In a statement released this morning, the Board of longstanding Australian circus company Circus Oz announced that it has made the decision to close the company. The decision comes in response to a review into how to best use public funding, completed in collaboration with the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria.

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

“The government review identified that Circus Oz has a tremendous rich legacy, but there were systemic issues holding back the company. It was recommended that if Circus Oz is to continue to receive public funds, reforms were required to introduce an entirely skills-based board and broaden the membership criteria to diversify representation,” said the Circus Oz Board statement.

The decision from the Circus Oz board comes as a direct response to polling amongst the 100 company members (predominantly made up of former Circus Oz employees) about whether they would support the changes laid out by the review. This week, the results of that polling indicated that the company members would not support...