POWER 50 2025: Millie Millgate (Creative Australia)

BACKGROUND CHECK:

Millie Millgate has set herself apart as one of the most comprehensive and globally minded individuals in Australian music, culminating in her appointment as the Director of Music Australia. Tasked with establishing and leading the nation’s first dedicated body for contemporary music within Creative Australia, she spearheads a transformative agenda designed to strengthen, invest in, and future-proof the sector.

Beginning her career in the engine room of live music as a venue booker for Macquarie University, before moving through Sydney institutions like the Annandale and Hopetoun Hotels, Millgate then spent a decade in artist management and took on leadership roles at the Association of Artist Managers and as Creative Director of MusicNSW, building a reputation for strategic, community-centred industry development.

Spending close to 15 years as the Executive Producer for Sounds Australia, Millgate has been instrumental in shaping Australia’s modern export footprint, with more than 2,200 Australian artists being showcased on international stages across 86 events, 75 cities and 26 countries under her leadership.

Elsewhere, she has contributed significantly to the sector through board roles with Support Act, MusicNSW, FBi Radio, AACA and Arts Training NSW, and even served as an Australian judge for Eurovision in 2018 and 2020. Together, these experiences reflect a career dedicated to championing Australian artists at home and abroad - and position her as a pivotal figure in shaping the next era of national music policy and industry growth.

THE YEAR IN AUSTRALIAN MUSIC:

While Millie has been in the chair at Music Australia for a couple of years now, the listening tour made way for real impact and delivery in 2025 for Millgate. The launch of an important research project, the Bass Line Report, to quantify the value of the music sector, along with a three-part qualitative research piece, the Listening In series, formed the bedrock of Millgate’s work and a framework with which the industry can be judged moving forward and better understand its audience. 

The record federal government investment resulted in multiple new and enhanced funding opportunities for record labels, artists, festivals, industry organisations and more. 

The year ended with the Ausify campaign, Music Australia’s attempt at pushing the public towards Australian music, closing the loop between intelligence, industry assistance and public engagement. 

THE MUSIC SPEAKS:

Let’s call a spade a spade. Domestic consumption of Australian music is at an all-time low, and while exports are moving along nicely, the trajectory the industry was on had a real chance of making Australian music invisible in its own home. 

While it’s the government with the power of the funding, Millgate is in charge of a budget that has its tentacles reach far and wide. Whether it’s labels, artists, managers, venues, promoters, media, influencers, industry organisations, songwriters or tech crew, Millgate’s unique background has given her the ability to see the ecosystem as a whole. 

She’s also not your average bureaucrat. It’s easy to keep your head down, but time and time again, she raises eyebrows by jumping in and doing hard and risky things. The scope of the research projects undertaken was so immense that they begged for criticism of inevitable holes, no matter the outcomes, but they gave the industry a starting point. The Ausify campaign raised eyebrows at how it would impact, but ended up pushing Aus Music Month to new levels of public awareness. 

The budgets in her control are powerful enough, but what really makes her powerful is her willingness to push things forward and start new things, even when they might fail. Perfection is our enemy. The industry issues we face will not be solved with timidity, and a bold, creative industry needs bold, innovative solutions. In 2025, Millie Millgate stepped up to the plate and proved she’s willing to take a swing, and the emerging results are showing she’s pretty handy with the bat.