Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust

The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust (AETT) was set up in September 1954 under the guidance of H. C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, Sir Charles Moses General Manager, Australian Broadcasting Commission and John Douglas Pringle, Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. It aimed to establish drama, opera and ballet companies nationally. Named to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia, the Trust raised £100,000 by a public appeal. The trust had an agreement with the Commonwealth government to match public donations 'in the ratio of 1:3 and to provide ongoing funding'.

In the 1970s, the AETT went into receivership and its operations were scaled back. Its arts promotion role passed to the Australia Council.

Since 1999 the Trust has offered overseas music scholarships; 80 scholars have been supported, with grants totaling over A$1 million. The Trust is also the owner/proprietor of the Independent Theatre, North Sydney.

The Trust played a key role in establishing high culture in Australia through its involvement in setting up:

• the Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera Company (now Opera Australia) in 1956
• the Elizabethan Opera Ballet Company, a short lived ballet company set up in 1957, and with J. C. Williamson Ltd the Australian Ballet Foundation in 1961 and the Australian Ballet School under the direction of Margaret Scott
• the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra in 1967, which in 1969 split into two orchestras, one each resident in Melbourne and Sydney.
• the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1977, to further the musical education of professional opera singers. Since 1986 the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship has been awarded in the Opera Awards, administered by Music & Opera Singers Trust Limited (MOST).

It has also supported:

• National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA)
• Marionette Theatre of Australia
• Australian Theatre of the Deaf
• Old Tote Theatre Company
• Melbourne Theatre Company
• South Australian Theatre Company.

Following the establishment of the Australian Council for the Arts (later the Australia Council) in 1968, it ceased to be a funding body for opera and ballet in 1970.

During the 1980s the Trust scaled back its operations and in the 1990s had a Sydney focus and operated a ticketing agency and organised theatre parties.