Leah Flanagan, Ursula Yovich and Bow and Arrow. Since the temporary closure of the Opera House due to COVID-19, Badu Gili content was featured in the From Our House to Yours digital program to continue engaging audiences.

Both Badu Gili and Badu Gili LIVE are enabled by the Opera House, its Idealist donors and the Australia Council for the Arts.