Is this Melbourne's only CEO job with sheep grazing outside the office?
Stepping through the gates of Abbotsford Convent is like happening upon a secret garden. Majestic old buildings overlook sprawling lawns and sun-dappled courtyards, all surrounded by trees older than anyone alive today. They're the last witnesses to some of the convent's grimmer history – but we'll get to that.
Justine Hyde is the convent's new CEO – since taking on the role late last year, she's set her sights on an ambitious plan to turn the cultural centre into more than just a haven for locals: she wants to make it one of Melbourne's must-visit centres of culture.
'The big dream is to put the convent on the map, one of the top 10 tourist destinations in Melbourne. A place where people, whether they're coming from the regions, from interstate or internationally, have it on their must-do list of places,' she says. 'At the moment, it's a bit of a hidden gem. I think there's a lot of potential for it to be less hidden.'
Hyde has come a long way before finding herself at the convent. She grew up in western Sydney and attended a school famous for two things: 'One was having the first on-site creche for young mothers who were at school. The other thing it was famous for was that one of the Anita Cobby murderers was a student. Those two things combined probably give you a sense of what kind of school environment it was.'
Unsurprisingly, a young queer creative with a thirst for learning didn't fit in that well. 'I was lucky enough to find two best mates who also didn't fit in. That was my saving grace through school. I was highly motivated to get out.'
It wasn't the sort of place that urged students to follow their dreams. 'I intended to go to university and to travel and do all those things that that environment didn't necessarily encourage. Out of my year at school, only a handful of people went to university. Probably only a handful of people moved out of the area as well.'
Living independently in the big city didn't come cheap, though, so Hyde juggled full-time work with part-time study. First, she completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Information, qualifying her as a librarian, but her interest in writing then led her to follow it up with a graduate certificate in creative writing. Then a grad diploma in management. Then half a law degree. 'I've done a lot of studying,' Hyde says.
After all those books, it was time for a change of scenery, and Melbourne has always been welcoming for smart creatives with an interest in culture. Hyde had friends here, and a few years after relocating, secured a job as acting CEO at State Library Victoria, overseeing the library's public experiences. After that came a role at City of Melbourne as director of its Creative City program.
She's a prolific writer and critic herself, but it's not that often that writerly types, known for their enjoyment of solitude, also excel at leading large teams on bold projects.
Loading
'I guess naturally, I am an introvert, and so writing as a solitary experience feels comfortable to me. In terms of being a leader, I've had to really work on getting out of that comfortable space of being an introvert. When I've done Myers-Briggs and all those kinds of psych testing frameworks, I always come up as what's described as an 'enthusiastic introvert'. That's me.'
Before applying for the job at the convent, she was familiar with the place in the way so many Melburnians are. 'I'd come here as a punter lots of times, whether it was to go to Cam's for a meal and a coffee or come to a farmers' market or come to a gig or a performance during one of the festivals. But I didn't really know the diversity of what happens here.'
There's the bakery and restaurants, sure, but the venue is also home to a radio station, a Steiner school running from kindergarten to year 12, and the grounds are also where the Australian National Academy of Music has settled while its South Melbourne premises undergo renovations. Then there are the 130 creative tenants who make their art there.
'The other thing that most people don't realise is it's a social enterprise. It's not funded by government,' says Hyde.
Ninety per cent of the Abbotsford Convent's revenue is self-generated, with only 10 per cent coming from grants or philanthropy. 'Normally, it's the other way around.'
Loading
That unusual set-up is the result of an equally unusual origin. Two decades ago, the convent and its surroundings were set to be transformed by developers when a grassroots community campaign convinced the state government that it deserved better.
The government purchased the land back from those developers and allowed the newly formed Abbotsford Convent Foundation the right to manage the place on behalf of the public.
(The Convent is currently fighting a proposal to build a four-story retirement village on the historic site, which Hyde says would be 'excessive and imposing'.)
