Please note: Some of the content on this page was published prior to the launch of Creative Australia and references the Australia Council. Read more.

Creative Futures Fund

Us And All Of This by Liesel Zink. Photo by Mark Gambino

About the Fund

The Creative Futures Fund is an initiative of the National Cultural Policy – Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place referenced in the Policy as “Works of Scale”.

The Fund will support the creation and sharing of Australian stories, and new ways for people to engage with them.

The Fund is not a traditional grant program. It is a new way for Creative Australia to invest to support artistic works that build partnerships, drive engagement, and attract other sources of revenue and investment.

We are seeking great ideas that are genuinely innovative and unexpected. This includes new works and projects that may leverage existing intellectual property. The investment available is significant, but scalable depending on your ambition and context. We want to know what that investment will help you do, that might not otherwise be possible.

The fund will only support stories that are uniquely Australian, for example the intellectual property must be majority owned by Australian creatives, be an Australian concept, with subject matter relevant to contemporary Australia.

We will ask you to articulate what engagement means to you, your context and your artform – who you are planning to reach and connect with through this new work and how you plan to do this.

The Fund will be adaptive, responsive, and flexible to meet the needs of the sector. This investment will support all art forms and may change its emphasis over time.

In the first year of the Fund (2024/25) we will prioritise applications:

  • from organisations that demonstrate genuine and robust partnerships with artists and creative workers of calibre
  • that demonstrate how Creative Australia’s investment will leverage other sources of income
  • that leverage existing Australian work and intellectual property, capitalising on previous investments
  • that create new connections and partnerships in and outside the creative industries, and the public, commercial and private sectors
  • that support genuine innovation for artists, audiences, and communities.

For updates on the Creative Futures Fund, sign up here.

In this first cycle of the investment in 2024/25, two streams of investment will be offered to Australian organisations only. Organisations must be legally constituted and registered or created by law. Sole traders, unincorporated groups, and partnerships cannot apply.

Applications will be prioritised for those organisations who are genuinely working in partnership with a range of collaborators and artistic individuals.

  • Development Investment: This stream will support the development of new ideas, the adaptation of existing works, and/or allow you to test the market. Individual investments of between $50,000 – $250,000 will be negotiated
  • Delivery Investment: This stream will support the delivery of new works, including adaptation, building partnerships, securing co-investment, realising and sharing the work, and achieving impact. Individual investments of between $250,000 – $1,500,000 will be negotiated.

Please note that this is not a pipeline fund. Support for the Development Phase does not necessarily indicate ongoing support for the Delivery Phase in later rounds.

Applications to both investment streams will be accepted and assessed in two stages – an initial Expression of Interest, with a small number of organisations invited to submit a full application.

In selecting the final cohort of recipients, Creative Australia will curate a portfolio of creative works that may be varied in art form, geography, level of investment, outcome type and risk.

Creative Australia will negotiate bespoke investment agreements with successful applicants, reflecting the context of each application. This will include the level and scheduling of investment, special conditions, and financial / non-financial deliverables.

Activity Dates
Stage 1: Expressions of Interest open June 2024
Stage 1: Expressions of Interest close 6 August 2024
Stage 1: Notifications of outcomes and invitations to Stage 2 October 2024
Stage 2: Full Application round opens (invitation only) October 2024
Stage 2: Full Application round closes 3 December 2024
Stage 2: Notification of outcomes February 2025

 

Yes, they can. They will need to demonstrate why public investment is required for this development, and explain how financial dividends, if any, will be distributed.

Creative Australia may negotiate the right to recoup a portion of its investment from commercially successful projects.

Yes, they can. We accept different business units, departments, divisions or trading names (listed under the one parent entity ABN) as separate entities.

If two different departments exist for one organisation, then both departments can register separately. However, they cannot use more than one registration to edit and submit the same grant application or grant acquittal report.

Yes, they can.

No, only organisations are eligible to apply under this investment fund. You may wish to work with an organisation to develop a work, however they must be the applicant.

Priority will be given to applicants where there is a genuine collaboration and partnership with a range of artists, groups, or partners.

While we can support screen-based art, we do not solely support activities associated with short film, feature film, television or documentary or electronic games.

As per the eligibility, activities that develop, produce, promote and distribute Australian narrative (drama) and documentary screen content, that could be supported via Screen Australia, cannot apply to this investment fund.

Applicants should consider if there is funding overlap with Screen Australia and its allied state and territory equivalents and Games Investment steams. Requests for the same activities supported by other funds are ineligible.

Applicants should also note that investment support may come in different stages and for different components of their activities. Applicants should carefully consider what aspects of their projects require investment support and at what times.

Yes, you can. Please note your submission would be competing within a very competitive field of applications from arts organisations, commercial entities and those that work solely in the arts and culture sector. Applications from schools that are based on projects that mainly benefit the school and its grounds would not be competitive.

The industry advisors understand that it’s not possible to confirm every activity, partnership, source of co-funding or venue at the time that you apply at this initial Expression of Interest stage. However, if the advisors are deciding between two submissions of equal artistic merit, the application that has more activities and partnerships confirmed, may be more competitive.

If there are too many unconfirmed elements of your proposal, the advisors may question its alignment to this fund. If the artistic concept behind your project is still not sufficiently developed, you may not be ready to apply. The process of drafting your application will help you determine this.

As the applicant, it is your responsibility to demonstrate how the proposed activity differs from your usual developments. This may be via new partnerships, collaborations and artistic practices. We are seeking to support innovative proposals that expand Australians access to arts experiences.

Creative Australia is seeking to support, invest in and champion innovation through the following means:

  • Creativity: This may explore innovation in the creative content to be explored and realised over the duration of the development.
  • Connection and experimentation: The applicant may, for example, address elements of entrepreneurship and new ways of working. This may include how they will engage with new partners not typical for the applicant or diversify their income streams through co-investment models (e.g. commercial investments, new partners in philanthropy to support their work).

Concepts, ideas, developments and stories are terms we use interchangeably to describe the project or idea you want to develop and refine. Story can be expressed through a range of art forms and is not restricted to narrative based projects.

We are interested in great ideas that are ambitious, unexpected and reflect contemporary Australia.

As the organisational applicant, it is your responsibility to demonstrate how this activity is not a part of your ‘business as usual’ activities and you are essentially, extending your practice and approach.

You may be engaging with collaborators and partners as they have highly refined and established skill sets or artistic approaches that are unique, important and relevant to this development. These collaborators may not need to extend their usual practice.

If you are applying as a consortium, we would expect collaborators to show innovation.

Yes, this will become more relevant if your submission is invited to Stage 2 – Full Application. This is where industry advisors are analysing and assessing your budget and expenditure activities.

If this is a part of your concept outlined in your EOI, you will need to demonstrate its relevance to the development of your work.

This will become more relevant if your submission is invited to Stage 2, to submit a full application (see below).

Other income will vary depending on the type of project you are proposing for development. It should reflect the nature of your project, who is involved and the area of practice. Please consider the more you request, the greater the expectation that our investment leverages other cash income (be it philanthropy, earned, sponsorship etc).

Yes. Organisational administrative costs, including auspicing, should be reasonable and directly related to the project delivery. They should generally not exceed 10% of the total budget, although this will depend on the nature of the delivery of the project. If those costs are higher, your application may be less competitive.

Stage 1 is closed and not accepting applications.
The Australian Government is committed to this investment program and future iterations and new rounds will be announced in 2025.

Stage 1 Expressions of Interest (Feedback)

Industry advisors were impressed by the range of projects across art forms with elements of risk in the work. The strongest submissions:

  • showed a profound depth of practice and process
  • were well-written and easy to read, avoiding jargon or vague statements
  • told stories that were clear, powerful and demonstrated an urgency to share and present
  • addressed the two assessment criteria carefully and critically
  • discussed the innovation in the art or form, engagement with new partners or in communities scored more favourably against the alignment criterion
  • where appropriate, First Nations artist/s or the artistic leadership were clearly evident in the co-design of the proposal
  • where relevant, could demonstrate the links between the project and future engagement/audiences
  • confirmed partners that were well matched to the ambition of the project and indicated a collaboration that was mutually beneficial
  • provided a clear artistic vision and the ‘voices’ of the artistic team were present and instrumental to the delivery of the work
  • included details of the organisation and its work ensuring that Industry Advisors could see how the proposal differed from business-as-usual activities for the organisation
  • demonstrated exceptional artistic quality through engaging with artists of the highest calibre
  • provided support material such as biographies/CVs alongside evidence of previous developments or showings were also valued
  • provided compelling letters of support from stakeholders/communities/artists
  • included carefully curated support material to describe the organisation and illuminate the intention of the proposed artistic work.

Industry Advisors also noted the following:

  • Submissions that demonstrated connection to place and community, describing meaningful types of engagement were highly regarded.
  • Submissions that proposed working with targeted groups, such as the d/Deaf community or young people included permissions/endorsement for the work where their lived experience was clear.
  • While recognising business-as-usual may look different in a post-Covid world, advisors supported submissions where the application was ambitious, innovating away from their current practice and working in new ways. Advisors were less supportive of works that looked to be their usual business or programming.
  • Advisors were also interested in submissions where the applicant had demonstrated a life of the work beyond a presentation or engagement outcome.
  • If submissions are adapting existing works, a compelling explanation must be included. Do not assume that assessors have read the original work to know why it is an important story to adapt and share.

Watch our information session here and below.

Frequently asked questions

The Australian Government is committed to this investment program and future iterations and new rounds will be announced in 2025.

Future iterations of the fund have not yet been finalised and there may be variations and updates to these guidelines.

The assessment and moderation process can be found in the guidelines for the Stage 1: Expressions of Interest (EOI) under ‘Assessment’ which you can find on both the Development and Delivery investment stream page.

General feedback can be viewed on the Creative Futures Fund for both the Development and Delivery streams under ‘Stage 1 Expression of Interest (Feedback)’ on this page. Specific feedback on individual applications is not available.

Successful recipients of the fund will be published in early March 2025.

Only organisations were eligible to apply under this investment fund. We encouraged individuals to work with an organisation to develop a work, however the organisation must be the applicant.

International Travel Fund

$5,000 to $20,000 to support travel costs associated with attending key market development and cultural exchange platforms and gatherings.

Asia Topa 2020 Showcase The Seen & Unseen by Kamila Andini, Ida Ayu Wayan, Arya Satyani, Adena Jacobs, Eugyeene Teh, Jenny Hector. Image: Ifa Isfansyah

 

About the program

The International Travel Fund supports international travel costs associated with Australian artists, creative workers and organisations attending market development or key gatherings overseas.

Market development activities are those that enable applicants to promote, market, pitch, or sell works with a focus on entering or maintaining new or existing international markets.

The aims of the fund are to:

  • support international travel costs associated with individuals, groups or organisations to attend market development, key gatherings, events or opportunities overseas
  • enable support for Australian artists, creative workers and organisations to build and sustain international connections.

Applicants should consider when their travel activities will take place and plan in advance where possible.

Applicants can apply for flat rates of $5,000 or $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000. Requests for other amounts will not be accepted.

Applications are accepted from:

  • Australian-based individuals
    Australian citizens living overseas are eligible. If your application is successful, you may be required to provide evidence of your Australian citizenship
  • Australian-based groups and organisations.

Applications from internationally based organisations are eligible, however international organisations must demonstrate the request benefits practicing Australian artists or creative workers, their work or Australian audiences.

  • open to individuals, groups and organisations, including small businesses
  • noting that recipients of Creative Australia’s Two-Year Investment for Organisations Pilots 2025-2026 and Four-Year investment for Organisations funding are eligible to apply
  • applicants can submit one (1) application per closing date. Note you cannot submit an individual application as well as a group or organisation application
  • art forms supported:
    • community arts and cultural development
    • dance
    • emerging and experimental arts
    • First Nations arts and culture
    • literature
    • music (excluding contemporary music as per Music Australia’s definition)
    • multi-art form
    • visual arts
    • theatre.
  • you are an internationally based individual artist or creative worker who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident
  • you are an international individual, group or organisation seeking support for travel to Australia
  • you have already applied to this closing date under this grant category
  • you have already applied to an Arts Projects grant category for the same activity
  • you are an organisation and receive investment through the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework. Overseas organisations wanting to apply to work with a National Performing Arts Partnership Framework organisation are also ineligible
  • you have an overdue grant report to Creative Australia
  • you owe money to Creative Australia
  • you work in contemporary music. You must apply to the Export Development Fund from Music Australia.

Contemporary music, as defined by the Music Australia Council, is:

“Australian contemporary music is any genre or subgenre of music currently composed, written, produced by Australians and licensed, recorded, presented, and distributed through commercial and non-commercial activity. For the purposes of Music Australia’s initial investments, the focus will be on musical works that are new, original and relevant to contemporary Australia.”

You may apply for any and all costs associated with travel and attendance at confirmed international market development or key gatherings.

