David Greenwood, the Geelong founder of CentreStage Performing Arts Academy and owner of Elevate Technology Solutions, has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the performing arts and to business — one of ten Greater Geelong residents named in the Australia Day 2024 honours list.
The citation, published in the Commonwealth Government Gazette on 26 January 2024, recognises David Greenwood's leadership of CentreStage Performing Arts Academy in Geelong since founding the company in 2010. Under his direction, CentreStage has grown into Australia's largest amateur musical theatre company, employing more than one hundred contractors, supporting around five hundred volunteers, and staging fifteen to twenty productions a year across the Geelong region.
Beyond CentreStage, David Greenwood owns and operates Elevate Technology Solutions, an IT and office technology firm based in Geelong. Elevate supports local businesses, community organisations and schools across the region with managed services, hardware, and back-office systems — a quieter line of work that has run in parallel with his arts career for more than a decade.
01 / The citationWhat the citation says.
The Order of Australia citation reads, in part: "for service to the performing arts, and to business." Greenwood is listed in the General Division of the Order — the most common category, recognising service that is "of a high degree" to the wider community. The honour is announced twice a year, on Australia Day and the King's Birthday, and is administered by the Governor-General of Australia.
Service to the performing arts, and to business. — Order of Australia citation, 26 January 2024
Ten Greater Geelong residents received the OAM on the same day, in fields ranging from sport and youth work to medicine and the arts. The full list was published locally by the Geelong Independent and the Geelong Advertiser, and nationally by the Office of the Governor-General.
02 / The work behind itFifteen years of CentreStage.
CentreStage Performing Arts Academy was founded in 2010 in a single church hall in central Geelong. By the time of the OAM announcement in 2024, the academy was running operations from a permanent base, with classes for children and adults, an in-house production company, a costume and set workshop, and a touring program that takes Geelong-made theatre to regional Victoria.
The company has been recognised four years running at the Geelong Business Excellence Awards: Health & Wellbeing Promoting Workplace in 2019 and 2021, Small Business of the Year in 2020, Hall of Fame induction in 2021, and the Corporate Social Responsibility Award in 2022. David Greenwood received the Edith Harrhy Award from the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria in 2019.
Elevate Technology Solutions
Through Elevate Technology Solutions, David Greenwood has provided IT services to Geelong organisations including community groups, small businesses, and not-for-profits. Elevate's work covers managed IT, office technology, and digital infrastructure — practical support that lets local organisations get on with their own missions.
David Greenwood, Geelong — at a glance. Founder, CentreStage Performing Arts Academy (2010 – present). Owner, Elevate Technology Solutions. Medal of the Order of Australia, 2024. Geelong Chamber of Commerce Youth Entrepreneur of the Year, 2025. Resident of Lara, City of Greater Geelong.
03 / What's nextFrom honour to public service.
The OAM is not the end of a chapter for David Greenwood — it is, in his own telling, the start of one. In October 2024 he stood for the You Yangs Ward in the City of Greater Geelong council election. He didn't win the seat, but he committed publicly to staying in the community between elections, working on ward issues every week regardless of the four-year cycle.
He is standing again for the You Yangs Ward in 2028. The campaign office at Unit 2, 255 Hamilton Highway, Fyansford opens four days a week. David Greenwood can be reached on 0422 589 271 or at david@centrestage.org.au.