Further back in time, however, the convent has a bleaker back-story. It was established in 1863 by an order of nuns from France whose philosophy revolved around hard work and industry. What that looked like in practice involved setting up an industrial-scale laundry adjoining the convent 'that was used to imprison young women who were either pregnant or destitute or orphans or criminals, and to put them to work as slave labour, basically.'
The nuns ran a very successful operation for a century, servicing the wealthy families and hotels of Melbourne, 'all off the back of the labour of these young women,' says Hyde.
TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO JUSTINE HYDE
Worst habit? Being too easily persuaded to say yes by my children.
Greatest fear? Where to start: the crisis in arts funding, environmental collapse, the erosion of hard-won civil rights for women and the LGBTIQA+ community, huntsman spiders.
The line that stayed with you? 'I'm telling you stories. Trust me.' – The Passion by Jeanette Winterson, who I was lucky enough to see speak recently in Melbourne. She even quoted this line.
Biggest regret? Not getting to meet Jane Fonda when she was having lunch at Julie Restaurant at the convent recently. What a living legend!
Favourite book? How To Be Both by Ali Smith. The story is told from two perspectives, one contemporary and one in the Italian Renaissance. Two versions of the book were published simultaneously, one in which the contemporary story appears first, the other in which the Renaissance story comes first. You can read the novel starting from either perspective and ending with the other. Smith is simply brilliant.
The artwork/song you wish was yours? It's a piece of writing about an artwork: 'Smote, or when I find I cannot kiss you in front of a print by Bridget Riley' by (British author) Eley Williams.
If you could time travel, where would you choose to go? 1970s Manhattan for a queer adventure into the art scene and a night at Studio 54.
'I think it's really important to acknowledge that history and engage with it head-on. What I find really fascinating is you come to this site and when you walk through the gates, it has quite a peaceful, embracing feeling. Which is not what you would expect from a place that had been an institution.'
Before the nuns arrived, the area now housing the convent was an important meeting place for Wurundjeri and Kulin nations for a long time. 'I don't think we do as well as we could in terms of acknowledging and celebrating that pre-colonial heritage, and that's something that I'm really keen for us to do better,' Hyde says.
Loading
To that end, her next big project has been formed around the Wurundjeri seasonal calendar. Winter LIVE sees the convent's many spaces taken over by live music, dance, a cinema and other events. It's a mini-festival aimed at warming up the precinct over the cooler months, with Saturday's winter solstice acting as its heart.
Hyde is clearly proud of both the convent's recent history and the plans she has for its future. Wandering through the grounds with her, it wasn't hard to see why she looks forward to arriving at work each day. Music floated down from an open window while kids darted about outside their school. The bakery was buzzing, locals walked their dogs, and down the hill towards the river, sheep and horses grazed.
'It feels like being the mayor of a village sometimes,' Hyde said. 'It feels like the kind of place that you're going to walk into on any day and, through serendipity, happen upon something interesting and unexpected, which is part of the appeal of the place.'
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Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Is this Melbourne's only CEO job with sheep grazing outside the office?