Eligible costs include but are not limited to:

  • fees for your time to attend the opportunity, (if wages are not covered by your organisation). We strongly advise you refer to and pay at, or above, industry standard rates
  • flights, accommodation, per diems and ground transport costs
  • travel insurance
  • visas
  • freight or baggage costs
  • marketing, promotion and project management costs
  • costs associated with attendance at international book fairs
  • costs associated with attendance at events and activities associated with publication and promotion of literary, art fair or works in international markets
  • costs associated with conferences however, applicants must demonstrate the market development outcome/s
  • childcare, carer and access costs
  • tickets and/or registration costs to attend events
  • costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of your activity
  • access costs, see below.
  • travel costs that are for the same activity across other applications to Creative Australia
  • travel costs for professional development, international tours, showcases or presentations (apply to Arts Projects instead)
  • travel costs to participate in international exchange activities such as residencies, labs, and peer exchange models (apply to the International Engagement Fund instead)
  • travel that does not involve or benefit Australian practicing artists or creative workers
  • travel to events or activities that do not have a clearly-defined arts component
  • travel for events and activities that have already taken place
  • activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to the Creative Australia First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols
  • travel to attend contemporary music activities. You must apply to the Export Development Fund from Music Australia.

Access costs are legitimate expenses and may be included. We encourage applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. This may include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. presentation or delivery activities using Auslan, translation to other languages, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, and materials in other formats).

If you are working with d/Deaf people or people with disability in your application, you may use funds for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer or support worker assistance including travel costs. Please contact Artist Services to discuss your specific needs.

Your application must comply with the following protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involving contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Industry Advisors and Creative Australia staff with relevant experience will assess the applications against the assessment criteria listed below. Creative Australia staff will consider how the proposed activities align with the aims of the fund when making final decisions on submissions.

Applicants are required to nominate the art form expertise required to assess your submission.

Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what assessors may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.

Assessors will assess the quality of the applicants’ practice in the context of the opportunity.

They may consider:

  • the quality of your work, demonstrating your professional track record
  • the relevance of the planned activities and the significance of these on your ongoing development
  • realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including contingency and relevant plans for international travel to enable the proposed outcomes
  • where relevant, evidence that the Protocols for First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to.

Assessors will assess the expected impact or outcome of the proposed activities for the applicant.

They may consider:

  • how the activity is relevant to the identified areas of practice and career development
  • the benefit and impact on career, artistic or cultural practice of the applicant
  • the potential to develop new markets, relationships or meet existing market demand
  • the extent to which the activity contributes to a sector that is accessible, inclusive and equitable
  • the capacity to strengthen skills and abilities of those involved.

Creative Australia staff will consider how the proposed activities align to the aims of the fund when making final decisions on submissions.

They may also consider:

  • capacity of the applicant to deliver on the proposed outcomes
  • supporting diversity across investment streams, timelines, activities, art forms, geography, representation, audiences and risk, how the activity supports the development of artists and their works in international markets.

Applications must be submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System.

If you are registering to use the System for the first time, make sure you register well before the closing date. It can take up to two business days to process your registration.

The types of questions we ask in the application form include:

  • how you would like your application to be assessed (art form expertise).
  • a summary of your proposal.
  • a description of the international activities and how it meets the assessment criteria:
    • Quality: Tell us about your creative practice in relation to this opportunity
    • Impact: Tell us about the opportunity, possible partners and why this is important for your ongoing development as an artist/creative worker or as an organisation
  • Activity details including dates and locations
  • Supporting material as relevant to your project, including examples of your work, CVs or bios, invitations, and letters of support or permission from participants, communities, First Nations organisations, and Elders where relevant.

Additional material must be submitted to support your application. We will review support material to understand your artistic practice, quality and impact of your proposal. Do not assume that those who are reading your submission, know your work or experience and consider this when deciding what should be included.

We strongly recommend you curate your support material to be relevant, targeted and easily accessible.

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is targeted and relevant to your submission.

Assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to applications or documents that require users to log in or pay for access.

If you are linking to sites or files that are private or password protected, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

You can provide up to 3 URLs and 3 file uploads.

You can include a maximum of:

  • 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording, and/or
  • 10 images as a single PDF, and/or
  • 10 pages of written material (for example, CVs/bios and letters of support/invitation or confirmation, promotional plans).

If you provide material that exceeds these limits it may not be reviewed as a part of the assessment process.

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:

  • video (MP4, Windows Media)
  • audio (MP3, Windows Media)
  • images (JPEG, PowerPoint)
  • written material (Word, PDF).

We do not accept support material submitted via post. Support material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact Artist Services.

Learn more about support material via the Creative Australia website.

  1. Creative/artistic and cultural support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your creative or cultural work and/or the services you provide using the formats identified above.

Information should be presented as a single document and not exceed the collective total of no more than 10 pages of written material, see above.

  1. Biographies and CVs

You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.

Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document and not exceed the collective total of no more than 10 pages of written material, see above.

  1. Information about the international opportunity

This could include background information on the opportunity you wish to participate in. You may wish to include direct weblinks to the event/schedule of the program.

  1. Letters of support, invitation or confirmation

Individuals, groups or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants or the broader community. It can also detail the support, co-investment (financial or in-kind) or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You may wish to include evidence of presenting venues or invitation or attendance to confirm your involvement. Each letter should include confirmation of any invitations, partners fees or contributions to the activity, whether cash or in-kind, if relevant.

Written information should be presented as a single document and not exceed the collective total of no more than 10 pages, see above.

If relevant to your application, evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities and Elders must be provided. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

Frequently asked questions

This fund covers many art forms and sectors. Individuals who may wish to apply to the fund could include artists, curators, producers, presenters and literary agents, rights managers and publishers, authors, illustrators and tour managers.

If you have applied as an individual, you are unable to also apply as a part of a group or organisation’s submission.

Applications will be assessed by Industry Advisors and Creative Australia staff. Assessments will also incorporate a moderation process before final decisions are made. This moderation will include the Heads of Practice and the International team.

The assessment team will also consider the suitability of each request in relation to the art form. An example of this may include the literature sector where applicants are encouraged to plan a suite of activities rather than attendance at a single event. This may include literary festivals or promotional opportunities.

International Engagement Fund

$5,000 to $30,000 for creative collaboration and development, cultural exchange and reciprocal activities.

Rainbow Chan, The Bridal Lament, 2022, Image courtesy of the artist.

 

About the program

The International Engagement Fund supports Australian artists and creative workers to undertake reciprocal exchange projects with confirmed international partners. This includes creative collaboration and development; cultural exchange and knowledge sharing; labs and practice-exchange models.

Activities can take place in-person, online, or in a combination of in-person and online (hybrid).

International organisations working with Australian artists or creative workers are eligible to apply.

Only one application can be made to this category per closing date.

Funding amounts are available between $5,000 to $30,000.

Applications must meet at least one of Creative Australia’s International Engagement Strategy 2021–2025 priorities:

  • rethink and expand the concept of mobility through testing dynamic engagement models that include digital, hybrid and in-person connection
  • leverage technologies and digital platforms for creation, distribution, networking, and increasing discoverability of Australian work
  • activate borderless thinking to build reciprocal and multilateral partnerships across regions and industries, and leverage co-investment
  • strengthen First Nations exchange that is First Nations-led and self-determined
  • amplify Asia Pacific engagement, and the perspectives of the Asia Pacific diaspora in Australia
  • diversify income and revenue streams to foster sustainable careers and business models by increasing access to markets, information and networks and showcase Australian work to global audiences and influencers
  • foster creative risk-taking, experimentation and innovation in creation, distribution, connection and profile-building
  • centre equity and access and reflect Australia’s diversity
  • embed sustainability through research and investment in best-practice models and frameworks to minimise the sector’s carbon footprint.

Supported activities must last no longer than two years from the proposed start date.

Please read through the following grant guidelines.

If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.

Community arts and cultural development, dance, emerging and experimental arts, First Nations arts and culture, literature, multi-artform, visual arts, theatre, and music.

This excludes contemporary music, defined by the Music Australia Council as:

“Any genre or subgenre of music currently composed, written, produced by Australians and licensed, recorded, presented, and distributed through commercial and non-commercial activity. For the purposes of Music Australia’s initial investments, the focus will be on musical works that are new, original and relevant to contemporary Australia.”

Music Australia has established an Export Music Development Fund for those artists working in contemporary music. Details to those three funding categories can be found here:

  1. Performance and Touring Activity
  2. Professional and Artistic Development
  3. Market and Audience Development
  • Eligible applicants include Australian artists, and creative workers who do not work in contemporary music (as defined above).
  • You can only submit one application to each closing date for the International Engagement Fund.
  • Individuals, groups and organisations (including small businesses) may apply to this category.
  • International organisations can apply for projects that benefit practicing Australian artists or creative workers, their work or Australian audiences.

You can’t apply for a grant if:

  • you have already applied to this closing date for the International Engagement Fund
  • you have already applied to the 3 September 2024 closing date for the Arts Projects grant categories for the same activity
  • you have an overdue grant report
  • you owe money to Creative Australia
  • you receive, or are working with an organisation that receives, investment through the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework
  • you work in contemporary music (as defined above). You must apply to the Export Development Fund from Music Australia.

You may apply for costs associated with creative collaboration and development; cultural exchange and knowledge sharing; research, experimentation, scoping and prototyping activities; and reciprocal relationship-building activities such as residency exchanges, labs and peer exchange models.

Activities may take place in-person, online, or a combination of in-person and online (hybrid activities).

Eligible costs include but are not limited to:

  • artist and creative worker fees. You may refer to industry benchmarks set by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA), and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), etc
  • flights, accommodation, per diems, ground transport costs
  • travel insurance
  • visas
  • freight or baggage costs
  • production expenses
  • marketing, promotion and project management costs
  • childcare, carer and access costs
  • costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of your activity.

Access costs are legitimate expenses and may be included in your application. We encourage applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Budgets may include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. performances using Auslan, translation to other languages, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, and materials in other formats).

If you are a d/Deaf applicant, an applicant with disability, or are working with d/Deaf artists or artists with disability, you may apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer or support worker assistance. Please contact Artists Services to discuss your specific needs.

You can’t apply for:

  • costs that duplicate from the same activity across other current applications to Creative Australia
  • international activities that do not involve or benefit Australian practicing artists or creative workers
  • international activities without international partners
  • international activities that do not have a clearly-defined arts component
  • international activities that have already taken place
  • activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to Creative Australia First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols
  • travel to attend contemporary music activities. You must apply to the Export Development Fund from Music Australia

Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Industry Advisors will assess your application against the published assessment criteria. Creative Australia staff will moderate the assessment.

You must respond to all three selection criteria: viability, impact and strategic focus.

Listed under each criterion are points the assessors may consider when reviewing your application.

Assessors will consider whether your activity is feasible. Some ways to consider viability are listed below. You do not need to respond to every bullet point.

  • The relevance and timeliness of the proposed project.
  • The skills and abilities of those involved, and their relevance to the project.
  • Realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including contingency plans.   
  • Evidence of other sources of income or co-funding, such as earned income, grants, sponsorship and/or in-kind contributions.
  • Well-researched and rationalised activity, particularly if this is your first engagement with an international market.
  • Extent of sustainable practices, multiple engagements and/or slow touring or concept touring, where the idea, process, or work travels but the artist does not.  
  • Appropriate payments to participating artists, creative professionals, collaborators, participants, or cultural consultants.   
  • Measures being applied to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people involved in the project.   
  • Measures being applied to ensure the proposed activity is accessible.   
  • Where relevant to the project, evidence that the protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to, or the relevant cultural protocols for the international jurisdiction in which you are working.   
  • Evidence of appropriate consultation with participants, audiences or communities.   
  • Confirmation of the role of partners or collaborators, including any income and co-funding, such as earned income, grants, sponsorship and in-kind contributions.    

Assessors will consider the impact of your activity. Some ways to consider impact are listed below. You do not need to respond to every bullet point.

  • The extent to which this activity develops an international market or relationship for, or enhances international networks, audiences, and profile.
  • The contribution of the activity towards re-imagining the future for international engagement in the cultural and creative industries.
  • The extent to which the activity contributes to a sector that is accessible, inclusive and equitable.

Assessors will consider how your activity aligns with one or more of the strategic priorities identified in our International Engagement Strategy 2021–2025.

You must respond to one or more of the bullet points listed below.

  • Rethink and expand the concept of mobility through testing dynamic engagement models that include digital, hybrid and in-person connection.
  • Leverage technologies and digital platforms for creation, distribution, networking, and increase discoverability of Australian work.
  • Activate borderless thinking to build reciprocal and multilateral partnerships across regions and industries, and leverage co-investment.
  • Strengthen First Nations exchange that is First Nations-led and self-determined.
  • Amplify Asia Pacific engagement, and the perspectives of the Asia Pacific diaspora in Australia.
  • Diversify income and revenue streams to foster sustainable careers and business models by increasing access to markets, information and networks and showcase Australian work to global audiences and influencers.
  • Foster risk-taking, experimentation and innovation in creation, distribution, connection and profile-building.
  • Centre equity and access and reflect Australia’s diversity.
  • Embed sustainability through research and investment in best-practice models and frameworks to minimise the sector’s carbon footprint.

The types of questions we ask in the application form include:

  • a title for your project
  • a summary of your project
  • a brief description of the individual/group/organisation applying
  • an outline of your project and what you want to do
  • a timetable or itinerary for your project
  • a description of the outcome your project delivers
  • a projected budget which details the expenses, income, and in-kind support of the project
  • supporting material as relevant to your project, including examples of your work, bios of additional artists, and letters of support or permission from participants, communities, First Nations organisation, and Elders.

