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.

National Performing Arts Partnership Framework (Partnership Framework)

About the partnership framework

The National Performing Arts Partnership Framework provides significant investment in Australian performing arts for the benefit of Australian audiences.

The Partnership Framework is administered by Creative Australia, in partnership with all states and the Northern Territory.

The Partnership Framework was launched by the Australian and all state and territory governments in October 2019. It provides a cohesive and collaborative national approach to sustainable arts funding into the future and to guide effective decision making for the sector.

Organisations under the Partnership Framework will benefit from the stability of up to eight years investment from Creative Australia and respective state and territory arts agencies. The Partnership Framework provides:

  • a clear approach to prioritising outcomes for the Australian performing arts sector, audiences and communities, such as growing First Nations arts;
  • a pathway to expand the number of funded companies through a two-stage invitation and assessment process;
  • stability of funding balanced with flexibility so governments can jointly respond to changing priorities;
  • increased transparency and accountability through enhanced reporting; and
  • a new approach to rewarding artistic and organisational excellence.

For the 2021-24 period of investment, eight new entrants were invited to the Partnership Framework including the first organisation from the Northern Territory and the first regional organisations from Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria.

For the 2025-28 investment period, two new entrants with an exciting track record of creating and presenting new Australian stories will join the existing 37 Partnership Organisations. The new entrants are:

Read the media release from Creative Australia announcing the investment outcomes for the Partnership Framework for 2025-28.

Read more about the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework PDF | RTF | DOCX 

Company Artform Creative Australia Investment State
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Orchestra $8,216,111 SA
Artback NT Multi-Arts $763,127 NT
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Music $884,188 NSW
Australian Chamber Orchestra Music $2,262,311 NSW
Back to Back Theatre Theatre $753,930 VIC
Bangarra Dance Theatre Dance $2,917,792 NSW
Belvoir Theatre $1,669,579 NSW
Black Swan State Theatre Company Theatre $1,022,816 WA
Circa Theatre $1,067,910 QLD
Dancenorth Dance $ 733,930 QLD
Griffin Theatre Company Theatre $703,930 NSW
Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Theatre $1,042,256 VIC
La Boite Theatre Theatre $650,000 QLD
Malthouse Theatre Theatre $1,601,682 VIC
Marrugeku Dance $ 753,930 WA
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Orchestra $12,786,904 VIC
Melbourne Theatre Company Theatre $3,062,927 VIC
Musica Viva Australia Music $2,028,954 NSW
Opera Australia Opera $24,358,646 NSW
Opera Queensland Opera $776,967 QLD
Orchestra Victoria Orchestra $7,063,281 VIC
Performing Lines Theatre $965,150 NSW
Queensland Ballet Dance $873,440 QLD
Queensland Symphony Orchestra Orchestra $9,139,012 QLD
Queensland Theatre Theatre $976,564 QLD
State Opera of South Australia Opera $1,795,083 SA
State Theatre Company of South Australia Theatre $1,116,310 SA
Sydney Dance Company Dance $3,122,095 NSW
Sydney Symphony Orchestra Orchestra $13,223,370 NSW
Sydney Theatre Company Theatre $2,655,410 NSW
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Orchestra $7,742,874 TAS
Terrapin Puppet Theatre Theatre $703,930 TAS
The Australian Ballet Dance $7,021,065 VIC
The Bell Shakespeare Company Theatre $800,574 NSW
Victorian Opera Opera $738,797 VIC
West Australian Ballet Dance $910,469 WA
West Australian Opera Opera $562,479 WA
West Australian Symphony Orchestra Orchestra $8,442,439 WA
Windmill Theatre Co Theatre $553,930 SA

Related information

Media releases

Meet the new organisations joining the partnership framework

Credits from left to right and top to bottom:

  • Rachael Wallis, Artback NT Indigenous Artist in Residence, Taiwan, June – July 2018. Photographer: Remix Beauty and Image Studio.
  • The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes, Carriageworks, Back to Back Theatre, Image Zan Wimberley 2019.
  • Tectonic – Credit Amber Haines.
  • Sandy Greenwood, Dogged, 2021 – By Brett Boardman.
  • Conversations with the Dead by Richard Frankland. Photographer: Jeff Busby.
  • Eric Avery, Miranda Wheen, Josh Mu, Ngaire Pigram, Edwin Mulligan & Dalisa Pigram in Cut the Sky (Marrugeku). Photographer: Jon Green, 2015.
  • A Not So Traditional Story 2018. Photographer: Bryony Jackson.
  • Rumpelstiltskin by Windmill Theatre Company. Photographer: The Other Richard.