Stepping through the gates of Abbotsford Convent is like happening upon a secret garden. Majestic old buildings overlook sprawling lawns and sun-dappled courtyards, all surrounded by trees older than anyone alive today. They're the last witnesses to some of the convent's grimmer history – but we'll get to that. Justine Hyde is the convent's new CEO – since taking on the role late last year, she's set her sights on an ambitious plan to turn the cultural centre into more than just a haven for locals: she wants to make it one of Melbourne's must-visit centres of culture. 'The big dream is to put the convent on the map, one of the top 10 tourist destinations in Melbourne. A place where people, whether they're coming from the regions, from interstate or internationally, have it on their must-do list of places,' she says. 'At the moment, it's a bit of a hidden gem. I think there's a lot of potential for it to be less hidden.' Hyde has come a long way before finding herself at the convent. She grew up in western Sydney and attended a school famous for two things: 'One was having the first on-site creche for young mothers who were at school. The other thing it was famous for was that one of the Anita Cobby murderers was a student. Those two things combined probably give you a sense of what kind of school environment it was.' Unsurprisingly, a young queer creative with a thirst for learning didn't fit in that well. 'I was lucky enough to find two best mates who also didn't fit in. That was my saving grace through school. I was highly motivated to get out.' It wasn't the sort of place that urged students to follow their dreams. 'I intended to go to university and to travel and do all those things that that environment didn't necessarily encourage. Out of my year at school, only a handful of people went to university. Probably only a handful of people moved out of the area as well.' Living independently in the big city didn't come cheap, though, so Hyde juggled full-time work with part-time study. First, she completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Information, qualifying her as a librarian, but her interest in writing then led her to follow it up with a graduate certificate in creative writing. Then a grad diploma in management. Then half a law degree. 'I've done a lot of studying,' Hyde says. After all those books, it was time for a change of scenery, and Melbourne has always been welcoming for smart creatives with an interest in culture. Hyde had friends here, and a few years after relocating, secured a job as acting CEO at State Library Victoria, overseeing the library's public experiences. After that came a role at City of Melbourne as director of its Creative City program. She's a prolific writer and critic herself, but it's not that often that writerly types, known for their enjoyment of solitude, also excel at leading large teams on bold projects. Loading 'I guess naturally, I am an introvert, and so writing as a solitary experience feels comfortable to me. In terms of being a leader, I've had to really work on getting out of that comfortable space of being an introvert. When I've done Myers-Briggs and all those kinds of psych testing frameworks, I always come up as what's described as an 'enthusiastic introvert'. That's me.' Before applying for the job at the convent, she was familiar with the place in the way so many Melburnians are. 'I'd come here as a punter lots of times, whether it was to go to Cam's for a meal and a coffee or come to a farmers' market or come to a gig or a performance during one of the festivals. But I didn't really know the diversity of what happens here.' There's the bakery and restaurants, sure, but the venue is also home to a radio station, a Steiner school running from kindergarten to year 12, and the grounds are also where the Australian National Academy of Music has settled while its South Melbourne premises undergo renovations. Then there are the 130 creative tenants who make their art there. 'The other thing that most people don't realise is it's a social enterprise. It's not funded by government,' says Hyde. Ninety per cent of the Abbotsford Convent's revenue is self-generated, with only 10 per cent coming from grants or philanthropy. 'Normally, it's the other way around.' Loading That unusual set-up is the result of an equally unusual origin. Two decades ago, the convent and its surroundings were set to be transformed by developers when a grassroots community campaign convinced the state government that it deserved better. The government purchased the land back from those developers and allowed the newly formed Abbotsford Convent Foundation the right to manage the place on behalf of the public. (The Convent is currently fighting a proposal to build a four-story retirement village on the historic site, which Hyde says would be 'excessive and imposing'.) Further back in time, however, the convent has a bleaker back-story. It was established in 1863 by an order of nuns from France whose philosophy revolved around hard work and industry. What that looked like in practice involved setting up an industrial-scale laundry adjoining the convent 'that was used to imprison young women who were either pregnant or destitute or orphans or criminals, and to put them to work as slave labour, basically.' The nuns ran a very successful operation for a century, servicing the wealthy families and hotels of Melbourne, 'all off the back of the labour of these young women,' says Hyde. TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO JUSTINE HYDE Worst habit? Being too easily persuaded to say yes by my children. Greatest fear? Where to start: the crisis in arts funding, environmental collapse, the erosion of hard-won civil rights for women and the LGBTIQA+ community, huntsman spiders. The line that stayed with you? 