Development Investment

Who can apply

• Australian organisations working in the arts and culture sector who are carrying on business in Australia and have their central management and control in Australia.
• Organisations in receipt of Multi-Year Investment from Creative Australia can apply, however they must demonstrate the development activity is not already supported by their existing funding.
• Organisations can only submit one application to the Development Investment stream to this closing date.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply to this fund if:

• you are an individual or group
• your organisation is based outside of Australia
• your organisation does not work in the arts and culture sector
• you have already applied to this closing date of Development Investment
• you have an overdue report for another Creative Australia grant
• you owe money to Creative Australia.

What can be applied for

We will support the creation or leveraging of intellectual property that is owned by Australian citizens/permanent residents and/or an Australian company. This includes a wide range of development activities such as:

• research and development
• creative development and experimentation
• adapting existing Australian work and intellectual property into new formats and mediums
• work in progress showings, prototypes, pilots and other forms of market testing and evaluation
• professional skills development and capacity building
• establishing new partnerships, collaborations, investors, or income streams
• community engagement and consultation
• market and audience development
• a reasonable contribution to staffing or operational costs in support of this activity.

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

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. development 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 apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer or support worker assistance. Please contact Artist Services to discuss your specific needs.

What can’t be applied for

You can’t apply for:

• activities that create or leverage intellectual property that is majority owned by international individuals or entities
• activities that do not have a clearly defined artistic, creative or cultural component
• activities that do not involve or benefit Australian practicing artists, arts professionals or audiences
• activities that could be considered a part of ‘business as usual’ for your organisation, and do not demonstrate innovation
• activities that have already taken place
• the same activities that have already been funded by Creative Australia (for example, through your multi-year investment)
• activities that develop, produce, promote and distribute Australian narrative (drama) and documentary screen content
• activities that could be supported by Screen Australia and its allied state and territory equivalents
• activities that could be supported by Games Investment steams in the same jurisdictions
• activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to our 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.

Industry advisors with diverse and relevant experience will assess the EOIs against the assessment criteria listed below and advise Creative Australia on which applicants to prioritise.

Assessment Criteria

Your EOI will be assessed against two assessment criteria. The bullet points underneath each criterion indicate what industry advisors may consider if relevant. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.

1. Quality

Industry advisors will assess the quality of the artistic and/or cultural development proposed in your EOI.

Advisors may consider:

• the quality and vision of the concept, story or work
• the calibre and track record of your organisation, partners, and collaborators
• who the proposed work will be made for, and how they may engage with it
• the impact the development activity may have for your organisation
• where relevant, evidence that the Protocols for First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to.

2. Alignment

Industry advisors will assess the extent to which your EOI aligns with the priorities of the fund – the telling of Australian stories, and innovation.

Advisors may consider:

• who holds or will hold the intellectual property and rights to your story
• the relevance of your story to contemporary Australia
• the innovation demonstrated through your partners, the mediums or art forms you will work with, who will engage with the work and the experience they may have
• how this development extends the usual practice of your organisation and collaborators
• whether this development represents innovation for the Australian creative and cultural sector.

Moderation

Final decisions on which applicants will be invited to to submit a full application in Stage 2 will be moderated and approved by Creative Australia staff to ensure a diverse investment portfolio across both investment streams, activities, art forms, geography, representation, audiences and risk.

Creative Australia will also determine the investment level that organisations can apply for in Stage 2, along with any specific feedback on issues to address or specific support material to provide.

Applications will open soon.

EOIs 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 application form includes the following questions:
 
Tell us about your organisation and your key partners:

• describe your organisation and key partners for the development
• describe your track record of developing other artistic and creative works

Tell us about the Australian idea you want to develop and who you aim to share it with:

• describe your concept and vision
• describe who you are developing it for – your likely audience, market, communities, participants etc
• describe the main activities you will undertake to develop the idea.

Tell us how your development aligns with the purpose of the Fund – innovation and the telling of Australian stories:

• describe the innovation in your development, for example the concept, your partners, the mediums or artforms you will work with, who will engage with the work and how
• explain what makes your idea an Australian story, for example who holds or will hold the intellectual property and rights.

• Amount requested ($50,000 to $250,000), likely expenditure and other sources of income.
• Financial information from your recent audited accounts or equivalent.

You should submit support material with your EOI. The industry advisors may review this material to help them assess your proposed activity.

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

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.

There are three types of support material you may submit.

1. Information about your organisation and collaborators

This could include background information on your organisation or collaborators on a website, your most recent annual report, an interview, or article.

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

Our industry advisors will not view 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.

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).

2. Creative and cultural support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your creative or cultural work. If you are seeking investment to adapt an existing work, please include examples of this work.

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

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application as above.

You can include a maximum of:

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

If you provide material that exceeds these limits it may not be reviewed by the industry advisors.

3. Letters of permission or confirmation

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.

You can include three letters, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page. These should be combined into one document or PDF.

4. Your audited accounts

Please upload your most recent audited accounts or equivalent.

