PACT is 40 years old. The company has been through many evolutions. PACT was set up as a loose co-operative of affiliated artists interested in film, performance and music. The acronym (that has now been consigned to the archives...) stood for Producers, Authors, Composers and Talent! In the 1970s the company refocused its work around community practice with a special emphasis making theatre with young people and in the 1990's the company evolved into a youth theatre and over the past 10 years, PACT has set precedents in Australian youth arts through its process language, style of management, artistic content and product. PACT's work has had an exciting evolution in this time including an emphaiss on identity, cultural difference and live presence in contemporary culture.

PACT thrives on a culture of volunteerism, guerilla tactics and strategic alliance across all aspects of performance-making. These chameleon strategies have kept PACT alive over four decades, responding to the dynamic social landscape of Sydney and to accentuated shifts in approaches to professional arts practice

PACT identifies with the on-going project of performance. This means our work marries artistic vision with social participation. PACT is influenced by the prior history of its artistic teams, some of whom hail directly from the national performance 'scenes' (Performance Space, Dance House, Pram Factory). These artists have given PACT's work a sense of identity.

PACT's program represents an engagement with forms that have been explored throughout the 20th century and have continued into the next. PACT's processes reflect a range of strategies, direct address, dance language/s and the 'plastic' arts of architecture, sculpture and most recently new media image-making. The areas PACT seeks to develop pertain to our local community of emerging artists and striving for access and relevance for this community.