You should submit support material with your application. The Industry Advisors may review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your project.

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact Artists Services.

There are three types of support material you may submit:

1. Artistic support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work, or the services you provide.

Types of support material we accept

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).

You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.

These URLs can include a total of:

  • 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
  • 10 images
  • 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).

Please note: Our industry advisors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.

If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

Other accepted file formats

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:

  • video (MP4 and Windows Media)
  • audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
  • images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
  • written material (Word and PDF).

2. Biographies and CVs

You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.

Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.

3. Letters of support

Individuals, groups or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

Please provide a single link to all letters or scan the letters into one PDF file. 

There were 170 eligible applications; 26 applications were funded.

From Monday 6 January 2025, you can use our online grants database to see the list of funded applications.

You can review the guidelines for the opportunity on our website.

Although there is no specific feedback on applications, the industry advisors provided some general feedback on applications to this round below which you may find helpful.

General feedback on applications to this round:

  • competitive applications had a reciprocal international exchange component
  • competitive applications clearly articulated the rationale, outcomes, and/or the longevity of a proposed international partnership, exchange or engagement
  • proposals that demonstrated community engagement, long-term relationship building, and deeper connection beyond a one-off activity were generally more compelling
  • the strongest applications demonstrated deeper thinking around international engagement as well as finding new ways of working, including innovative uses of technology
  • residencies where there was no reciprocity (i.e. an international artist coming to Australia as well as an Australian artist travelling overseas) were uncompetitive
  • the strongest proposals provided evidence of confirmed activities and project partners and provided strong letters of support
  • applications that articulated the timeliness and relevance of the activity were more competitive, as well as those that demonstrated their viability through detailed and thorough planning and an effective use of resources
  • applications that did not provide a detailed breakdown of the budget, appropriate payments to artists and cultural consultants, and confirmed income from other sources did not score as highly
  • proposals that articulated a clear rationale for why they were engaging with the country or region were more competitive
  • where First Nations artists, creative workers or communities were involved in a project, successful applications demonstrated that the activity was self-determined and First Nations led, and complying with the Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts.

Createch: Digital Enterprise Program

We’re funding coaching for digital creative enterprises in partnership with industry leaders, REMIX Summits.

Photo credit: Culture Vault

Watch our info session

Remix Summits, Creative Australia and previous program alumni answer your questions about applying for and participating in Createch.

Watch here

About the program

We are collaborating with REMIX to support for a cohort of creative entrepreneurs. The program will help you scale a digital innovation project or creative business and is open to individuals, groups or organisations.

Alongside REMIX, Createch is co-facilitated by Tara McKenty, the Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Executive Creative Director at BMF Australia. 

You will receive 24 hours of consultancy and seed funding to support the development of your digital enterprise.   

The program will run from March 2025 – June 2025. Full dates and program activities are detailed below. 

We are seeking people with an existing track record who would benefit from consulting and support from experienced creative entrepreneurs and industry specialists. 

The goal of this program is to provide you with access to REMIX’s consulting to give you the highest likelihood of success. Outcomes will be tailored to your needs, but may include: 

  • coaching and strategic advice around the development of your project 
  • expert advice and strategic reviews to identify challenges and opportunities 
  • planning for investment 
  • planning your technical or project roadmap 
  • global trend analysis and insights to assist your project development 
  • introductions to potential investors 
  • introductions to potential partners and collaborators who can grow and expand your idea/s. 

In addition to 24 hours of bespoke consulting, you will become part of a unique peer community made up of Australia’s leading creative innovators. You will also attend REMIX Summit Sydney in June 2025 to network and exchange with peers. 

As part of the program you will receive $5000 seed funding at the program mid-point in April 2025 to help towards scaling your business, developing new technologies or piloting new products/programs.  

The consultancy hours with REMIX will include guidance on the use of the seed funds to best support your project to the next level. You will need to present a short pitch outlining how the funds will be used, at the mid-point workshop. Seed funds will be granted following a successful pitch. 

REMIX has worked with some of the world’s greatest cultural institutions, technologists, funding bodies and creative businesses to apply its global market intelligence. It helps clients respond to disruptive new trends – redefining services, rethinking business models and creative experiences to find innovative ways to unlock additional revenue streams and engage new audiences. Clients have included Tate, the National Gallery (UK), State Library Victoria, ACMI, Melbourne Arts Precinct, Saatchi Gallery, and the Houses of Parliament (UK).

For further information and case studies please see here.

Co-facilitator: Tara McKenty 

Tara McKenty is the Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Executive Creative Director at BMF Australia.

She started her career at TBWA in Aotearoa/New Zealand before heading to Saatchi & Saatchi in Sydney, Australia then moving to Google where she held multiple roles and lead teams that ignited love in the Google brand through creativity. One of Tara’s most notable career achievements to date was founding Rare with Google: an initiative that provides equitable opportunities for underrepresented creatives. 

Tara led a project with client OPSM that was named the most effective marketing campaign in the world by the WARC 100 in 2016 and continues to disrupt the status quo and has won over two hundred awards during her advertising rebellion including D&AD pencils, Cannes Lions, Grand Prix’s, and Best in Shows. 

The program will run from 10 March – 27 June 2025.

You will:

  • receive 24 hours of bespoke consulting delivered online by REMIX co-founders Peter Tullin & Simon Cronshaw and an additional program facilitator
  • receive $5000 seed funding at the program mid-point in April 2025 to help towards scaling your business, developing new technologies or piloting new products/programs
  • Attend three online cohort workshops with other participants featuring presentations from digital innovators and disruptors:

Orientation Workshop: 9am-12pm AEST, Tuesday 11 March 2025 (Online)
Mid-Point Workshop: 9-11am AEST, Tuesday 15 April 2025 (Online)
Final Workshop: 9-11am AEST, Thursday 26 June 2025 (Online)

  • have access to digital REMIX resources, including talks and the Business of Culture course, supporting those working in the creative industries to develop new revenue streams and audiences
  • attend REMIX Summit Sydney in-person on 12-13 June 2025. Travel and accommodation provided
  • become part of a unique peer community made up of Australia’s leading creative innovators.

This opportunity is open to arts-aligned/creative industries individuals, groups and organisations based in Australia that have: 

1) A proven track record with further potential for growth and/or impact 

Your project or organisation is getting traction; you can point to its positive reception and early growth or your expertise in a particular area. Now you are ready to grow it to the next level, for example through investment, introductions, strategic planning or advanced tech support. 

2) A digital or hybrid innovation that reimagines how the arts are experienced or supported 

You are a disrupter with an ability to imagine new opportunities for the arts sector, whether fully digital or hybrid. Innovations may come from the use of technology (e.g. immersive experiences using projection or free-roam VR) or innovations offering new or improved digital access to culture (e.g. new aggregation models, new creative platforms, gamification, creator economy, hybrid online/offline experiences, new digital content or new distribution channels). We’re also open to digital innovations that directly support the arts but don’t have a creative end product (e.g. new models for creative retail, funding or networks).

Applications will be reviewed by staff and industry advisors. Your application will be based on merit, response to the selection criteria below, and in line with our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Your application will be assessed on the: 

  • viability of the proposed project 
  • timeliness and relevance of the consulting opportunity to scale your project 
  • potential impact your project will have on the creative sector. 

Learn more about how we assess your application. 

​​To apply, you will need to answer the following questions:

  • ​Project title
  • ​Project description
  • How your project is getting traction. Describe how you have had a positive reception and early growth and why this opportunity is timely in terms of supporting the scaling of your project
  • ​Describe how you have been a disrupter with an ability to imagine new opportunities for the arts sector, whether fully digital or hybrid
  • ​Describe the potential impact of your project on the creative sector​.

A ‘project’ in this context can be a standalone creative enterprise or a program/business unit within a cultural organisation. It can be either for-profit or non-profit but must be digital or hybrid. It should be innovative in driving new audiences and/or revenues, and already be (or have the longer-term potential to become) financially sustainable. If it operates within a cultural organisation, at least one staff member should be assigned to the project as a component of their job function (so we have a clear lead to work with on the program).

A ‘disrupter’ is free from traditional assumptions about how creative and cultural experiences and content should look. They are the first to ask, ‘Why does it have to be done this way?’ and instead champion innovative new models and approaches. Disrupters forge their own paths, inventing bold new ways of engaging the general public with cultural content and experiences.

Some examples of potential ‘impacts’ are:

  • to set new standards for what digital and hybrid experiences look like in the creative sector
  • to create strategies, tools or platforms that other organisations could also benefit from
  • to redefine how audiences regard or engage with the creative and cultural sectors; rethinking audience demand, consumption and involvement.

You will own the intellectual property rights in any material you bring to the program and/or create through your participation in this program. Notwithstanding this, you give us permission to use and communicate any material you submit to us as part of this program for internal reporting purposes only. 

Please email digital@creative.gov.au if you would like more information.

Creative Climate Leadership Program

A transformative 5-day climate leadership program for artists and arts professionals, delivered in-person at Bundanon, NSW.

Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Climate Leadership Benelux 2023 programme, photo by Moa Karlberg

Creative Climate Leadership (CCL) empowers artists and cultural professionals to take action on the climate and ecological crisis with impact, creativity, and resilience. It was designed to mobilise and connect a creative climate movement.

CCL offers:

  • An inspiring 5 day program of learning and peer-to-peer exchange for 24 talented and motivated participants living and working in Australia.
  • A powerful opportunity to collaborate and develop creative ideas in a serene environment.
  • A space to develop and/or scale up cultural leadership on climate action and justice.
  • A supportive network of national and international CCL alumni.

Participants will:

  1. Deepen their understanding of the climate and ecological crises as an intersectional issue.
  2. Understand and develop the role of culture and creativity in responding to these challenges.
  3. Emerge with a toolbox of approaches and practical solutions for transformative action, including:
    • approaches to action and collaboration that are equitable and inclusive
    • methods for designing solutions to complex problems
    • strategies for rethinking and reorienting the cultural ecosystem towards a thriving future that prioritises the well-being of people and nature
  4. Develop insights into climate ‘leadership’ at individual and collective levels, bottom up and top down
  5. Emerge ready to translate their learning into a CCL Action project

The Australia Council is committed to increasing the diversity of leaders in our industry and encourages applications from people who identify as First Nations, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with disability, and people living in regional and remote areas.

We actively work with individuals to support access needs – including childcare, cultural practices, financial and/or learning access needs as required.

Find out more information about this program in a one-hour Zoom information session with Mikala Tai and Adam McGowan from the Australia Council; Farah Ahmed and Chiara Badiali (Music Lead) from Julie’s Bicycle, and Australian Facilitator Ruth Langford. Watch the recording here.


This program delivery is supported by the British Council.

Ruth has a diverse background in cultural arts, environmental, social justice, youth work and Indigenous Medicines Therapy and divides her time on projects that reflect her passion for uniting ancient traditions and contemporary innovations for optimistic action and healing for all.

As a Songwoman and Storyteller, Ruth draws upon the cultural knowledge of her Yorta Yorta lineage and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community where she was born and continues to live.

Combining over twenty years traveling the world sitting with Indigenous Elders, Senior Knowledge Keepers and World Wisdom Teachers with conscious research, Ruth Langford’s vision is to connect people to the ancient wisdom of Indigenous teachings in a contemporary and relevant context through the expression of cultural arts, ceremony and ritual.

Establishing Nayri Niara Centre for the Arts of Healing and Nayri Niara Good Spirit Festival, Ruth has gained a reputation as an expert facilitator and coordinator of effective capacity building programs, which have as their guiding principles Connection to Country, Culture, the Self and the Sacred.

Alison established Julie’s Bicycle in 2007 as a non-profit company helping the music industry reduce its environmental impacts and develop new thinking in tune with global environmental challenges. JB has since extended its remit to the full performing and visual arts communities, heritage and wider creative and cultural policy communities. JB is acknowledged as a leading organisation bridging sustainability with the arts and culture.

Originally trained as a cellist, Alison worked with seminal jazz improviser and teacher John Stevens. She worked for many years at Community Music and at Creative and Cultural Skills where she established the National Skills Academy. She has been on many advisory and awarding bodies including Observer Ethical Awards, RCA Sustainable Design Awards, D&AD White Pencil Awards. She has been on the boards of the Music Business Forum, Live Music and Sound Connections, and is on the board of Energy Revolution.

Farah Ahmed (she/they) is the Climate Justice Lead at Julie’s Bicycle. She supports the delivery of events and the Creative Climate Justice programme, developing resources, training and advocacy, connecting environmental, racial and social justice, and creative activism. Their interests lie in how art can centre stories and solutions from the frontlines of climate impacts, and how we can imagine and enact decolonial and anti-capitalist ways of being.

Farah is also co-founder and facilitator of Diaspora Futures, a reflective space for people of colour to centre collective care in the face of the climate crisis. She was on the sounding board for Arvae, a site-specific experiment in collaborative work between artists, scientists and regional environmental experts in Arosa, Switzerland, and was on the oversight board for Art For The People, a citizen’s assembly on arts and culture in Coventry. She is an alumni of the peer-led accelerator programme Huddlecraft and is also an Arts Emergency mentor, supporting young people into careers in the arts.

