The Scotts came to Canberra about 15 years ago and began investigating theatre training here. Apart from Canberra Youth Theatre there didn't seem to be much and within a few years they started CADA. They also have a theatre company, Honest Puck, in which many who have done their courses appear.

Elizabeth Scott says she has worked a lot in writing and research, so as well as teaching she is chief executive while James, a trained actor and director, heads the course work.  They also employ several other teachers.

More than 5000 people have been involved in the Canberra institution's various classes for children and adults including beginner's,  leisure and school holiday programs, while 222 have graduated from the vocational education courses - Certificate IV in Acting for Stage and Screen, Certificate IV in Musical Theatre, Diploma of Musical Theatre and Advanced Diploma of Performance - for aspiring professional actors.

Scott says some graduates go on to professional acting careers while others work in TV production or become teachers, educational presenters and clown doctors.

"I hope we can claim an Oscar winner by 2040!"

Michael Ubrihien, 27,  auditioned for a few acting schools in 2012 and was accepted into what was then CADA. He did the six-month Certificate 3 course - "like a taster course" - and went on to the more detailed two-year Advanced Diploma, which he completed in 2015.

He grew up in Pambula on the NSW south coast and studied drama at school as well as community theatre. He says, "I've been entertaining people for as long as I can remember - I decided to pursue acting as a career."

Ubrihien found studying at what is now Perform Australia "the most valuable thing for me" both in terms of formal education and in varied performing opportunities - he appeared there in Shakespeare's Macbeth  and Ionesco's Rhinoceros, among other works, and sang the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang duet Chu-Chi Face opposite Katherine Branston.

"I was very nervous to begin with - I'm not much of a singer. But I had so much fun ... it turned out really well."

He made many friends in the theatre community and graduation he decided to stay in Canberra.  Ubrihien has been acting in plays for Budding Theatre and in Short + Sweet, locally made short films as well as commercials, feature-length movies and TV shows such as Joe Cinque's Consolation and Secret City.

Another graduate is Brendan Kelly, 26. The Canberra native completed what is now the Certificate 4 in 2014. He recalls lessons in areas such as script and character analysis and accent work - and now teaches at Perform Australia part-time.

"Since high school I've wanted to pursue acting," Kelly says.

His ambition was to perform in theatre and then television.

Kelly has performed in Canberra-written plays such as Kirsty Budding's The Art of Doing Nothing and Bruce Hoogendoorn's The Reluctant Shopper.

He's also a filmmaker, producing, writing and directing short films.  His 2017 film Dying Art - about an actor who is worried his death scene in a film won't be fictional -  was shortlisted for Tropfest, though it didn't make it in,  and he's entered it in several international competitions.

Kelly is finishing work on his latest short, Speechlessness, and intends to enter it in the Canberra Short Film Festival.

He says the best thing about his time at what is now Perform Australia, apart from developing his formal skills, was forming relationships with other students.

"We've since been working together on projects  and encouraging each other to audition and to get better."

For more information on Perform Australia see: perform.edu.au.