Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Project Fund

Open to Australian First Nations artists or arts workers between the ages of 18 and 35 to support their creative practice and career development, nationally and internationally across all art forms.

Milan Dhiiyaan at Baiame’s Ngunnhu Festival 2023.Photo by Stephen Wilson Barker

Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Project Fund

The Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Project Fund is open to Australian First Nations artists or arts workers between the ages of 18 and 35 to support creative practice and career development, nationally and internationally across all art forms.

This opportunity aims to build the capacity of First Nations young people’s skills development, career pathways, marketing, and audience development to maintain and elevate their practice and engagement in the arts and cultural sectors and creative industries.

This new initiative is part of Creative Australia’s First Nations First industry development programs. The programs have been developed in response to extensive community consultation on priorities and needs of the sector in response to Pillar1, First Nations First – Revive, the Australian Government’s shared vision for Australia: a place for every story and a story for every place. These new initiatives aim to elevate existing programs and deliver new funding that build on a 50-year legacy of First Nations leadership and investment at Creative Australia.

Grants are available from $10,000 to $20,000.

The Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Projects can commence from February 2025 and must be completed 12 months from the proposed start date.

Who can apply? 

  • Australian First Nations artists or arts and culture workers who are between the ages of 18 and 35 years 
  • living in Australia.

Please note: You can only submit one application for this grant initiative. 

Who can’t apply? 

You can’t apply for this grant if: 

  • you are not an Australian First Nations practicing artist or arts and culture worker 
  • you are a group or organisation 
  • you are the manager or agent of a First Nations artist or creative
  • you are based outside of Australia 
  • you have already received funding for the same project from Creative Australia 
  • you have an overdue grant report with Creative Australia 
  • you owe money to Creative Australia.

What can the funding be used for? 

Activities can include but are not limited to: 

  • professional skills development, including mentoring, masterclasses, workshops, and residencies 
  • creation of new work 
  • practiced based research 
  • creative development 
  • experimentation 
  • collaborations and exchanges 
  • touring 
  • productions 
  • exhibitions 
  • performances 
  • publishing 
  • recording 
  • promotion and marketing 
  • market development activity 
  • materials costs associated with a particular project/program.

Please note: Activities can take place nationally, internationally, online, in-person, or in combination.  

If you are unsure of your project idea, please contact the Project Manager. Tammy Close on (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au.  

 

If your application involves working with other First Nations artists, arts and culture workers, 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.

A First Nations Industry Advisory Panel will review eligible applications against the following assessment criteria:

1. Project Quality

This may include:

  • clear project vision, process, and outcome
  • demonstrated artform experience and skills
  • quality of evidenced previous work.

2. Project Impact

This may include:

  • significance of the work within the relevant area of practice
  • clear benefits to career development, and/or to artistic and cultural practice
  • contribution to cultural expression (if applicable).

3. Project Viability

This may include:

  • realistic and achievable project timeline
  • realistic and achievable budget, along with breakdown
  • relevant support material including letters of support from Elders, mentors, and community
  • evidence that the Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to (if applicable).

The application form will ask you to provide:

  • a title for your project
  • a project summary
  • an explanation of how this project will benefit your career and professional development
  • a detailed outline of what you would like to do and key steps
  • details if you are working with other people as part of this project
  • activities details
  • statistical information
  • a detailed project budget that includes income and in-kind support (optional), expenses for your activity, including any access costs related to the project
  • any support material relevant to your project including examples of your previous and current work, short bios and letters of confirmation from additional creatives involved, partnerships, participants, communities, and First Nations Elders, or organisations.

You should submit support material with your application. The First Nations Industry Advisory Panel will review your support material to help them gain a better sense of your project. 

There are four types of support material you may submit: 

1. Artistic support material 

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

2.  Biographies and CVs 

You can include your current brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) of the applicant and key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project. 

Please note: 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.   

If relevant to your activity, letters of support may also provide evidence of appropriate cultural protocols, and permissions or outline the support of key project partners. You can include up to five letters of support with each support letter not exceeding one A4 page. 

4. Letters of confirmation 

If your application involves an invitation to a residency, to present your work or attend a conference, either nationally or internationally, you must show evidence of this by providing letters of confirmation. Each letter must include confirmation of any invitations, partner fees, or contributions to the activity, whether cash or in-kind. 

Please provide a single link to all letters or scan them into one PDF file and attach it to your application. You can include up to five letters of confirmation, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page. 

Ways of providing your support material 

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 project activity. 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. 

Please note: The First Nations Industry Advisory Panel 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). 

Please note: 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 the Project Manager. Tammy Close on (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au. 

Key dates

Applications closed

For projects commencing from February 2025.

Amount:  $10,000 to $20,000

Notification: January 2025

Please note: To apply you must be registered in our Application Management System a minimum of two business days prior to the closing date.

