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Wearable art festival By Steve Linnell The Australian Wearable Art Festival (AWAF) is set to expand its creative footprint in 2027, launching a new national Student Showcase designed to inspire and support the next generation of wearable artists from across Australia. The initiative, announced this week in partnership with St Andrew’s Anglican College, will invite Year 9 to Year 12 students nationwide to create and exhibit wearable artworks as part of a dedicated student showcase within the festival program. The announcement comes as organisers put the finishing touches on the 2026 Australian Wearable Art Festival, which will be held on 11 July at Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort. AWAF co-director Helen Perry said the Student Showcase had been part of the festival’s long-term vision for several years. “One of the things we hear time and again from our artists is that wearable art changed the way they think about creativity,” Ms Perry said. Continued page 2
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Rates set to go up Most ratepayers can expect an increase of 6.9 per cent or just over $134 a year following Noosa Council announcement of its 2026-27 Budget. Mayor Frank Wilkie said the $200 million budget, adopted on Tuesday, had been developed against a backdrop of global uncertainty, supply chain pressures and rising costs for materials which continue to have a significant impact on our operating costs. “The priority has been meeting community expectations, responding to rising costs and working to find the right balance,” he said. Council’s financial sustainability has allowed it to respond in a disciplined, measured way and minimise the impacts of the recent land valuation
increases that averaged about 37 percent.” The majority of owner-occupier ratepayers are on the minimum general rate. They can expect a total increase on their rates notice of $2.58 per week, which is $134.10 a year or 6.9 per cent. Cr Wilkie said councillors were mindful of cost-of-living pressures faced by households and maintaining Noosa to the standard we all expect. “We’ve kept the $77 on-time rates payment discount and the full pensioner rates rebate for eligible property owners. “We’ve put a freeze on most levies, apart from a $5.55 increase in the Sustainable Transport levy to continue exploring ways to enhance transport options across the shire.
There’s a $56 million Capital Works program plus $29 million in disaster recovery work in the hinterland. Cr Wilkie said Noosa’s waste bin collection charge remains among the lowest when benchmarked against other Queensland councils. “The waste charge will increase by eight cents per week per residential ratepayer ($44 a year) to reflect rising costs of household waste collections and the state waste levy plus the need to invest in improving recycling options, and safety at the landfill site,” Cr Wilkie said. “We’ve aimed to deliver a responsible, futurefocused budget that keeps pace with rising costs and continues to deliver and maintain the assets
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and services underpinning Noosa’s quality of life,” he said. Core services and initiatives of the 2026-27 Budget include: $19.1 million - Roads, bridges, and Transport Infrastructure $15.1 million – Resource recovery and waste management $6.8 million – Parks, public amenities, community facilities and sporting groups $2.8 million – pathways, boardwalks and trail network. $4.5 million – stormwater, coastal canals and waterways.
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