Nicholas Pickard is one of the Asia Pacific's most experienced advocates at the intersection of cultural policy, intellectual property and platform regulation, and is central to the global creative sector's response to the AI copyright challenge.

For eight years he has led public affairs and government relations at APRA AMCOS, Australasia's largest music rights organisation, representing 128,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers with AU$788 million in annual revenue. He works internationally with counterparts across the EU, North America and Asia Pacific on questions that are fundamentally reshaping how creative work is valued, protected and paid for.

In 2023 Nick convened Australia's creative and media industry coalition on AI and commissioned the AI and Music Report, a landmark study documenting the projected hit to the music market across Australia and New Zealand if AI platforms continue unregulated and unlicensed. The report won a Mumbrella Award for best use of research. This year he devised the Paris Commitment for CISAC's centenary, a declaration on creativity and human rights now adopted by collecting societies representing millions of creators across 120 countries.

Earlier in his career, as a senior ministerial adviser to the Australian Government, Nicholas played a key role in delivering Creative Australia, the first national cultural policy in nearly two decades. He spent five years as an arts journalist and theatre critic writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Telegraph, Crikey and ArtsHub.

He is a board member of Screen Australia and the NSW Government's Creative Communities Council, chairs the NSW Literature Advisory Board, and co-edited 100 Years of Australian Songwriting, published by Hardie Grant as part of APRA AMCOS's centenary.