Thiago Jesus is a creative producer and researcher that joined JB in 2022 to work on the Creative and Climate Leadership programme. For over ten years, he has managed wide-ranging international creative projects and interdisciplinary research at People’s Palace Projects (Queen Mary University of London) in collaboration with artists, academics, activists, and local communities in ten countries.

Since 2014, as the head of PPP’s Indigenous Exchange and Climate Action projects, Thiago has been working closely with Indigenous peoples from the Xingu Territory—in the Brazilian Amazon’s ‘arc of deforestation’—leading an exchange programme for the preservation of indigenous cultural practices as a key factor in safeguarding these communities from the climate crisis.

Thiago is doing doctoral research at Queen Mary University of London, funded by the AHRC (LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Awards). The study, ‘The Art of Creating Climates’, investigates how third-sector organisations with arts and environment at the heart of their programmes approach climate change and respond to environmental issues in distinct North and South contexts, in partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Inhotim Institute in Brazil.

Thiago holds a MA in Visual Culture (University of Westminster) and a BA in Media and Communications (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Aimee Smith is an award-winning choreographer and climate change professional working for 20 years at the intersection of these two fields.

As a choreographer Aimee has created over 15 professional productions including Borderline, Wintering, Accidental Monsters of Meaning and The Futures Project, and has an extensive community arts and cultural exchange practice. She is inspired by the capacity of art and creative experiences to hold spaces for dialogue about the issues of our time, and to imagine the kind of future(s) we want to create.

With a Masters in Sustainability and Climate Policy, Aimee has also worked as a climate change professional across government, business and academia. She has supported arts companies and festivals to develop and implement sustainability strategies and climate action plans, and co-founded Arts and Cultural Workers for Climate Action (ACWCA) to mobilise WA artists & cultural workers for the global student climate strikes.

Anna Weekes is a parent, activist & artist with a CACD practice, working both in Australia and internationally on arts projects for social and environmental justice. Anna has previously worked in Cambodia with an arts organisation, and remote Vanuatu with a women’s group.

Anna has spent the last 14 years working in the Northern Territory. Anna is one of the Creative Producers and Executive Officers at Darwin Community Arts, is a recipient of the Kirk Robson CACD Award, Future Leaders, and Australian Progress fellowship alumni.

Antonia is an arts leader living and working on Gadigal land. She has a rich knowledge of the performing arts sector and the national touring landscape, and is passionate about the transformative impact of arts experiences as well as working collaboratively to lead on change. In her current role as Executive Director of Arts on Tour, she has led on, and is deeply committed to, supporting the transition to environmentally sustainable touring, launching in 2022 the award-winning Green Touring Toolkit. In 2024 Arts on Tour will launch a carbon neutral touring service.

Antonia has held senior management roles in marketing, producing and development at companies large and small, including Urban Theatre Projects, the Australian Theatre Forum, Performing Lines, the Lyric Hammersmith in London and Sydney Dance Company. An alumna of Adaptive Leadership Australia, past Board roles include Co-Chair of PYT Fairfield and Chair of De Quincey Co.

Ari Fuller is Facilities Management Officer at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Queensland. With 20 years of invaluable experience at QAGOMA, Ari has emerged as a driving force for museum sustainability practices. Leading the sustainability portfolio since 2015, Ari has implemented comprehensive initiatives that have positioned QAGOMA at the leading edge of Australian museum sustainability.

Drawing on a strong background in museum operations and armed with dual arts degrees, Ari brings a unique blend of artistic sensibility, operational expertise and personal influence to his role. His commitment to institutional carbon reduction strategies has earned him recognition in and beyond the art gallery community. With a vision of carbon neutrality, Ari continues to shape the future of museum operations, leaving an indelible mark on QAGOMA’s sustainability practices and contributing to the preservation of art and culture for generations to come.

Astrid Edwards is a teacher, interviewer and critic. Her PhD at the University of Melbourne investigates potential and perceived barriers to publishing and selling climate fiction in Australia. She hosts The Garret, a podcast exploring the Australian writing and publishing industry, and teaches in the Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University. She is the former Chair of Melbourne Writers Festival and former Deputy Chair of Writers Victoria.

Beatrice is a Facilitator, Creative Producer and Climate Impact Manager. For the best part of the last decade, Bea has worked with festivals, events, arts organisations and touring musicians to reduce emissions and take action on climate.

Bea has worked with Green Music Australia, the Off-Grid Living Festival, Slingsby Theatre Company, the Adelaide Festival, Tim Minchin and Lime Cordial.

Last year Bea co-produced Climate Crisis and the Arts, a free one-day event as part of the Adelaide Festival. Bea also co-curated and produced Australia’s first Culture and Environment Roundtable, a collaboration with Julie’s Bicycle, British Arts Council and Australian Council for the Arts.

In November 2022, Bea launched Creative Climate Action, an environmental action course to build frameworks and set goals for sustainability in the live music and arts sector.

Bea is currently working with FEAT.Live, spearheading a new climate action strategy designed to reduce the emissions of live entertainment by unlocking sustainability funding through ticket sales.

In between projects, Bea leads multi-day hiking trips and outdoor adventures around Australia.

Bryony Anderson has been a maker, designer and creative director of participatory artworks for 26 years, creating high calibre works with salvaged materials for puppetry, performance and exhibition. Her work has toured nationally and internationally with many of Australia’s leading performing arts companies. Currently heading Terrapin’s workshop team in Hobart, Tasmania, she has led the company’s move towards carbon neutrality. She has held over 120 workshops in rural, desert, and urban communities and is currently training emerging makers in sustainable practice.

Bryony and her family spent 15 years living in an off-grid shed in the forests of NSW, where they experienced first-hand the upheavals of extreme climate events. Her work is dedicated to raising awareness of the preciousness of resources and ecosystems, coupled with the potential of imagination to motivate and illuminate.

Catherine Polcz is a curator and creative producer working across museums and media specialising in climate and the natural world. Drawing on her background as a botanist and ecologist, she has conceived and produced content for science festivals, events and panel discussions and has exhibited her own work at artist centres in Canada, US and Australia. Since 2018, she has been science producer at the Powerhouse Museum and Sydney Observatory. She is the curator of 100 Climate Conversations, the new Powerhouse climate solutions exhibition, program and podcast featuring 100 weekly conversations with Australian climate leaders.

Charlie Mgee is a songwriter, ukulele-player, permaculturist and founder of the world-renowned ecological funk/swing band, Formidable Vegetable. Growing up in a tin shed with a veggie garden, rainwater tank and one 100W solar panel for power in the south-west of Western Australia, Charlie lived the low-impact lifestyle from a young age, using a dunny that didn’t flush and hanging out with his chickens for entertainment, which made him realise early on that you don’t need a lot in life to be happy.

Later on, Charlie went off to study permaculture and soon after, formed Formidable Vegetable – a band based entirely around principles of regenerative living and being good to the planet, with the hope of inspiring people everywhere to grow better gardens/lives/communities and generally make the world a nicer & more ecologically just place.

His music has been acclaimed by the United Nations and the band has performed not once, not twice, but thrice at Glastonbury Festival alongside such acts as Ed Sheeran, Dolly Parton and The Rolling Stones, inspiring the creation of many a backyard, frontyard and community garden, among other things.

Eliki Reade is an Interdependent Producer and artist of kailoma-Fijian (Fijian/European) heritage. Eliki is intrigued by many forms of storytelling and the ways it is creatively embodied, engaging with work that centres the practice, creating critical connection. Centring relationships in the work that they do and not tied to form, their producing practice covers various forms across performing and visual arts including live music, parties, poetry and spoken word performance, workshops, exhibitions, experimental and digital art. Put simply, ‘they like making cool stuff with their mates’.

They wear multiple creative hats including Program & Events Coordinator at MPavilion, co-instigator with Lana Nguyen for A Climate For Arts commissioned by Diasporas, Co-Creative Producer for Listening Across Faultlines, Pacific Drift—Crenulations & Oceanic Refractions with AM Kanngieser and Mere Nailatikau supported by Australia Council’s International Engagement Fund and VACS, Cultural Advisor for Museums Victoria’s Culture Makers Program, and Co-Chair with Lana Nguyen at SEVENTH Gallery, among many other personally fun and exciting projects and loves.

Eliki is a recipient of the Creative Victoria’s Unlocking Capacity grant (2022-24) and is currently developing a working methodology and manifesto, applying iTaukei / Indigenous Fijian knowledge in intercultural collaboration.

Fiona Lee (b. 1981 Vancouver) is a visual artist and the government relations advisor for Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action (BSCA). A graduate of Newcastle Art School and the University of Newcastle (with class one honours in sculpture), Fiona’s journey merges her art practice with her dedication to climate activism.

The line between protest, installation and campaigning is blurred, with a constant focus on challenging the social license of fossil fuels by highlighting the personal costs of climate change. Her involvement in grassroots social justice and climate organisations across the country spans two decades, including her recent coordination of the Gas Free Hunter Alliance.

A pivotal moment in her campaigning work was her participation in Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action’s landmark court win in 2021. The NSW Land and Environment Court ruled that the NSW Environment Protection Authority take significant action on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. This groundbreaking decision marked the first time an Australian court had directed a government agency to address climate change, setting a precedent for targeted climate policies across Australian states.

Following the devastating loss of her home in the 2019-20 bushfire crisis, Fiona embarked on a 12-month Bushfire Affected Artist residency at The Creator Incubator in Newcastle. From the remnants of her scorched home, Fiona crafted unapologetic and political artworks that addressed her personal loss and the impact of climate change on us all. Her resulting solo exhibition, Carbon Tax, toured Maitland and Manning Regional Art Galleries, CLIMARTE Gallery Melbourne, was featured on ABC Artworks TV and in The Art of Protest at Newcastle Art Gallery.

In 2024 her public artwork High Tide, a collaboration with architectural designer Aaron Crowe, is set to be installed at Yapang Sculpture Park within the Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie.

Grace is a scientist and stage manager with a unique blend of expertise. Currently pursuing her PhD in social-ecological systems, Grace held a previous career as a stage manager, touring nationally and internationally. Driven by her love for both theatre and the environment, Grace has undertaken a mission to promote sustainability within Australia’s theatre industry. With a strong background in research and science communication, Grace founded Griffin Theatre Company’s Green Griffin program and Bump Out Sydney. Her current project is the creation of The Theatre Green Book Australia.

Grace firmly believes that sustainability should be accessible to all and that everyone can contribute to positive change. Her research centres on cultivating and strengthening stakeholder networks across Australia to advance sustainability in the creative and cultural sectors. By understanding the intricacies of the professional theatre industry, and the science behind climate change and sustainability, Grace combines her dual passions to help arts organisations create and maintain greener theatrical practices.

Guy Ritani (Ia/they/them) is a proud Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kahungunu & Macnamara takatāpui Māori artist, activist, designer and teacher currently living on Kombumerri Country. Co-founder of PermaQueer, Pacific Climate Warrior & community organiser, Guy’s work is within the growing edge of our systemic ecological relationships to Whenua/Country, building food systems, economic support systems and housing that aligns to our planetary limits. Guy is the President of regional arts council Tamborine Mountain Arts Collective and is passionate about social systems and climate justice. Their practice it within storytelling and uses the whatever medium is available and most appropriate to tell stories needing to be told.

Dr Jen Rae is an award-winning artist-researcher of Canadian Scottish-Métis (Indigenous) descent based in unceded Djaara Country/Castlemaine, Victoria. Jen’s practice-led expertise is situated at the intersections of art, speculative futures and climate emergency disaster adaptation + resilience – predominantly articulated through transdisciplinary collaborative methodologies and multi-platform projects, community alliances and public pedagogies. She is a Co-founder and Creative Research Lead of the Centre for Reworlding.

A Bundjalung-Kannakan woman (she/her) and emerging artist, Juundaal lives on Wodi Wodi land of the Dharawal nation and returned to visual arts study at the University of Wollongong in 2018. Her work functions within the discomfort of decolonisation frameworks to actively negotiate tensions, investigate strength in vulnerability and contribute to empowering the non-Indigenous and Indigenous relationship in addressing climate crisis. Healing, cultural connection and learning inextricably fuel and co-exist within her work within an intersectional environmental and Aboriginal cultural revitalisation context. As an emerging artist with a disability, her mentors and space for diverse expression in the arts, are also integral to her creative practice.

Dr Kate Scardifield is an artist and researcher living and working on Gadigal Land. Her practice is cross-disciplinary, collaborative, and focused on charting materials and material systems through states of transformation. Her works span large-scale installations, adaptable textiles, sculpture, and video. Her current projects are investigating algae-based biopolymers, designing with biomaterials for carbon capture and storage, and working with textiles as instruments for navigation, transmission and communication.

She is co-founder and Co-Director of the Material Ecologies Design Lab at the University of Technology Sydney. MEDL is a creative practice and interdisciplinary research lab committed to transforming waste and transitioning material systems for a post-petrochemical world. She is a member of the Algal Biosystems and Biotechnology group in the UTS Climate Change Cluster, working closely with marine scientists and biotechnologists on the design and development of algae-based materials for fashion, textiles and architecture.

