Heaps Decent is an Australian organisation empowering young people through skills building, cultural access and creativity. 

Working with underrepresented and marginalised youth, our participatory program of music and visual media activities provides a pathway to discovery, personal growth and agency through self-expression. 
hey (at) heapsdecent.com
Projects

Check out some of the major projects we’re delivering at the moment

No Borders In Our Sky

Who are we now as a community, and who could we be? No Borders In Our Sky brought diverse young people together to express their vision for harmony and belonging, and to tackle global issues arising from prejudice and racism at a grass roots level. Over 3 years they explored music production and visual media, and created a number of public outcomes in the local community.

KEY COLLEGE

Heaps Decent runs a weekly workshop with the young people of Key College in Redfern, a private College run by Youth Off The Streets that provides education for young people without stable housing. Heaps Decent have been leading weekly music workshops at Key College since 2008 with great success!

HOME BASE

Home Base is our weekly workshop providing studio time and music production. Run as a drop-in format for young people to come and record with one of our facilitators, Home Base is a great opportunity to build skills and work on new content. We regularly run sessions in Redfern, Glebe, Haymarket and Woolloomoolloo.

RIVERINA & WAGGA SESSIONS

Riverina and Wagga Sessions is an ongoing workshop project in the Riverina hub of Wagga Wagga in NSW and greater Riverina area. The project consists of workshop visits at various centres around the Riverina region with numerous community partners.

YOUTH JUSTICE ‘BIG UP’ PROGRAM

The Big Up program focuses on music creation and appreciation skills, building confidence and self-expression. It aims to help at-risk young people to find alternative ways to engage with education and become engaged members of the community. The project takes place at schools and programs within Youth Justice Centres and schools for young people with behavioural challenges right across NSW.

Heaps Decent Augmented Reality

Heaps Decent Augmented Reality Heaps Decent has been working with young people around Australia making digital artworks that you can view via our Heaps Decent augmented reality app. How to Use Download the app! App store Google Play Enable camera access for the app Ensure you have reasonable network connection or wifi Point your phone […]

TIRKANDI INABURRA

Tirkandi Inaburra is a cultural centre for First Nations Youth in Coleambally, NSW.  It aims to empower teens to develop and draw on their own resilience in order to take responsibility for their own lives, develop strategies to deal with their problems and minimise risk taking behaviours. The promotion of self-confidence, identity and cultural pride is […]

GIRLS REFUGES

We’re delighted to support the creative expression of young women, and those wanting to enter the music industry with skills development and mentoring.

WILCANNIA AND FAR-WEST SESSIONS

Heaps Decent facilitators, armed with professional recording equipment and a whole lot of enthusiasm, lead music production workshops with a large majority of First Nations young people in the community. Joining forces with local organisations such as Wings Drop-In Centre, Heaps Decent facilitates a number of week-long workshop visits.

Sydney Human Beat Machine

In 2020 with the support of the City of Sydney we gathered a library of found sounds made by some of Sydney’s youngest residents. When things went very quiet for a while we invited primary school aged children from several schools in the area to make some really loud noises, and these were orchestrated into “Sydney Human Beat Machine”. The resulting edit is a real celebration of the energy and invention of kids in the city.

LOMANDRA ‘LINKS TO LEARNING’

Heaps Decent has been running projects at Lomandra School and other specialised school providers in Campbelltown since 2010. The young people focus not only on music workshops, but a variety of digital art mediums as well to run in tandem with projects.

AT THE DRIVE IN

A Shopfront Contemporary Arts and Performance project in partnership with diverse organsiations such as West Darling Arts (Broken Hill, NSW) and the Hazelhurst Gallery (Gymea, NSW) At The Drive In was an exciting interactive media installation, performance and touring festival culminating in performances at an abandoned Drive-in in Broken Hill.

DETOURS & DESTINATIONS

Detours & Destinations was a joint project between Heaps Decent, Shopfront: Contemporary Arts and Performance and the Department of Juvenile Justice with the Sydney Opera House. D&D was an integrated multi-media arts project framing the stories and experience of young people from Lomandra School in Campbelltown, Miimali Aboriginal Community Association in Blacktown and Fairfield Intensive English Centre.

  • Contact
  • Email
  • Address: Level 3, 119 Bathurst Street, Sydney, 2000
  • PO Box: PO Box 213 Darlinghurst NSW 1300
  • Phone: 0437 978 813