Who can apply

• Australian individuals, groups and organisations (including small businesses). This includes:
  • Australian citizens or permanent residents, whether you are based in Australia or overseas
  • Australian organisations working in the arts and culture sector
  • Organisations receiving funding through Creative Australia’s Two-Year Investment for Organisations Pilots 2025-2026 and Four-Year Investment for Organisations.
• You can only submit one (1) application per closing date.  Note you cannot submit an individual application as well as an application on behalf of a group or organisation.
• Applicants working in the following arts practices:
  • community arts and cultural development
  • dance
  • emerging and experimental arts
  • First Nations arts and culture
  • literature
  • multi-art form
  • music, excluding contemporary music as per Music Australia’s definition (see ‘About the grant’ above for more information)
  • theatre
  • visual arts.

Who can’t apply

• individuals who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents
• international organisations
• you are an organisation receiving investment from Creative Australia through the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework
• you work in screen, feature film, television and/or documentary
• you work in contemporary music (apply to the Export Development Fund instead)
• you have already applied to this program in this closing date
• you have already applied to an Arts Projects grant category for the same activity
• you have an overdue grant report to Creative Australia
• you owe money to Creative Australia.

What can be applied for

For the August 2025 closing date, priority will be given to applications for travel to Yokohama Performing Arts Meeting (YPAM) 2025, London Book Fair 2026, Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2026, the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Congress in Singapore, and Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX) 2026.

We will also prioritise support for authors and illustrators to travel internationally to attend events and activities associated with the international publication and promotion of their works.

You may apply for 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, art fairs, or performing arts markets such as tickets or registration costs
• costs associated with attendance at events and activities associated with publicity and promotional materials
• childcare, carer and access costs
• costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of your activity.

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 apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer or support worker assistance including travel costs such as business class flights. Please contact Artist Services to discuss your specific needs.

What can’t be applied for

• Travel costs for the same activity that you have already applied for through other Creative Australia programs.
• 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 reciprocal residencies (where an international artist comes to Australia and an Australian artist goes overseas), labs, and peer exchange models (apply to the International Engagement Fund instead).
• Travel costs to participate in self-organised residencies that are not reciprocal (apply to Arts Projects instead).
• Travel to attend contemporary music markets or events (apply to the Export Development Fund from Music Australia 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 or market component.
• Travel from overseas to Australia to attend Australian market platforms and gatherings.
• 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.

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.

Creative Australia staff, or in some cases external Industry Advisors, 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 will be grouped for assessment based on the ‘main arts practice’ selected in the statistical application form.

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.

1. Quality

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.

2. Impact

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.

Moderation

Following assessment, Creative Australia staff will determine which applications to prioritise based on:

• alignment to the aims of the Fund, including priority markets or events
• supporting diversity across investment streams, timelines, activities, art forms, geography, representation, audiences and risk
• capacity of the applicant to deliver on the proposed outcomes.

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:

• a summary of your proposal
• a description of the international markets or events you want to travel to, what you will be doing, who you will meet while you are there 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 to your market development strategy for you as an artist/creative worker or as an organisation.
• activity details including dates and locations
• a brief description on how you will spend the funds
• 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.

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 and not exceed the collective total of no more than 10 pages of written material, see above.

3. 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.

4. 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.