First Nations arts and culture

Application Support Resources

Application Help Guide (Word)

Guidelines (Word)


Contact

Please direct all guidelines, application, and general enquiries to:

Tammy Close
Project Manager, First Nations Arts and Culture
T: +61 02 9215 9145
E: tammy.close@creative.gov.au

Related Links

Frequently Asked Questions

You can only make one application for each funding round. This means you can apply for other Creative Australia funding rounds at the same time.

If you are unsure if your project idea fits this funding round, please contact the Project Manager, Tammy Close to discuss your project idea at (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au.

Yes. Having your grant ‘auspiced’ or ‘administered’ means that you are nominating another person or entity to receive the grant funds on your behalf. Whether or not your grant will be administered is not part of the assessors’ considerations. You do not need to provide a letter of confirmation from the entity that will administer your grant.

You must decide at the time of application whether you want your grant to be administered. If your application is successful and you change your mind, we can only change these arrangements in exceptional circumstances.

The Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Projects can commence from February 2025 and must be completed 12 months from the proposed start date.

Creative Australia does not fund activities retrospectively. Project start dates can start from February 2025. You may work on your project before then but make it clear in your application that you are not seeking support for any stage of the project occurring before February 2025.

It is best to confirm every creative artist or collaboration, partnership, source of cash or in-kind, or venue, at the time that you apply.

If there are too many unconfirmed elements of your proposal, the assessors may question its viability.

The success rate is typically between 20% and 30%, so it’s competitive. However, if you don’t apply, your chance of success is 0%.

Read and understand the guidelines and assessment criteria and respond with as much information as possible.

Consider the following:

  • Who: The creative team who will be delivering this project with you (if applicable)
  • Why are you wanting to do this project now? What is your motivation? How did you decide the timing is right to apply? Why do you think this funding round fits your project idea?
  • When will this project be occurring, e.g. It will be delivered in a 3-6 period or 6-12 period.
  • Where will most of the project be delivered, is there a venue, residency, or studio involved or will this happen at home?
  • What is the process of your project? Is this stage/phase 1? What needs to happen to deliver the project successfully? Think about key milestones.
  • How will your project be delivered? What are your creative team roles and responsibilities (if applicable)?

If you’re in doubt about any of the application questions, please contact the Project Manager, Tammy Close, at (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au.

The activities timeline and budget are an opportunity to show how well you’ve planned your project. Complete these as thoroughly as you can to show the assessors that your project is organised, well-planned, and viable.

Break your budget down, so that assessors can evaluate how realistic your budgeting is. Present large budget items in multiple lines and talk about the description next to each dollar ($) amount item.

Show each major project stage and milestone in your Project Timetable. This allows assessors to see how you plan to work and evaluate how achievable your objectives are.

Any costs that can be directly related to the project you are proposing are eligible. They may include artist fees, venue hire, consultation fees, childcare costs, travel costs, and costs associated with providing access for people with disability can all be included if they are directly related to your project. 

Creative Australia expects to see artists paid for their work. There is no need to cut back on these expenses or forgo your own fees. We can’t tell you what rate of pay to use. You should consult the relevant representative association for guidance on this question. Whatever rate you use, be clear about how you have calculated your figures, and what rate of pay you are using.

The online application has a Support Material section which allows you to provide us with a URL linking to your support material. Alternatively, you can directly upload files.

You will receive an ‘Acknowledgement of submission’ email from us acknowledging our receipt of your online application. You should keep a copy of this email as proof of your submission.

There will be no further communication from us until a decision has been made on your application. We aim to notify you of the outcome of your application no later than 12 weeks after the published closing date for the grant round.

Yes, you can request that your application be withdrawn at any time up to the start of the assessment meeting. You will need to email us with your request, providing your six-digit application ID number. Please speak to Project Manager, Tammy Close at (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au.

All applications that are submitted for First Nations Arts and Culture Strategic Funding will be assessed by a First Nations Panel.

The First Nations Industry Advisors are contacted to participate in the First Nations Panel for First Nations Arts and Culture Strategic Funding Arts. These First Nations Industry Advisors have experience and experience on specific art forms and provide a breadth of knowledge in those art form sectors. Some Industry Advisors can be the previous recipients of past funding rounds.

The First Nations Panel will assess your application on their Assessment Criteria of Project Quality, Project Impact, and Project Viability.

If you would like to express an interest (EOI) in becoming an Industry Advisor, please speak to Project Manager, Tammy Close at (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au.

We aim to notify you of the outcome of your application no later than 12 weeks after the published closing date for the grant round.

If your application is successful, your grant will be paid in a single payment into the bank account that you nominate. It will be transferred to you within 1-2 weeks after being notified about the outcome of your application.

Yes, if you have been notified that your application was unsuccessful, you can request feedback on your application. Please contact the Project Manager, Tammy Close at (02) 9215 9145 or tammy.close@creative.gov.au.

While we can support screen-based art, we do not generally support activities associated with short and feature films, television, or documentaries. Please contact your state Screen organisation or Screen Australia, the Federal Government’s primary agency for the production of Australian screen activity.