'I'm telling you stories. Trust me.' – The Passion by Jeanette Winterson, who I was lucky enough to see speak recently in Melbourne. She even quoted this line. Biggest regret? Not getting to meet Jane Fonda when she was having lunch at Julie Restaurant at the convent recently. What a living legend! Favourite book? How To Be Both by Ali Smith. The story is told from two perspectives, one contemporary and one in the Italian Renaissance. Two versions of the book were published simultaneously, one in which the contemporary story appears first, the other in which the Renaissance story comes first. You can read the novel starting from either perspective and ending with the other. Smith is simply brilliant. The artwork/song you wish was yours? It's a piece of writing about an artwork: 'Smote, or when I find I cannot kiss you in front of a print by Bridget Riley' by (British author) Eley Williams. If you could time travel, where would you choose to go? 1970s Manhattan for a queer adventure into the art scene and a night at Studio 54. 'I think it's really important to acknowledge that history and engage with it head-on. What I find really fascinating is you come to this site and when you walk through the gates, it has quite a peaceful, embracing feeling. Which is not what you would expect from a place that had been an institution.' Before the nuns arrived, the area now housing the convent was an important meeting place for Wurundjeri and Kulin nations for a long time. 'I don't think we do as well as we could in terms of acknowledging and celebrating that pre-colonial heritage, and that's something that I'm really keen for us to do better,' Hyde says. Loading To that end, her next big project has been formed around the Wurundjeri seasonal calendar. Winter LIVE sees the convent's many spaces taken over by live music, dance, a cinema and other events. It's a mini-festival aimed at warming up the precinct over the cooler months, with Saturday's winter solstice acting as its heart. Hyde is clearly proud of both the convent's recent history and the plans she has for its future. Wandering through the grounds with her, it wasn't hard to see why she looks forward to arriving at work each day. Music floated down from an open window while kids darted about outside their school. The bakery was buzzing, locals walked their dogs, and down the hill towards the river, sheep and horses grazed. 'It feels like being the mayor of a village sometimes,' Hyde said. 'It feels like the kind of place that you're going to walk into on any day and, through serendipity, happen upon something interesting and unexpected, which is part of the appeal of the place.'
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
Is this Melbourne's only CEO job with sheep grazing outside the office?
Stepping through the gates of Abbotsford Convent is like happening upon a secret garden. Majestic old buildings overlook sprawling lawns and sun-dappled courtyards, all surrounded by trees older than anyone alive today. They're the last witnesses to some of the convent's grimmer history – but we'll get to that. Justine Hyde is the convent's new CEO – since taking on the role late last year, she's set her sights on an ambitious plan to turn the cultural centre into more than just a haven for locals: she wants to make it one of Melbourne's must-visit centres of culture. 'The big dream is to put the convent on the map, one of the top 10 tourist destinations in Melbourne. A place where people, whether they're coming from the regions, from interstate or internationally, have it on their must-do list of places,' she says. 'At the moment, it's a bit of a hidden gem. I think there's a lot of potential for it to be less hidden.' Hyde has come a long way before finding herself at the convent. She grew up in western Sydney and attended a school famous for two things: 'One was having the first on-site creche for young mothers who were at school. The other thing it was famous for was that one of the Anita Cobby murderers was a student. Those two things combined probably give you a sense of what kind of school environment it was.' Unsurprisingly, a young queer creative with a thirst for learning didn't fit in that well. 'I was lucky enough to find two best mates who also didn't fit in. That was my saving grace through school. I was highly motivated to get out.' It wasn't the sort of place that urged students to follow their dreams. 'I intended to go to university and to travel and do all those things that that environment didn't necessarily encourage. Out of my year at school, only a handful of people went to university. Probably only a handful of people moved out of the area as well.' Living independently in the big city didn't come cheap, though, so Hyde juggled full-time work with part-time study. First, she completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Information, qualifying her as a librarian, but her interest in writing then led her to follow it up with a graduate certificate in creative writing. Then a grad diploma in management. Then half a law degree. 