Keg de Souza is an artist of Goan ancestry who lives and works on unceded Gadigal land in Sydney. Architecturally trained, she creates social and spatial environments, making reference to her lived experiences of squatting and organising with projects that use and food politics, temporary architecture, publishing and radical pedagogy. Keg draws from personal experiences of colonialism – from her own ancestral lands being colonised to living as a settler on other peoples unceded lands – to inform her layered projects that centre marginalised voices and lesser-known stories for learning about Place.

kelli is an artist and co-founder of boorloo based experimental art group, pvi collective. their work is renowned for being socially engaged and participatory, seeking to empower audiences to step out of their comfort zones.

kelli is a passionate advocate for experimental practice and it’s continued growth in australia. kelli is an AusCo peer, a member of #feminist educators against sexism, a climate champion for better futures australia and a trouble-maker at heart – good trouble, that is 🙂

Na’im lives and works on stolen Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country. They’re a settler non-binary disabled queer neurodiverse radical composer, ecologist & sound artist. Their practice, identity & values are indivisible. Their work explores environmental and social justice, & personal experience using traditional notation, sonifying data, live-composing with objects, video scoring, field-recordings, hand-drawn graphic scores, & collaboration across artforms.

Na’im has been commissioned & had works performed in Australia, Aotearoa, UK, US, Hong Kong & China. They’ve had residencies at Tilde New Music Fest (Naarm, Aus) & Lijiang Studio (Yunnan, China). In 2022 they created the soundtrack to Zoë, A Good Catch Circus’s response to the climate crises.

Art is for everyone and it’s integral to growing change. Na’im wants to empower access to ecological & marginal knowledges, radical futures imagining, and weird enriching art experiences.

Noemie Huttner-Koros is a performance-maker, writer, dramaturg and community organiser based between Whajuk Noongar country and Wurundjeri country. Their practice is driven by a deep belief in the cultural and civic role of art and in engaging with sites and histories where queer culture, composting and ecological crisis occur. Shows include: Mother of Compost (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival), The Lion Never Sleeps (Australian Book Review’s Arts Highlights of 2019) & Democracy Repair Services (The Blue Room Theatre 2023).

Noemie has a Bachelor of Performing Arts, Performance Making (WAAPA) and a Master of Theatre, Dramaturgy from Victorian College of the Arts. They have worked with companies including: Mammalian Diving Reflex, Australian Theatre for Young People, DADAA, Propel Youth Arts WA and is currently the Graduate Dramaturg at Red Stitch Actors Theatre. They were the winner of the 2020 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize & 2021 WA Young Environmentalist of the Year.

Pippa Bailey is an independent producer/director/consultant based on Wangal Land in Sydney. She is committed connecting artistic practice to plans for fairer future where Climate Justice leads.

Pippa started her career as an actor and reporter/producer with SBSTV. She held leading roles in the UK including The Museum Of on London’s South Bank, oh!art at Oxford House in Bethnal Green, The World Famous – company of pyrotechnicians and Total Theatre Awards at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Since 2013 Pippa has worked as Senior Producer with Performing Lines, Sydney Festival and in the First Nations team at Carriageworks. As Director/Producer for ChangeFest 2019-21, she worked in collaboration with Elders and communities to create events that imagine systems change and rehearse fairer futures.

Pippa co-convenes the Cultural Gardeners – Australian Cultural Alliance for Climate Action, is a coordinator with Culture Declares Emergency UK, member of Collaborative Futures and a board Director of IETM: International network for contemporary performing arts.
ve Futures and a board Director of IETM – International Network for the Performing Arts.

Sēini ‘SistaNative’ Taumoepeau (she/her) is a Regenerative Orator & Songwoman, Faivā practitioner (performance of space). A voice of modern Australia, Sēini is an inter-disciplinary artist, storyteller and founder of OceaniaX, Pacific Wave and LELEI Wellness.

Commissions include: Sydney Opera House, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Museum of Contemporary Art. Sēini is a veteran of the arts, media, culture, educational and personal development sectors with an intersectional Oceanic-Pacific lens and First Nations focus.

She carries medicine in her presence, hands and voice, commanding an aesthetic in harmony and rhythm, working with the invisible and intangible.

Connecting with global communities, Sēini is known as: SistaNative, Napangardi & Cantora, with origins from Kingdom of Tonga. An Australian veteran with a career spanning more than 30+ years as a performance artist, presenter/broadcaster and creative industries professional.

Dr Tanja Beer is an ecological designer and community artist who is passionate about co-creating social gathering spaces that accentuate the interconnectedness of the more-than-human world. Originally trained as a performance designer and theatre maker, Tanja’s work increasingly crosses many disciplines, often collaborating with landscape architects and urban ecologists to inspire communication and action on environmental issues.

Her most celebrated project is The Living Stage: a global initiative that combines spatial design, permaculture and community engagement to create recyclable, biodegradable, biodiverse and edible event spaces. Tanja’s extensive career as a designer, educator and researcher builds on more than 20 years of practice. Her pioneering concept of Ecoscenography has been featured in numerous programs, exhibitions, articles and platforms around the world. Tanja is Co-director of the new Performance + Ecology Research Lab (P+ERL) and Senior Lecturer in Design at Griffith University (Brisbane). She is the author of Ecoscenography: An introduction to Ecological Design for Performance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).

Vika Mana is a Torres Strait Islander and Tongan storyteller that takes many forms. They are from the Zagareb and Dauareb tribes of Mer Island and the village of Fahefa in Tonga. They perform poetry, write criticism and breathe life into worlds whilst doing their best to protect this one. Vika excels in a variety of storytelling mediums, all of which centre sovereignty and justice.

This opportunity is open to:  

  • Practising artists and creative/cultural/arts professionals. 
  • Australian citizens or permanent residents. 
  • Individuals who are available to travel to Bundanon NSW to attend the program in full and in person from 11 – 16 September 2023. 

You can’t apply if: 

  • You have an overdue grant report. 
  • You owe money to the Australia Council. 
  • You are applying as a group or organisation. 

You can submit your application via our online application system 

If you have access requirements, please let us know how we can support you. Please see FAQs below for information on submitting a video application. 

Selection criteria:  

  • Nuanced understanding and reflection on what creative climate leadership means. 
  • Engagement with and awareness of climate change, environmental and/or social justice themes, issues and connections in your work to date. 
  • Ability and capacity to take action and lead change. 
  • Demonstrated ability and willingness to work collaboratively and contribute to a group. 

Applications will be reviewed by staff and industry advisors. Your application will be based on quality, response to the selection criteria above, and in line with Australia Council’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. 

Please note:   

To apply you must be registered in our application management system a minimum of two business days prior to the closing date.  

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application approximately four weeks after the closing date.

Learn more about how we assess your application.

Applicants may choose to supply up to 3 links or attachments to support your application (optional).  

Examples include: 

  • online links to documentation (blogs, news articles, other multimedia content) 
  • past projects and reports 
  • links to video files should be between one to ten minutes in .mp3, .mp4, .mov or .wmv formats 

The CCL Australia programme includes: 

A five-day residential course for arts and cultural professionals who want to take a lead on climate change. Participants will arrive on Monday and leave the following Saturday, with full days of workshops, discussions and talks in between. 

The training sessions will: 

• Explore the role of culture and creativity in responding to climate change and environmental challenges. 

• Share case studies, research, approaches and practical solutions for environmental sustainability in the cultural sector. 

• Enable each participant to develop their leadership and ideas. 

• Prepare participants to apply their learning and new skills when they return home. 

• Support ongoing learning and exchange through an alumni network. 

Themes will include: 

• Approaches to organisational change. 

• Engaging people with new narratives and shifting values through art and design. 

• Encouraging behaviour change through communications and advocacy. 

•  Collaborative ways of working to maximise impact in civic society and policy making. 

A full programme will be released to participants in advance of the course. 

After the course, participants will become members of the CCL Alumni network, which will facilitate ongoing communications. 

CCL Australia is open to practising artists and creative/cultural/arts professionals based in and/or working in Australia. We encourage creatives and leaders that want to challenge the status quo and conventional ways of thinking. 

Previous applicants and/or alumni from Australia Council leadership programs are eligible to apply.

The CCL Australia will take place between 11 – 16 September 2023, at Bundanon NSW, therefore you need to ensure you are available to participate fully, in person, for the full duration. 

​Dates: 

Monday 11 September 2023 – Participants arrive at Bundanon 

Monday 11 to Saturday 16 September 2023 – Training course 

Saturday 16 September 2023 – Participants depart Bundanon. 

The new Bridge and Art Museum are wheelchair accessible. There are designated accessible parking spaces available outside the Bridge and Art Museum. Guide dogs and assistance animals are allowed on Bundanon properties. 

Arthur Boyd’s Studio and the ground floor of the Homestead are wheelchair accessible. There is a staircase inside the Homestead and uneven ground in the visitor carpark and throughout the site. 

We are committed to ensure to remove all possible barriers to participation. If you have any access requirements please let us know in advance so we can make the necessary adjustments. Please contact HOPadmin@creative.gov.au

Participants do not need to do any work prior to attending the course. However, an important part of this CCL is active participation. All participants will be given space to share their skills, knowledge or experience with the other participants. All participants will become members of the CCL Alumni network, which will facilitate ongoing communications. 

Yes, CCL Australia will be held in person at Bundanon, NSW. Applicants must be able to travel and participate in person for the full duration of the course. 

Yes, if you would prefer to submit a video application instead of a written application, please record a video of max 5 minutes addressing the questions in the application form. For further information on how to submit a video application, or if you would like to discuss submitting an application in another format, please email HOPadmin@australicouncil.gov.au.

The Australia Council will cover the costs of accommodation and all meals at Bundanon, NSW during the course. 

Bus travel between Sydney and Bundanon will be provided by the Australia Council. Successful applicants can make their own preferred travel arrangements to Bundanon from other locations at their own cost.

There is an optional question for those seeking to apply for a stipend to support costs. Australia Council will pay a stipend to successful applicants who are self-employed and/or freelancers, and need support to cover costs such as interstate travel, course participation and other expenses. We suggest applicants include a breakdown of the costs you anticipate needing to cover when answering this question.

We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, and the appropriate protocols will be put in place. We will remain in close communication with all successful applicants to chart the best course of action. 

We ask all participants to take a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) within 24 hours before the programme starts and recommend wearing wear masks when travelling to the event on public transport. Masks and RAT tests will be made available on-site. 

Spaces will be ventilated with regular opening of windows where possible (please bring layers in case of cooler temperatures), and some sessions will be held outside weather permitting. 

All participants who, prior to the event, have symptoms of a respiratory infection, have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to carry out normal activities will be asked to stay at home. Any participants and facilitators who present symptoms during the programme will be asked to self-isolate until they have had a negative RAT test and will be asked to wear masks and maintain a distance to other participants if re-joining the group. 

Creative Climate Leadership Program Information Session

Download the transcript.

Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP)

This three-month residency offers $12,500 plus time and space for open-ended research and experimentation.

Image caption: HIAP Suomenlinna. Credit: Sirja Moberg.

About the opportunity

Founded in 1998, HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme – is the largest international residency centre in the Nordic and Baltic region. Every year up to 40 artists and arts professionals residing in Finland and abroad are offered a working period at HIAP.

With $12,500 in funding, this three-month residency program offers time and space for open-ended research and experimentation, without the requirement to produce finalised work. The HIAP residency venues are located on Suomenlinna island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located a 15-minute ferry ride away from the centre of Helsinki, and in the Cable Factory cultural complex in Helsinki.

The HIAP residency program focuses on visual arts, however, it is open to artists and curators from various disciplines. Collaborating with local and international partner organisations, residencies extend to such creative fields as dance, theatre, literature, and music. The activities are organised predominantly through thematic residency programs that highlight a geographical area or concentrate on a specific contemporary topic or an aspect of artistic practice.

The HIAP residency program offers time and support for developing new work in dialogue with the local art scene. The goal is to offer space for experimental, cross-disciplinary art practices and to actively contribute to topical debates within and around the context of art.

The HIAP team help the residents with their research as well as practical everyday matters. Residents have access to services such as weekly residency community meetings, facilities and equipment, and the option to take part in the HIAP Open Studios event. This normally takes place towards the end of each residency season and is an opportunity to present work-in-progress to arts professionals and the general public.

If you need advice about your application, contact an Artists Services Officer.

Information pack: Download PDF.

Meet this year’s participants

Caitlin Franzmann

Caitlin Franzmann

Caitlin Franzmann is a Meanjin/Brisbane based artist who creates installations, participatory works and performances that explore ethics of learning with, and caring for, the environment. She is interested in understanding how histories and the influencing forces of power and care, shape places, cultures, and ecosystems. In reaction to the fast pace and sensory overstimulation of contemporary urban life, she invites people to slow down, gather, listen, and contemplate interactions with their surroundings and with other living entities. Since 2018 Caitlin has worked with Ensayos, a collective research practice working on issues of political ecology in Tierra del Fuego and other archipelagos.

