We would like to express our profound gratitude to those signatories who have supported our petition calling for safety and accountability at the landmark Australian ceramics festival, Clay Gulgong. With the event having concluded, we will now close the petition and related materials. This petition, comments, and updates will remain online in its archived form via change.org. We will also close the A Better Clay email address and social media profile.

This petition was created in response to the unmet concerns voiced by ticketholders, would-be attendees of the festival, and members of the ceramics sector, following the announcement by organisers to include Eric Landon, aka ‘Tortus’ - who has gained notoriety through his attempts to defraud studios in the US, New Zealand and Australia, as well as several accusations of sexual misconduct. Landon was initially announced in mid-2025 as a ‘Master Potter’, after ticket sales opened. 

The petition was shaped through consultation with respected leaders in the field, both nationally and internationally, and through research into the organiser’s health and safety obligations. It called for the removal of Eric Landon as a presenter, for greater transparency of Mansfield Ceramics’ planning and decision-making processes, and for the implementation of procedures for assessing and mitigating health and safety risks. It also requested consultation processes on health and safety matters as required by the WHS Act 2011 and for Mansfield Ceramics to provide full refunds to paid participants who no longer wished to attend the 2026 festival. 

Unfortunately, despite nearly 550 signatories to the petition and multiple requests from scheduled presenters and sponsors, organisers failed to respond to calls to remove Landon as a featured presenter. We are disappointed that organisers did not engage in meaningful dialogue with attendees and chose to reject the substantial concerns shared by so many throughout the petition without providing any clear rationale. For such a widely publicised event with celebrity endorsement, transparency is essential.

However, as testament to the power of our collective activism, in February 2026, Mansfield Ceramics posted health and safety guidelines on their website. We extend our gratitude for all acts of solidarity, both seen and unseen, that produced these results. Comprehensive information on work health and safety regulations and legislation have been published via our petition updates and relevant regulatory bodies have been consulted.

For many in the field and beyond, concerns about health, safety and accountability are ongoing. While we celebrate the outcomes we have achieved, we also despair at the cultural, structural, and individual forces that inhibit further progress. Thank you to all those who acted in ways big and small to produce these outcomes. We invite the ceramics sector to consider what actions it can take to build a stronger community that fosters accountability, fairness, solidarity and care.