Octapod is a not for profit independent arts and new media organisation based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Octapod supports a number of projects, community groups and creative types by providing an administrative base and important resources including a large meeting space, web hosting, zine library and project management advice.
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Octapod was founded as an informal collective in 1996 by 'a group of artists and students who liked the idea of a public access media space - where people could create and browse interesting and unusual, non-mainstream media' (Healy, 2005). It was formally incorporated in 1997. Founders included Damien Frost, Sean Healy, Aaron Bristow and Marcus Westbury. Initially known as The POD ( and officially registered as 'The Platypus Of Deliverance Association' - which won the debate against 'the Prince of Darkness Association'), the change of name came as a result of threatened legal action in 1998. Octapod was conceived as an incubator and a common infrastructure for a variety of independent projects. Octapod operated as a volunteer run and project based organisation until 2003 when it took on paid staff as the result of increased funding.
Most notably Octapod is responsible for overseeing the management of Newcastle's annual This Is Not Art Festival and the festivals that it incorporates under its umbrella including Electrofringe, the National Young Writers' Festival, Sound Summit and other projects.
In 2000, Octapod received considerably international attention when IDG books threatened the organisation with legal action over the use of the term "for dummiez" in an online screenprinting guide. Members of Octapod responded by posting the correspondence from the company on an Octapod website Corporate Standover Tactics For Dummies.