If you cannot supply these documents via URLs, you may upload to your application as a Word or PDF.

Who can apply

Only organisations with a successful EOI at Stage 1 will be invited to submit a full application.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply to Stage 2 if:

• your EOI was unsuccessful in Stage 1
• you have an overdue report for another Creative Australia grant
• You owe money to Creative Australia.

What can be applied for

We will support the creation or leveraging of intellectual property that is owned by Australian citizens/permanent residents and/or an Australian company. This includes a wide range of development activities such as:

• research and development
• creative development and experimentation
• adapting existing Australian work and intellectual property into new formats and mediums
• work in progress showings, prototypes, pilots and other forms of market testing and evaluation
• professional skills development and capacity building
• establishing new partnerships, collaborations, investors, or income streams
• community engagement and consultation
• market and audience development
• a reasonable contribution to staffing or operational costs in support of this activity (for organisations not receiving multi-year investment from Creative Australia).

What can’t be applied for

You can’t apply for:

• activities where all the costs are funded through this investment; you must demonstrate other sources of income will be leveraged or contributed
• activities that create or leverage intellectual property that is majority owned by international individuals or entities
• activities that do not have a clearly defined artistic, creative or cultural component
• activities that do not involve or benefit Australian practicing artists, creative workers or audiences
• activities that could be considered a part of ‘business as usual’ for your organisation, and do not demonstrate innovation
• activities that develop, produce, promote and distribute Australian narrative (drama) and documentary screen content
• activities that could be supported by Screen Australia and its allied state and territory equivalents
• activities that could be supported by Games Investment steams in the same jurisdictions
• activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to our 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.

Industry advisors with diverse and relevant experience will assess your application against the assessment criteria listed below and advise Creative Australia on which applicants to prioritise.

Assessment Criteria

Your application will be assessed against three assessment criteria. The bullet points underneath each criterion indicate what industry advisors may consider if relevant. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.

1. Quality

Industry advisors will assess the quality of the artistic and/or cultural development proposed in your EOI.

Advisors may consider:

• the quality and vision of the concept, story or work
• the calibre and track record of your organisation, partners, and collaborators
• who the proposed work will be made for, and how they may engage with it
• contribution to a diverse cultural expression in the context of the wider Australian arts sector.

2. Viability

Industry advisors will assess the viability of your application, including your capacity to successfully complete the activities proposed.

Advisors may consider:

• your capacity to undertake this development, including your organisational stability
• the role of partners or collaborators
• whether your plan and use of resources is realistic and achievable, including contingencies and risk management
• the timeliness and relevance of this development for your organisation and collaborators
• the diversity and scale of income and co-funding, including earned income, grants, sponsorship, philanthropy, in-kind contributions
• how you aim to reflect on, respond to and potentially evaluate this work.

3. Impact

Industry advisors will assess the expected impact this development will have on your organisation, your collaborators and those engaging with the proposed work.

Advisors may consider:

• new partnerships and collaborations established or deepened through the activity
• how the development will build the capacity and skills of you and your collaborators to work in new ways with new mediums, art forms or audiences
• the level of innovation, ambition, experimentation or risk-taking
• how the work will reach and engage with new people in new ways, and evidence that there is demand for this
• the potential for new revenue streams or markets for your work
• the potential benefit and impact on careers, artistic or cultural practice in the wider sector.

Moderation

Final decisions on which applicants to invest in will be moderated and approved by Creative Australia staff to ensure a diverse investment portfolio across both investment streams, activities, art forms, geography, representation, audiences and risk.

Creative Australia will also determine the investment level that will be made, along with any special conditions and deliverables. Where appropriate, we make seek specialist advice from industry professionals.

Your full application must be submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System.

You will be asked to provide more detailed information than in your EOI, including but not limited to:

• further detail on the artistic and creative vision for the development and / or adaptation of your Australian story
• further details on the proposed public outcome for your work
• a detailed list of activities and a timeline
• further details on key personnel and collaborators
• a detailed budget, listing income and expenditure
• your approach to risk management
• your approach to evaluation
• the likely impact of this development for your organisation, your collaborators and those engaging with the proposed work.

You should submit support material with your full application. The industry advisors may review this material to help them assess your proposed activity.

We strongly recommend you curate the support material you provide to make it relevant, targeted and easily accessible.

You will be asked to provide more detailed support material including, but not limited to:

• evidence of the artistic and cultural quality of your proposed activities
• bios of key members of your creative team and your collaborators
• your most recent audited accounts or equivalent.
• letters of support and confirmation from key partners.

We may request additional support material specific to your application, as recommended by the industry advisors and staff who reviewed your EOI.

If your application is successful, we will give you a draft investment agreement that specifies the amount of investment we will provide, the proposed payment schedule, milestones, deliverables, and any other conditions of investment. We will negotiate the final version of this agreement with you.

We will pay you once you have accepted your investment agreement and any reports or deliverables you must provide us with have been approved.

You may be asked to participate in evaluation activities with Creative Australia staff and external evaluators at various times throughout your project.