Simon Lawrie

Simon Lawrie

Simon Lawrie is an independent curator and writer focused on spatial practice, public art commissions and site-responsive projects. His approach often aims to articulate and augment the experience of place, working closely with artists across sculpture, sound, installation, film, and performance to explore tensions between integration and intervention within a given context. Based in Melbourne, Lawrie completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and a Master of Art Curatorship at University of Melbourne. Major exhibitions include Lorne Sculpture Biennale 2025 (current); Site and sound: sonic art as ecological practice (2021); and Solid light: Josef Stanislaw Ostoja-Kotkowski (2019).

  • Only individuals may apply to this category.
  • You must be a practicing artist or arts worker and an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply if:

  • You received a grant, or administered a grant, from us in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
  • You owe money to Creative Australia
  • We will not accept applications from legally constituted organisations.

Our staff and industry advisors in consultation with HIAP will consider applications according to the assessment criteria. Successful applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by mid-October 2024.

Applicants must address the following assessment criteria:

  1. Artistic merit
  • suitability of your practice to the residency program and its artistic environment/offer
  • quality of work previously produced, and public and peer response to your work.
  1. Viability
  • suitability of your proposal to the residency program
  • the skills and artistic ability of your collaborators (if applicable) and their relevance to the proposed activity
  • realistic and achievable planning, resource use and evaluation.
  1. Impact on career
  • how the proposed activity strengthens your artistic practice
  • the relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
  • how the proposed activity strengthens your capacity as an arts professional, particularly in relation to international development and collaboration.

You should submit support material with your application. Assessors may review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your project.

What you should provide

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact us.

There are three types of support material you may submit:

1. Artistic support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work.

Types of support material we accept

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).

You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.

These URLs can include a total of:

  • 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
  • 10 images
  • 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).

Please note: Our assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.

If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

Other accepted file formats

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:

  • video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
  • audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
  • images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
  • written material (Word and PDF).

2. Biographies and CVs

You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.

Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.

3. Letters of support

Individuals, groups, or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants, or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

The selected residents stay in a HIAP Suomenlinna atelier apartment. The residency spaces are in the Palmstierna studio complex, a renovated two-storey red-brick barrack from the 18th century, currently housing nine residential units (five atelier apartments and four regular apartments) and one workspace for artists.

The HIAP Suomenlinna atelier apartments are approx. 80 sqm each, furnished, and divided into a working space downstairs and a separate living space with bathroom and fully equipped kitchenette upstairs. The atelier apartments feature two single beds and a sofa-bed and can accommodate a family up to three persons. Bedding, linen, and towels are provided. The atelier apartments have a wireless internet connection. You can see some of the residency spaces here.

It is possible to access the ground floor of the HIAP atelier apartments, office, Gallery Augusta & Project Space by wheelchair, but HIAP recommend wheelchair users be accompanied by a person assisting because the entrance doors are not step-free. The living area of the two-story atelier apartments is accessible only via staircase (approx. 19 steps), and not accessible by wheelchair. The toilets are not spacious enough to meet accessibility standards. Despite this, HIAP are happy to help you plan your residency. Please contact HIAP to discuss your access needs and receive additional information. You can also find further details on accessibility in the information pack.

To apply for this grant, you will need to complete an online application form. If you would like to submit sections of your application in accessible formats such as audio or video, please contact us at least two weeks before the closing date.

Family members and guests are welcome in all HIAP’s locations. The atelier apartment can accommodate a family of two adults with up to two small children. The set up of the apartment cannot accommodate artists living together outside of a family situation. Please note that pets are not allowed in the rooms.

Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

2022-2023

  • Sarah Rodigari
  • Make or Break
  • Helen Svoboda

2021-2022

2020-2021

  • Rebekah (Bek) Berger
  • Joshua Pether

2019-2020

  • Rhiannon Newton
  • Judith Hamann
  • Sarah Aiken
  • Courtney Coombs

2018-2019

  • Loren Kronemyer
  • Lisa Hilli
  • Tamara Searle
  • Caitlin Yardley

2017-2018

  • Laith McGregor
  • Tessa Rapaport
  • Natalie Abbott
  • Matt Shilcock

Frequently Asked Questions

Unless stated otherwise in the program description, all residencies are offered for fixed dates and periods of time.

Yes, but this will be at your own cost and we will not be able to provide additional funds towards the extension.

No. You are not required to provide a budget with your application.

There is no requirement for you to provide a timetable of your activities, unless stated otherwise in the individual residency program guidelines.

Yes. If successful, you are required to take out travel insurance for the duration of your residency. It is recommended you pay for this from your grant.

The capacity to accommodate children and partners varies for different residencies. Please check the program descriptions for specific requirements. Please note that the programs are limited to the participating artist only and have various limitations e.g. communal living and/or working space or modest living quarters.

Yes, the grant to an individual that accompanies a residency is considered income and taxable. Please visit the Australian Taxation Office website for more information.

The International Residencies Program is dynamic and responsive and the programs on offer may vary from year to year.

Yes. If you are looking for some tips on organising your residency or programs in the region you’re interested in, check out the Tips and Links resources on our International Engagement web page.

There is no limit to the number of international residencies applications you can submit. However, you will need to consider how the assessors will perceive your commitment to a particular residency program and/or market if you have applied for multiple residencies. Each residency requires you to submit a separate application form. Please note, applications to International Engagement funding opportunities do not count as an application to the Creative Australia Grants Program.

Yes, as long as you have satisfactorily acquitted the previous residency grant.

The grant is not intended to cover lost income or rent at home and applicants will need to consider their capacity to undertake the residency prior to applying.

We partner with established and reputable residency providers and each program is unique. Successful applicants will be provided with detailed information about each residency and introductions to the residency providers who will assist artists with making local connections. Our staff are able to provide further advice and contacts, as requested. Artists are also expected to have their own resources, contacts and project plans for the residency.

The grant is a contribution from Creative Australia toward your travel (including airfares and travel insurance) and living costs during the residency period. Applicants are expected to research the cost of living in the residency location they are travelling to. You may need to supplement the grant with your own funds depending on your projected costs for the residency period.

We cannot provide any advice on visa or immigration matters. You must contact the relevant country’s visa service to get current information. We suggest you allow plenty of time to apply for all international visas.

Playing Australia Multi-Year Investment

The Regional Performing Arts Touring program (Playing Australia) supports performing arts to reach regional and remote communities across Australia.

The Regional Performing Arts Touring program (Playing Australia) supports performing arts to reach regional and remote communities across Australia. Playing Australia Multi-Year Investment is offered to support the net touring and other designated costs associated with three years of touring activity (2023 – 2025).

Organisations may apply for up to $350,000 per annum for three years.

Three organisations will receive Playing Australia Multi-Year Investment to be awarded through a peer assessed process.

Based on the proposed audience engagement plans, regional and remote presenters, proposed locations for touring may be either:

  • The same locations for each year of touring
  • A different itinerary for each year

Recipients of Playing Australia Multi-Year Investment will not be eligible to submit applications to Playing Australia Project Investment for tours that take place between 2023 – 2025.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to speak to a member of the Artists Services team before applying.

Please read our updated FAQs at the bottom of this page before commencing your application.

Who can apply

We accept applications from organisations.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply for a grant if:

  • you receive investment through the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework
  • you received a grant, or administered a grant, from the Australia Council in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
  • you owe money to the Australia Council.

What you can apply for

You can apply for:

  • inter-state touring costs, including freight, transport, accommodation and travel allowances
  • a contribution towards tour coordination, at a set rate per venue
  • costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of touring
  • costs associated with supporting the wellbeing of the touring company
  • a portion of costs associated with re-mounting a work
  • where COVID-19 conditions prevail, costs associated with COVIDSafe delivery of touring.

The Australia Council will continue to take account of the impacts of COVID-19 on touring, including adjusting eligible costs and the possible extension of temporary adjustments depending on the current COVID-19 conditions.

What you can’t apply for

You can’t apply for the following activity:

  • projects for which the performers and artistic personnel are not paid at award rates
  • projects to tour an international production
  • touring projects that only include capital city or metropolitan presentations
  • touring projects that only include presentations in schools
  • tour dates that have already taken place
  • projects with a budget in surplus
  • activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to the Australia Council First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols.

Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Your application will be assessed by a panel of peers. The peers will be representative of a range of areas relevant to performing arts touring, including:

  • regional audience engagement and presentation
  • performing arts production
  • tour coordination and management.

Peers will assess your application against the following four criteria.

You should consider COVID-19 in your application where relevant conditions prevail.

Region

  • The regional and remote coverage proposed by the itinerary for the first year of investment. For the 2nd and 3rd years of investment this may be evidenced through existing partnerships and partnerships in development
  • the regional and remote coverage proposed by the itinerary and the flexibility to respond to COVID-19 conditions.

Quality

  • The national touring track record of the applicant
  • the selection rationale for determining which productions are most appropriate for the touring program.
  • the calibre of the organisation, including demonstrated evidence of good planning, governance and management.

If known:

  • the artists and the arts workers involved in the project/s
  • the quality of proposed work/s

Engagement

  • Experiences offered to regional and remote communities – including audience attendance and where appropriate other participation activities, such as workshops and master classes, digital offerings
  • how partnerships will be developed and maintained with presenters and regional communities throughout the three year period.
  • appropriate levels of engagement and partnerships developed with presenters to achieve audience goals within COVID-19 conditions.

Viability

  • Evidence of a realistic and well-planned budget (for 2023 touring)
  • evidence of home state of applicant
  • the proposed itinerary is the most efficient and logical trajectory for the tour and accounts for potentially changing COVID-19 restrictions in each state and territory
  • the itinerary considers the overall wellbeing of the touring party whilst on tour
  • appropriate level of support from other sources
  • capacity to deliver the proposed activity
  • appropriate COVIDSafe protocols in place for touring party, venues and audiences
  • appropriate mitigation strategies if the touring environment changes due to restrictions for COVID-19 within state or territory jurisdictions.

ESSENTIAL:

1. Playing Australia Budget (2023 touring only)

This must be submitted in Excel format only. Download the template in the ‘Budget’ section of the application form. Submit the completed form as support material titled ‘2023 Budget’.

 

OPTIONAL:

1. Production excerpt

You may submit a video of up to five minutes of a production you plan to tour. For companies proposing to tour works yet to be produced, a video of a past example of the company’s work should be submitted. For music works, a sound recording is acceptable. Files must be provided as one URL link.

2. Letters of Support

Individuals, groups or organisations can write letters in support of your project. Presenters and venues may also wish to provide letters of support reflecting their commitment to the tour. A support letter should explain to the assessment panel how the project or activity will benefit the applicant or the broader community (and if applicable, how the project or activity will benefit community participants).

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page. Maximum 5 pages may be submitted as one PDF.

3. Reviews relating to the production (if applicable)

Maximum 3 pages may be submitted as one PDF.

4. Brief biographical information on principal personnel (if applicable)

Maximum 3 pages as one PDF.

Whilst this material is not compulsory, you are advised to consider providing any relevant items, to support the overall competitiveness of your application.

Please note: you are not required to supply Presenter Confirmations as essential support material but should consider supplying letters of support from selected presenters/communities to support your application.

Playing Australia Multi-Year Investment FAQ’s

Under this fund a national tour is three or more locations outside of your home state. A break in the middle of a consecutive schedule of locations is possible if there is a compelling reason and the impact on the funding request is minimal. 

A professional production is one where the performers and artistic personnel are paid at the appropriate recognised industry level.

To be eligible for this investment, the work/s needs to be produced by an Australian company or produced by an artist or collective of artists who are Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia. The content of the work, the writer, composer or choreographer are not required to be Australian. An eligible work could also include a percentage of international performers as part of an Australian co-production.

We welcome national touring applications from all forms of professionally produced live performance across theatre, dance and music.

The Australia Council also offers the Contemporary Music Touring Program. If you are interested in touring music nationally please contact an Artists Services Officer to determine which category is most suitable for your tour.

This Australia Council, as do many government departments and agencies, uses the ARIA (Accessibility Remoteness Index of Australia) to determine the regional and remote classification for each town. The ARIA considers a range of factors, including distance to services, to group all locations in Australia into 5 ARIA Code areas. To find out if your project meets the eligible criteria (i.e. inclusion of venues with an ARIA rating of 1-4) and search for the relevant ARIA codes, please download this form.

Yes, provided you meet the eligibility requirement of including regional and or remote locations in your itinerary. Please note there is no quota or ratio required for regional and remote versus metropolitan locations. However, applicants must note that the purpose of the program is to support regional and remote access.

Yes, your itinerary can include activities that offer additional opportunities for the community to engage with the performers or art, which reflect the engagement strategy provided in your application. As the focus of this fund is performances, additional activities should be scheduled in an efficient way within the itinerary.

Depending on prevailing COVID-19 conditions  engagement strategies should consider COVIDSafe delivery requirements.

  • interstate net touring costs and tour coordination fees. Applicants should research the net touring costs based on current prices and add a reasonable contingency to each item
  • budgets may include a portion of costs associated with a remount of an existing production. In your application and budget please ensure you clearly outline the costs involved, ensuring they are eligible.
  • Where appropriate, please show how presenter fees have been reduced to provide them with relief on this expense. Be sure to show what costs the presenter will be liable for (this could include venue costs, marketing, a proportion of wages for the touring party, and any in-kind costs).
  • carbon offsets or other similar programs to reduce carbon emissions, or other activity which reduces the environmental impact of the tour
  • wellbeing programs (i.e. Employment Assistance Programs) or other activity which provides support for the company whilst on tour.

