Circus Oz has announced that it will not be shut down, and will continue to operate with a brand new board.

The previous board had announced in December that it would dissolve the company, after it determined that a potential loss of funding from the Australia Council would force the company to fundamentally change how it operates.

Members of Circus Oz perform Model Citizens during the 2018 Sydney Festival. Photo © Jamie Williams/Sydney Festival.

That determination was based on an independent review, commissioned in conjunction with the Australia Council and Creative Victoria, which identified that there were systemic issues holding back the company, and recommended reforms to introduce an entirely skills-based board and broaden the membership criteria to diversify representation.

Those reforms were put to a vote of the company’s members, the results of which demonstrated the reforms were not supported by the membership. As such, the former board made the decision to wind up the company.

However at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 16 February that decision, and the board itself, was roundly rejected by those same Company Members, and a new board of directors – comprised of Chad Albinger, Regina...