'I've done a lot of studying,' Hyde says. After all those books, it was time for a change of scenery, and Melbourne has always been welcoming for smart creatives with an interest in culture. Hyde had friends here, and a few years after relocating, secured a job as acting CEO at State Library Victoria, overseeing the library's public experiences. After that came a role at City of Melbourne as director of its Creative City program. She's a prolific writer and critic herself, but it's not that often that writerly types, known for their enjoyment of solitude, also excel at leading large teams on bold projects. Loading 'I guess naturally, I am an introvert, and so writing as a solitary experience feels comfortable to me. In terms of being a leader, I've had to really work on getting out of that comfortable space of being an introvert. When I've done Myers-Briggs and all those kinds of psych testing frameworks, I always come up as what's described as an 'enthusiastic introvert'. That's me.' Before applying for the job at the convent, she was familiar with the place in the way so many Melburnians are. 'I'd come here as a punter lots of times, whether it was to go to Cam's for a meal and a coffee or come to a farmers' market or come to a gig or a performance during one of the festivals. But I didn't really know the diversity of what happens here.' There's the bakery and restaurants, sure, but the venue is also home to a radio station, a Steiner school running from kindergarten to year 12, and the grounds are also where the Australian National Academy of Music has settled while its South Melbourne premises undergo renovations. Then there are the 130 creative tenants who make their art there. 'The other thing that most people don't realise is it's a social enterprise. It's not funded by government,' says Hyde. Ninety per cent of the Abbotsford Convent's revenue is self-generated, with only 10 per cent coming from grants or philanthropy. 'Normally, it's the other way around.' Loading That unusual set-up is the result of an equally unusual origin. Two decades ago, the convent and its surroundings were set to be transformed by developers when a grassroots community campaign convinced the state government that it deserved better. The government purchased the land back from those developers and allowed the newly formed Abbotsford Convent Foundation the right to manage the place on behalf of the public. (The Convent is currently fighting a proposal to build a four-story retirement village on the historic site, which Hyde says would be 'excessive and imposing'.) Further back in time, however, the convent has a bleaker back-story. It was established in 1863 by an order of nuns from France whose philosophy revolved around hard work and industry. What that looked like in practice involved setting up an industrial-scale laundry adjoining the convent 'that was used to imprison young women who were either pregnant or destitute or orphans or criminals, and to put them to work as slave labour, basically.' The nuns ran a very successful operation for a century, servicing the wealthy families and hotels of Melbourne, 'all off the back of the labour of these young women,' says Hyde. TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO JUSTINE HYDE Worst habit? Being too easily persuaded to say yes by my children. Greatest fear? Where to start: the crisis in arts funding, environmental collapse, the erosion of hard-won civil rights for women and the LGBTIQA+ community, huntsman spiders. The line that stayed with you? 'I'm telling you stories. Trust me.' – The Passion by Jeanette Winterson, who I was lucky enough to see speak recently in Melbourne. She even quoted this line. Biggest regret? Not getting to meet Jane Fonda when she was having lunch at Julie Restaurant at the convent recently. What a living legend! Favourite book? How To Be Both by Ali Smith. The story is told from two perspectives, one contemporary and one in the Italian Renaissance. Two versions of the book were published simultaneously, one in which the contemporary story appears first, the other in which the Renaissance story comes first. You can read the novel starting from either perspective and ending with the other. Smith is simply brilliant. The artwork/song you wish was yours? It's a piece of writing about an artwork: 'Smote, or when I find I cannot kiss you in front of a print by Bridget Riley' by (British author) Eley Williams. If you could time travel, where would you choose to go? 1970s Manhattan for a queer adventure into the art scene and a night at Studio 54. 'I think it's really important to acknowledge that history and engage with it head-on. What I find really fascinating is you come to this site and when you walk through the gates, it has quite a peaceful, embracing feeling. Which is not what you would expect from a place that had been an institution.' Before the nuns arrived, the area now housing the convent was an important meeting place for Wurundjeri and Kulin nations for a long time. 'I don't think we do as well as we could in terms of acknowledging and celebrating that pre-colonial heritage, and that's something that I'm really keen for us to do better,' Hyde says. Loading To that end, her next big project has been formed around the Wurundjeri seasonal calendar. Winter LIVE sees the convent's many spaces taken over by live music, dance, a cinema and other events. It's a mini-festival aimed at warming up the precinct over the cooler months, with Saturday's winter solstice acting as its heart. Hyde is clearly proud of both the convent's recent history and the plans she has for its future. Wandering through the grounds with her, it wasn't hard to see why she looks forward to arriving at work each day. Music floated down from an open window while kids darted about outside their school. The bakery was buzzing, locals walked their dogs, and down the hill towards the river, sheep and horses grazed. 'It feels like being the mayor of a village sometimes,' Hyde said. 'It feels like the kind of place that you're going to walk into on any day and, through serendipity, happen upon something interesting and unexpected, which is part of the appeal of the place.'
