Falling Through the Cracks: Australian Museum x Vivid Ideas

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Event: 5 - 9pm

Talk: 6:30 - 7:45pm

Ages: Recommended for ages 16+

Sydney can be a tough city. It’s easy to fall through the cracks. Hear from three individuals who are making this city more empathetic and equal.

Matt Noffs, CEO of the Noffs Foundation and Founder of the Street Universities, and corporate high-flyer with lived experience of homelessness Glen-Marie Frost come together to share their ideas on what we can do better to address thorny issues such as why homelessness and addiction are on the rise. Rick Morton, social affairs journalist and author, will be moderating, bringing his lived experience and observations on poverty, class and trauma to the conversation.

It will be a night of big-hearted tales, practical ideas and stories of hope. After the talk, stay for live poetry by Bankstown Poetry Slam. Top off the night with music, drinks and the chance to explore the Museum's incredible permanent galleries after hours.

In this series of FREE talks curated by Vivid Ideas and the Australian Museum, we reflect on what makes great cities, the joys and the pitfalls of city-living, and we will hear personal stories of belonging.

Matt Noffs is Co-Founder of the Street Universities and CEO of the Ted Noffs Foundation, Australia’s largest drug and alcohol treatment service provider for young people. As the grandson of the late Rev. Ted Noffs, advocating for marginalised groups has been a part of Matt’s life for as long as he can remember.

He has authored two bestselling books, Breaking the Ice and Addicted? both published by HarperCollins. He is a regular contributor to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and ABC. Matt was behind the country's first pill testing pilot program in 2018 and was named one of top 100 most influential Sydney-siders by The Sydney Morning Herald and one the next 100 emerging leaders by The Australian.

After 50 years in the corporate world, traversing media and communications, marketing and PR, Glen Marie Frost is now a celebrant, MC, campaigner and survivor. She has been a board member for Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Children’s Hospital and has contributed to the fundraising efforts of countless philanthropic and arts organisations. Through her work as a Maverick for The Equanimity Project she draws on her own experiences to raise up the voices of women advocating publicly on issues of gender inequality, ageism, domestic abuse and homelessness.

Rick Morton is the author of three non-fiction books including his critically acclaimed and bestselling memoir One Hundred Years of Dirt and the essay collection My Year of Living Vulnerably. He is the senior reporter for The Saturday Paper and has been a journalist for 17 years.

Bankstown Poetry Slam (BPS) is Australia's largest regular poetry slam, and has been dubbed the largest poetry slam in the Southern Hemisphere. BPS' award-winning events and projects drive change by empowering young people and people from diverse backgrounds to express themselves through the medium of spoken word poetry.