A major contribution was the survey exhibition and publication The Thousand Mile Stare which toured the nation 1988 to 1989 which has become a reference point in the late twentieth history of Australian photography.

As a not-for-profit exhibition and resource centre, CCP has played a role in the support of photo-based arts across its spectrum and public engagement with photography.

[4] Major artists who have exhibited at CCP include Leah King-Smith,[5][6] Gregory Crewdson,[7][8] Robert Rooney,[9] Kohei Yoshiyuki,[10] Taryn Simon, Jane Burton, John Stezaker[11] and Patricia Piccinini.

As well as extensively showcasing contemporary fine art, its exhibitions are inclusive of indigenous photography,[12] traditional genres such as portraiture,[13] documentary and photojournalism in particular through its Leica/CCP Documentary Photography Award,[14][15][16] pioneering digital imaging[17] and video[18][19] The organisation celebrated its 30th year in July 2016 with an exhibition From Silver Gelatin to Instagram: Celebrating 30 Years of the CCP of work donated from prominent Australian photographers to raise funds after it became one of 62 arts institutions to lose federal funding,[3] prior to which it received forty percent of its total income from the State of Victoria through Creative Victoria and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council and further support through the Visual Arts and Crafts Strategy, an initiative of the Australian and State and Territory Governments, with the remainder self-generated through membership and initiatives including an annual fundraiser exhibition of a work or suite of images donated by significant Australian artists.

Chair), Nicole Bradshaw (Treasurer), Myles Russell-Cook, Isobel Crombie, Ying Ang, Neil Hugh Kenna, Hoda Afshar, Mark Simpson.