Depending on prevailing COVID-19 conditions applicants may request a contribution towards for costs associated with CovidSafe delivery of touring:

  • additional cleaning costs
  • touring costs for understudies or additional crew in the touring party (travel, accommodation, allowances) to mitigate against risk of illness within the touring party
  • costs for Personal Protective Equipment or other safety equipment.
  • accommodation, travel fares and transport costs for the touring party
  • relevant industrial award rates for travel allowances for the touring party
  • freight costs for the set and production elements.

The ‘touring party’ is defined as the performers, crew and other personnel required to stage the show.  In the application outline the members of your touring party.

This fund provides support to cover travel allowances at the rate set by the appropriate industry award plus contingency for scheduled increases. Productions that pay above the award rate or have their own certified agreement will need to find alternative sources to cover the difference.

The tour coordination fees support the cost of managing the tour logistics and travel bookings, providing a contribution towards those costs at a set rate of $550 per venue. The rate is automatically provided in the budget form and applicants are eligible to receive the tour coordination fee for venues outside of their home state.

You are required to provide a budget and itinerary for the first year of touring (2023). If you are successful in receiving Playing Australia Multi Year Investment you will be required to submit annually, a budget and itinerary for the following year (for 2024 – 2025). This material will be reviewed for eligibility based on the published guidelines and criteria, before the next instalment of investment is paid.

You may carry forward unspent funds into 2024 and 2025, though at the conclusion of the project and following the final acquittal, you will be required to return any unspent funds.

Some projects might have performers based in various states or perhaps the tour is managed by a tour coordinator from a different state or territory. For the purposes of this fund one ‘home state’ needs to be nominated to calculate the interstate versus intrastate costs. Generally, the ‘home state’ will be the street address of the production company. However, all applicants with different state or territory involvement should discuss with an Artists Services Officer to confirm the appropriate ‘home’ base for their application.

Depending on prevailing COVID-19 conditions, shorter tours which target a particular state or region are appropriate. In your application you should address the overall rationale of your tour itinerary in the context of COVID-19. Tours must still include 3 or more venues, including locations outside of metropolitan areas.

We will continue to work with clients whose touring activity is impacted by COVID-19 on an individual basis.

Cité internationale des arts Residency

Develop your professional practice over three months in Paris. Four residencies are on offer, open to artists working across any art form.

Image credit: View of the main building of the Cité Internationale des Arts – Site du Marais from the rue de l’Hôtel de Ville, 4th arrondissement of Paris / Photo by Maurine Tric, Adagp 2022, for the Cité Internationale des Arts.

About the opportunity

This residency is an opportunity for artists working across any artform area to direct their own program of activity and expand their practice and networks. There are four residencies on offer of three months each (with $12,500 support).

The Cité internationale des arts provides studio space to professional artists wanting to develop their practice in France. Every month, in partnership with 135 French and international organisations, the Cité’s two complementary sites welcome more than 300 artists from a wide range of disciplines for residencies lasting up to one year.

The diverse range of artists in residence at any one time allows for rich artistic conversations and potential for collaborations. The Cité has a vast network of contacts in Paris and wider France and can assist artists in developing their networks.

The complex provides facilities for artists including a print workshop and an exhibition space where artists can display their works, and an auditorium for events. The Cité also organises a program of open studios throughout the year. Please see the information pack for further details.

Resources to help strengthen your application and maximise your residency experience can be found here.

Cité welcome book: Download PDF

Creative Australia information pack: Download PDF

If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.

Who can apply

  • Only individuals may apply to this category.
  • You must be a practicing artist or arts worker and an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident.

Who cannot apply

You cannot apply if:

  • you received a grant, or administered a grant, from us in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
  • you owe money to Creative Australia
  • we will not accept applications from legally constituted organisations.

Our staff and industry advisors in consultation with the Cité will consider applications according to the assessment criteria. Successful applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by mid November 2024.

Applicants must address the following assessment criteria:

  1. Artistic merit
  • suitability of your practice to the residency program and its artistic environment/offer
  • quality of work previously produced, and public and peer response to your work
  1. Viability
  • suitability of your proposal to the residency program
  • the skills and artistic ability of your collaborators (if applicable) and their relevance to the proposed activity
  • realistic and achievable planning, resource use and evaluation.
  1. Impact on career
  • how the proposed activity strengthens your artistic practice
  • the relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
  • how the proposed activity strengthens your capacity as an arts professional, particularly in relation to international development and collaboration.

You should submit support material with your application. Assessors may review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your project.

What you should provide

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact us.

There are three types of support material you may submit:

  1. Support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work.

Types of support material we accept

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).

You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.

These URLs can include a total of:

  • 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
  • 10 images
  • 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).

Please note: Our assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.

If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

Other accepted file formats

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:

  • video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
  • audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
  • images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
  • written material (Word and PDF).
  1. Biographies and CVs

You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.

Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.

  1. Letters of support

Individuals, groups, or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants, or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

The studio is in the Cité internationale des arts site in the Marais district.

The studio is approximately 30 sqm, comprising of one large room off an entry, with a partitioned sleeping area, and a small kitchen and bathroom. The furniture is basic, with a bed, bookcase, small table, chairs and a dresser. A larger table and easel may also be requested if necessary.

The Cité is centrally located on the rue Hotel de Ville, which runs beside the Seine, approximately four blocks from the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre, and the Picasso Museum. There are four gallery districts in Paris, all within walking distance of the Cité. Close by is Le Marais, an area with many museums, commercial galleries, cheap restaurants, and coffee shops. The Cité is across the Seine from the Ile de Cité, which is the oldest part of Paris. The nearest metro stops are Pont Marie and St Paul.

The Cité’s studios are not wheelchair accessible. Additional access requirements during a residency may be accommodated on request.

The studio is suitable for a single artist or couple. Cité internationale des arts regulations also allow one child under seven years old to be in residence with the parent/s, however space is limited and there is a monthly charge per extra person.

Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, and provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Current residents

Corin Ileto

Rafaella McDonald

Jimmy Nuttall

Brooke Stamp

2022-23

  • Nicole Barakat
  • Grace Ferguson
  • Caroline Rothwell

2020-2021

  • Alisa Blakeney
  • Anita Heiss
  • Rebecca Jensen
  • Lee Serle

2019-2020

  • Yasmin Smith
  • Gabriella Smart
  • James Batchelor
  • Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey

2018-2019

  • Willurai Kirkbright
  • Sarah Rodigari
  • Angela Goh
  • Julia Drouhin

2017-2018

  • Mohini Chandra
  • Melissa Ashley
  • Nicola Gunn
  • Rachel Arianne Ogle

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Unless stated otherwise in the program description, all residencies are offered for fixed dates and periods of time.

Yes, but this will be at your own cost and we will not be able to provide additional funds towards the extension.

No. You are not required to provide a budget with your application.

There is no requirement for you to provide a timetable of your activities, unless stated otherwise in the individual residency program guidelines.

Yes. If successful, you are required to take out travel insurance for the duration of your residency. It is recommended you pay for this from your grant.

The studio is suitable for a single artist or couple. Cité internationale des arts regulations also allow one child under seven years old to be in residence with the parent/s, however space is limited and there is a monthly charge per extra person.

Yes, the grant to an individual that accompanies a residency is considered income and taxable. Please visit the Australian Taxation Office website for more information.

The International Residencies Program is dynamic and responsive and the programs on offer may vary from year to year.

Yes. Please refer to the Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups guidelines for details on applying.

Yes, as long as you have satisfactorily acquitted the previous residency grant.

The grant is not intended to cover lost income or rent at home and applicants will need to consider their capacity to undertake the residency prior to applying.

We partner with established and reputable residency providers and each program is unique. Successful applicants will be provided with detailed information about each residency and introductions to the residency providers who will assist artists with making local connections. Our staff are able to provide further advice and contacts, as requested. Artists are also expected to have their own resources, contacts and project plans for the residency.

The grant is a contribution from Creative Australia toward your travel (including airfares and travel insurance) and living costs during the residency period. Applicants are expected to research the cost of living in the residency location they are travelling to. You may need to supplement the grant with your own funds depending on your projected costs for the residency period.

We cannot provide any advice on visa or immigration matters. You must contact the relevant country’s visa service to get current information. We suggest you allow plenty of time to apply for all international visas.

The Cité’s studios are not wheelchair accessible. Additional access requirements during a residency may be accommodated on request.

Chosen

Chosen allows First Nations communities to take control and plan for how they will nurture younger people from their community/sector in the arts and/or culture.

About the opportunity

Chosen engages artists and communities to determine program design, delivery and evaluation to ensure the successful intergenerational transfer of arts and culture knowledge from older to younger generations.

This is an opportunity for First Nations communities, elders and senior artists to identify areas for younger people to be skilled through models that are appropriate to the project . The goal is to ensure the passing on of artistic and cultural knowledge from older generations through to younger generations.

First Nations Writers’ Residency

The Australia Council for the Arts in partnership with Magabala Books are calling on applications for the First Nations Writers’ Residency to be held in Broome between 4 -13 May 2020.

About the program

The Australia Council for the Arts in partnership with Magabala Books are calling on applications for the First Nations Writers’ Residency to be held in Broome between 4 -13 May 2020.

The residency will enable 6 participants to be immersed in their craft of writing and have the space to reflect and reconnect to their practice in collaboration with likeminded creatives.  It is also an opportunity to engage with Magabala Books, a leading Indigenous publishing house.

The residency is designed to provide First Nations Writers with the opportunity to gain insight into the roles of editors, agents, sales representatives and marketing your work within a global context.  It will enable further discussion around First Nations Literature and its place within the Australian contemporary society, along with generating ideas to further develop your practice.

This residency is open to mid-career to established First Nations Writers who have published a minimum of one book and have an ISBN and barcode.

All travel expenses, accommodation and meals are included. Successful applicants will also receive a fee of $1,000.

 

About Magabala Books

Magabala Books is Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house. Aboriginal owned and led, Magabala Books celebrate and nurture the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.

Based in Broome Western Australia, Magabala publish Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, artists and illustrators from all over Australia. An independent, not-for-profit Indigenous corporation, Magabala is governed by a dedicated board of Kimberley Aboriginal cultural leaders, educators, business professionals and creative practitioners.

Magabala publishes up to 15 new titles annually across a range of genres: children’s picture books, memoir, fiction (junior, young adult and adult), non-fiction, graphic novels, social history and poetry. Magabala Books keep a substantial backlist in print and their earliest titles stand strong alongside new releases in the trade and are of significant cultural importance.

Magabala’s commitment to developing new and emerging Indigenous writers, illustrators and one-time storytellers, sets them apart from other publishers. Their program of professional development is unparalleled in the industry.

Magabala’s award-winning titles are recognised for their literary merit, cultural significance and contribution to the canon of Australian literature.

Magabala Books is an advocate and guardian, protecting the cultural and intellectual property rights of all their creators. They play a significant advisory role within the publishing industry, modelling best practice for the publishing of Indigenous stories. Magabala also delivers a range of innovative social and cultural initiatives.

Every Magabala Book purchased is an investment in Indigenous creative, cultural and economic futures.

Playing Australia Project Investment

Supporting performing arts tours to reach regional and remote communities across Australia.

Alphabetical Sydney: All Aboard!. Image credit: Robert Catto.

Playing Australia Project Investment supports organisations to undertake performing arts tours to reach regional and remote communities across Australia.

The program supports costs associated with touring to regional and remote areas of Australia. There is no limit on the amount that can be requested. Touring activity must be confirmed prior to seeking investment through this category.

You can find a list of the previous recipients here.

Some significant changes have been made to the program from October 2024. Please ensure you read the guidelines in full and refer to the updated FAQs before commencing your application.

Please read our updated FAQs at the bottom of this page before commencing your application.

Please speak to a member of the Artists Services team before applying.

Who can apply

Legally constituted organisations only may apply.

 

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply for a grant if:

  • you have an overdue grant report
  • you are an individual or a group
  • you are in receipt of Playing Australia Multi-Year Investment
  • you owe money to Creative Australia.

 

What you can apply for

From October 2024, changes have been made to eligible costs. Applicants may now apply for any costs they deem necessary for the completion of a successful regional tour with a confirmed itinerary.

Creative Australia acknowledges that flexibility is required when touring and supports a variety of touring models. Applicants may seek investment for alternative touring models that:

  • propose activity such as residency models with live performance outcomes or concept touring
  • present a tour that includes significant and targeted community engagement
  • present an annual touring program for single or multiple works
  • propose a digital tour.

You can apply for support towards:

  • a tour that has a confirmed itinerary
  • payment of fees and salaries for artists and touring party
  • costs associated with remounting or rehearsing a work
  • production costs associated with touring the work or delivering the activity
  • touring costs including freight, transport, accommodation and travel allowances
  • tour co-ordination
  • costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of your tour
  • costs associated with supporting the wellbeing of the touring company.

