Frank Van Straten is a patron of the Cinema and Theatre Historical Society and was a member of the Board of the National Theatre. He is a founding member of Theatre Heritage Australia, and has served on the judging panels of the Green Room and Helpmann Awards. He was historical consultant for Graeme Murphy's spectacular 2001 'dance musical' Tivoli and for a documentary on the 125-year history of Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne. In 2007 he was appointed Live Performance Australia's Official Historian and researched and wrote LPA's on-line Hall of Fame. He was also involved in the recent Studio series Raising the Curtain.
In 1999 Frank Van Straten was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in recognition of his services to the performing arts.