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Abbotsford Convent fights plan to ‘wall off' iconic spire with retirement village
The application explicitly states that the new design aims to make the chapel and convent spires more visible with a 'curated viewline' from the west, but Hyde's organisation is not convinced. 'We've got concerns with the renders that they're inaccurate. They've been drawn up not to scale, and when you compare the renders to the elevations and the descriptions of the buildings, they're not consistent,' she said. 'It's a higher height and density than any other developments nearby, and it adds another potentially 100 residents to Clarke Street, which is significant in terms of traffic and noise,' she added. Hyde also said Mercy hadn't accounted for open space in the development plans because it was 'relying on the convent grounds essentially to be their kind of backyard'. But pro-housing groups argue the city can no longer afford to reject medium-density projects in well-located areas. Jonathan O'Brien, lead organiser of the activist group YIMBY Melbourne, said that while heritage was crucial, its protection shouldn't automatically prevent development on neighbouring sites. 'It's not particularly tenable to have a system of heritage policy that extends beyond the heritage build itself,' he said. 'What's crucial here is the heritage building itself is not being [physically] impacted, and we need to have a system that allows people to live near it and allows the city to evolve.' O'Brien said providing more downsizing options was critical to freeing up housing stock across Melbourne. 'The reality is we have a shortage of homes and a shortage of homes aimed at older people,' he said. 'If we want to see empty nests become homes for young families, then we need to provide somewhere for the empty nesters to move, and this is a great option.' A leading property market expert agreed, pointing to a huge unmet demand from older Victorians. Richard Temlett, national executive director of property consultancy Charter Keck Cramer, said developers were specifically targeting the 55-plus age group for what he called 'density done well' in buildings of four to six storeys. 'There's very significant demand. We have an ageing baby boomer population – they've paid off their detached dwellings, their kids have moved out of home, and they're looking to downsize in the suburb they are familiar with,' he said. 'If they can stay in the area, it frees up their standalone homes for others to move in or for development into more density, and the suburb continues its evolution.' Temlett added that this demographic was crucial for making new projects viable. 'They're the ones who can afford to pay for the increased building costs .... required for new supply at the moment.' The dispute is amplified by the site's history. In the late 1990s, the convent was the focus of a fierce development battle after the Kennett Liberal government sold it to a private developer. A seven-year community campaign led to the Bracks Labor government buying back the site in 2001 and transferring it to a not-for-profit trust. Hyde characterised the new proposal as exclusive apartments for wealthy people, which she said was not the intended purpose when the convent was saved. 'The convent was preserved as a public space by the state government 21 years ago, and we've been operating as a place for arts and culture and community during that time.' She wants the buildings and land use to be 'consistent with what was envisaged for this site'. Hyde said the convent was open to redevelopment if the new building remained the same height. However, in its application, Mercy Health said 60 units were considered the minimum for the project to be financially viable. The Mercy spokeswoman said the organisation recognised 'the significance of the Abbotsford Convent for the local community' and welcomed community feedback. 'We are committed to respecting the site's heritage and history and will ensure that this is reflected in the building's design and development,' she said. The deadline for the public to have their say on the application is midnight Tuesday. Once Heritage Victoria has approved the plans and the council has provided a permit and land rezoning approval, another round of community input will be sought.
