Laura De Neefe appointed Executive Director, ACCA
Wednesday 25 February, 2026: Dr Terry Wu, Chair, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) announced today Laura De Neefe appointed as ACCA Executive Director.
Laura De Neefe is an arts leader who has spent over a decade contributing to the visual arts and cultural community of Naarm/Melbourne. Her leadership is grounded in a deep commitment to artists, team development and workplace culture, access to contemporary art, and equitable cultural institutions.
Laura joined ACCA’s Executive Team in 2022, working closely with the team and Board on ACCA’s strategic vision, finance and governance, and workplace initiatives.
Laura brings strong organisational knowledge to the position of Executive Director having commenced at ACCA in 2017. During her time at ACCA, she has worked to strengthen philanthropic support for exhibitions, education and programs, build strategic partnerships, secure significant grants and government funding, enhance ACCA’s inclusion and equity, nurture a supportive workplace and promote ACCA’s activities to diverse audiences.
Terry said, ‘Laura brings high-level art leadership and strategic experience to the role of Executive Director. She has extensive and detailed knowledge of ACCA and has been with the organisation since 2017, previously in the role of Director, Development & Engagement. Laura has also led the team as Acting Executive Director in 2022. We are delighted to welcome back Laura as the Executive Director, and look forward to working with Laura and CEO and Artistic Director Myles Russell-Cook to champion ACCA’s role as the nation’s premier contemporary art commissioning organisation.’
‘ACCA is an organisation very close to my heart,’ Laura said, ‘I am excited to take on this new position and work closely with Myles and with our outstanding team and Board to further ACCA’s leadership in the contemporary arts ecology, with artists at the centre of our vision.’
Laura commenced in the role of Executive Director in January 2026 following parental leave in 2025.
Laura De Neefe completes ACCA’s executive leadership team joining CEO and Artistic Director Myles Russell-Cook, along with ACCA Chair Dr Terry Wu and Board members Lisa Bowman, Maree Clarke, Elisa Clements, Charlotte Day, Lisa Fox, Patricia Piccinini, Sarah Lynn Rees, Dr Theresia Spencer, Gordon Thomson and John Tuck.
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
111 Sturt Street, Southbank VIC 3006
Melbourne, Australia
Opening hours: Tuesday – Friday 10am–5pm, Weekends 11am–5pm
Free entry
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ACCA acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people as sovereign custodians of the land on which we work and welcome visitors, along with the neighbouring Boonwurrung, Bunurong, and wider Kulin Nation. We acknowledge their longstanding and continuing care for Country and we recognise First Peoples art and cultural practice has been thriving here for millennia. We extend our respect to ancestors and Elders past and present, and to all First Nations people