 

What you can’t apply for

You can’t apply for:

  • touring projects that do not have a confirmed itinerary
  • touring projects that do not include three or more locations
  • tours for which the performers and artistic personnel are not paid at award rates
  • tours of an international production
  • tours that only include capital city or metropolitan presentations
  • tours that only include presentations in schools, aged care facilities or other settings not open to the general public
  • tours that have already taken place

Your application must comply with the following protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

  • Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts. All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, providing evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.
  • Commonwealth Child Safe Framework. All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Your application will be assessed by a panel of peers. The peers will be representative of a range of areas relevant to performing arts touring, including:

  • regional audience engagement and presentation
  • performing arts production
  • tour coordination and management.

Peers will primarily refer to the information supplied in applications and support material to make their assessment. They may also consider their own engagement with the work, relevant professional experience, and advice from Creative Australia staff.

Read more about how your application is assessed.

Peers will assess your application against the following four criteria:

Equity

Peers will assess the extent to which regional/remote audiences and communities and activities are supported. They may consider:

  • The regional and remote coverage or depth of engagement proposed by the itinerary. In general, there is an expectation that the majority (at least 60%) of your touring locations will be outside of metropolitan areas
  • Evidence of your relationships and conversations with presenting partners and communities, to support the regional reach of your proposed tour.
  • The rationale provided when an application proposes only intrastate touring and whether there are exceptional circumstances to justify investment through Playing Australia.
  • The balance of intrastate and interstate touring within an application where funds are sought for the intrastate leg, whether Playing Australia investment is justified.

Quality

Peers will assess the quality of the artistic, presentation and touring activities. They may consider:

  • The quality of the artists and the arts workers involved in the project
  • The quality of proposed touring work/s
  • The quality of the proposed community engagement activities.

 

Impact

Peers will assess the impact of the proposed activities for audiences and communities. They may consider:

  • Proposed impact of the performance outcome
  • Proposed impact for local artists or communities
  • Evidence of significant experiences offered to regional and remote communities, including audience attendance and participation, workshops, master classes and online/digital offerings.

 

Viability

Peers will assess the viability of the proposed itinerary, activities and budget.

Please note, the Playing Australia Budget is now completed within the application form, you are no longer required to complete an Excel budget template. Applicants will be expected to provide a rationale for their budget items. Peers may consider:

  • Evidence the budget is realistic and well-planned and considers potential impact for inflation on touring costs
  • The level of detail provided in the budget, to demonstrate clear breakdown of tour costs
  • Appropriate levels of support from other sources, particularly if an intrastate tour is proposed
  • Evidence of presenter confirmation for the delivery of the work in their location
  • Evidence of the home state of the proposed work
  • Evidence that the itinerary is the most efficient and logical trajectory for the tour
  • The calibre of the organisation, including demonstrated evidence of good planning, governance, and management
  • Capacity to deliver the tour
  • Evidence that the tour considers the overall health and well-being of the touring party
  • Where relevant, evidence of an environmental impact plan which may include cost benefits
  • Contingency planning and mitigation strategies (e.g. cancellations due to natural disaster; significant illness within touring company)
  • Consideration of any extenuating disruptions to the usual operating environment (e.g. effects of natural disasters or significant impacts due to inflation).

ESSENTIAL:

  1. Audited Accounts

If your investment request is above $250,000 you must provide the two most recent sets of audited accounts for your organisation, uploaded as support material.

OPTIONAL:

  1. Production excerpt
    You may submit a video or sound recording of up to five minutes of the work you plan to tour.  For companies proposing to tour works yet to be produced, a video or sound recording of a recent work is acceptable. If you are touring a music production, you can provide a sound recording. Files must be provided as a URL link.
  2. Letters of support
    Individuals, groups or organisations can write letters in support of your project. Presenters and venues may also wish to provide letters of support reflecting their commitment to the tour. A support letter should explain to the assessment panel how the project or activity will benefit the applicant, any communities involved, or the broader community.If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information. You can include up to five letters of support, submitted as a single PDF, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.
  3. Reviews relating to the production (if applicable) Maximum 3 pages submitted as one PDF.
  4. Brief biographical information on principal personnel (if applicable) Maximum 3 pages submitted as one PDF.

Playing Australia FAQs

What types of performing arts productions can I apply for?

We welcome national touring applications from all forms of professionally produced live performance. These can include, but are not limited to theatre, dance, circus, music, musical theatre, and opera performance. Please contact Artists Services for further information.

Creative Australia also offers the Contemporary Music Touring Program which funds tours to regional and metropolitan locations. Applicants may apply for $5000 – $50,000 of funding depending on the locations of their tour, based on the respective ARIA code rating. Tours funded through the Contemporary Music Touring Program may be limited to metropolitan locations, whereas Playing Australia tours must include regional or remote locations. Please contact Artists Services to discuss your application.

A professional production is one for which the performers and artistic personnel are paid at the appropriate recognised industry level.

To be eligible for this investment, the work/s needs to be produced by an Australian company or produced by an artist or collective of artists who are Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia. The content of the work, the writer, composer or choreographer are not required to be Australian. An eligible work could also include a percentage of international performers as part of an Australian co-production.

Yes. Your itinerary can include activities that offer additional opportunities for the community to engage with the touring party or work, which reflect the engagement strategy provided in your application. Your itinerary can also include longer engagements in communities where alternative touring models are proposed.

Creative Australia will support investment for alternative models of regional and remote touring. Itineraries may reflect concepts including residency models with a live performance outcome, concept touring, or tours that place community engagement and participation as a central part of the development and touring process.

Proposals may include activity where a work is developed or re-staged with local artists or community through a residency process with visiting artists; or hybrid models which enable artistic collaboration across regions. There must be a live performance outcome resulting from the residency or collaboration.

Where relevant, tours may include a period of development working with identified local communities prior to the presentation of a touring work. Community engagement strategies should reflect your process. Supply letters of support from key community members which support this process.

If touring digital presentations, applicants may seek funding for costs relevant to the activity.  A digital tour may be presented in conjunction with, or independent of, a live performance tour.

Applications reflecting alternative touring models must consider the four assessment criteria:  Equity, Quality, Impact, Viability and respond within the application as appropriate.

Where you are proposing alternative touring models, such as slow touring, or residency models ensure the activity meets the criteria which specifies residency models with live performance outcomes, and ensure you are clear about the models proposed and where the activity will take place.

Concept touring is where the idea, process or work travels or tours, but a full touring party does not. For example, the work is re-rehearsed with artists from the community where the presentation will take place; the work then travels to another community where the process is repeated. If presenting a tour in this way please present your rationale and process for working.

In this category an eligible tour is generally understood as three or more locations outside of the home base of the proposed work. The itinerary must be confirmed and include a majority (at least 60%) of regional or remote locations. In some cases, we will consider intrastate touring activity (touring within the home state of the organisation).

Creative Australia uses the Accessibility Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) to determine the regional and remote classification for each town. The ARIA considers a range of factors, including distance to services, to group all locations in Australia into 5 ARIA Code areas. When planning your tour, refer to review ARIA codes for your tour locations available for download here via this form.

Yes, you can include metropolitan locations provided you meet the requirement that the of your itinerary includes regional and or remote locations. The purpose of the program is to support regional and remote touring so the greater proportion of the itinerary that takes place in these locations the stronger your application will be.

The ‘home state’ of the work is the state or territory in which the work was originally created or produced, or where most of the artists involved are based. Some projects might have performers based in various states or engage a tour coordinator from a different state or territory. Please discuss your proposal with an Artists Services Officer if you are unsure about the appropriate ‘home state’ for your application.

Playing Australia primarily supports touring outside of your home state/territory.  Interstate touring is defined as activity outside of your home state.

Playing Australia primarily supports touring outside of your home state/territory. Intrastate touring is defined as activity within your home state.

Playing Australia will only support intrastate touring in exceptional circumstances.

If you are requesting investment for intrastate touring, you must provide a clear and compelling argument for why Playing Australia should support this activity instead of, or in addition to, other sources of co-investment including from your state/territory funding agency.

You will need to demonstrate that there are exceptional circumstances at play, and that Playing Australia support is necessary to take your work to a specific audience in a particular context.

If you do include intrastate activity, consider the balance of intrastate and interstate touring proposed and articulate why this is not general intrastate touring.

Applications which request Playing Australia support for general intrastate touring activity without a compelling rationale are not competitive.

It is ok to include intrastate touring in the activity list to show the breadth of the whole tour but be clear if Playing Australia is not supporting this leg of the tour and where this investment is coming from.

No. Playing Australia Project Investment cannot support stand-alone touring activity within schools, aged care facilities or other non-general public settings. The live performance outcomes must be accessible to the general public. The broader itinerary of your tour may include activity within these types of venues as part of your engagement strategy.

Yes, annual programs of touring are eligible. A proposal can identify blocks of touring across the year for the same work or for a suite of works. Your application should reflect a logical, confirmed itinerary and viable budget, providing clear context for your planning.

Shorter touring blocks are a valid proposition when considering the mental health and wellbeing of artists engaged on extended tours; or may be relevant to alternative touring models being proposed.

You can use the investment for any of the following:

  • Wages and fees for non-salaried artists and members of the touring party
  • Costs associated with remounting a work. In your application and budget please ensure you clearly outline these costs. You should provide a viable budget and convincing rationale for the remount costs, including any impact on reduction to presenter fees
  • Production costs associated with touring the work or delivering the activity
  • Costs associated with touring the work including travel, accommodation and allowances at relevant industrial award rates for the touring party, and freight costs.  Base these on current prices and add a reasonable contingency to each item
  • Tour coordination fees
  • Activities which reduce the environmental impact of the tour. Your application should reflect a viable budget to support this approach and provide clear context for your planning, which may include a cost benefit analysis
  • Wellbeing programs (for example, employment assistance programs) or other activities which provide support for the touring party whilst on tour.

The touring party is defined as the performers, crew and other personnel required to deliver the work or activity. In the application outline the members of your touring party.

This fund provides support to cover travel allowances at the rate set by the appropriate industry award plus contingency for scheduled increases. Productions that pay above the award rate or have their own certified agreement will need to find alternative sources to cover the difference.

Yes, if your organisation is not audited you can provide the two most recent sets of certified accounts that you do produce, attached as support material if your investment request is above $250,000.

These accounts should be certified by an external/independent chartered accountant.

The budget should provide a detailed breakdown where possible, of the costs associated with the proposed tour. You may also utilise the Budget notes where necessary, to ensure the following has been addressed:

  • Confirmation that the touring party including cast, crew, band members etc. are paid fairly using the relevant industry awards and rates of pay (indicate which awards are being applied)
  • Detailed and transparent calculations on the wages/fees/travel allowances etc. for those involved in the description field
  • A breakdown of all large budget items e.g. flights, accommodation, ground transport, etc. accompanied by calculations in the description field.
  • All income for the tour, and where possible, demonstration of diverse income sources
  • A breakdown of the in-kind contributions that are being offered to your project. In-kind contributions are goods or services that are offered free of charge or at a discounted rate
  • A breakdown of costs to provide accessibility assistance for audience members and project participants
  • A breakdown of any cultural consultancy fees
  • A breakdown of tour coordination costs.
  • Where intrastate touring support is requested include other sources of co-investment towards this activity,  including from your state/territory funding agency.

Speak to member of the Artists Services team if you have any questions about your completing your budget.

Yes. Tours may engage dual casts or crew to support the overall health and wellbeing of the company undertaking an extended tour; for annual touring programs, and for companies who have specific support needs. Your application should reflect a viable budget to support this approach and provide clear context for your planning.

Yes, you may request costs to support accessibility needs for your tour. These may be for members of the touring party (e.g. costs associated with travel requirements) or for presenters (e.g. Auslan or Audio Description services). If requesting access costs, please provide explanatory notes in the application form as to what you are seeking costs for. Please speak to a member of the Artists Services team if you would like further advice.

The tour coordination fees support the cost of managing the tour logistics and travel bookings, providing a contribution towards those costs. The most recent updates to guidelines have removed the standard per venue contribution to tour coordination, applicants may now request a reasonable contribution towards the overall cost of coordinating the proposed tour, this may vary depending on the length and complexity of the tour. Playing Australia investment does not support core operational costs of organisations beyond tour coordination of the activity proposed.

If your tour is interrupted, for example, due to natural disasters or other external circumstances beyond your control, please contact us to discuss whether other support is available. We will work with clients on a case-by-case basis with regards to any potential support.

Clients should contact the Artists Services team as soon as possible to discuss their situation and any proposed variation request. Please note, additional support is not always possible given the budget constraints of this program.

Yes, if relevant. If your project has an environmental impact, you should provide evidence of an environmental impact plan which may include cost-benefits. Arts On Tour’s Green Touring Toolkit and Green Music Australia’s Sound Country  provides detailed information and resources for artists and arts organisations on how to mount a sustainable tour.

There was not a high demand for applications from individuals and success rates have traditionally been quite low for individual applications. We believe there is great benefit in individuals partnering with organisations to apply for Playing Australia Project Investment. Small scale tours by individuals will still be considered however under the new eligibility criteria, individuals will need to partner with a presenting or producing organisation who applies on their behalf.

Individuals may still apply to the Contemporary Music Touring Program (CMTP) for tours of music. And individuals can also apply for touring activity through Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups (APIG).