The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, which was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia, had an extremely important role to play in the Australian performing arts in the latter half of the 20th century. It was founded in September 1954 as a non-profit public company with the aim of establishing national drama, opera and ballet companies employing local artists. The Trust was initially funded with a 120,000 pound grant from the Federal Government with annual subsides of 40,000 pounds from the states.

The Englishman, Hugh Hunt was its first Executive Director. The Trust established the Trust Players and the Young Elizabethan Players and had its own theatre the Elizabethan Theatre in Sydney, NSW. The Trust also founded the National Institute of Dramatic Art and the Australian Ballet School and provided grants to amateur organisations. In 1956 the Trust established the Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera Company, and in 1967 the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra. These activities were later taken over by the Australian Opera and Australian Ballet Foundations in 1970. Its role as a funding body ended with the establishment of the Australian Council for the Arts (later the Australia Council) in 1968. By the 1980s the Trust's role became that of a promotional organisation providing patronage and administering a tax-deductible donation scheme for the performing arts. In the 1990s its operations were scaled down.

(Source : http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/5908.html and cuttings.)