The Creative Australia Australian World Heritage Residency Program offers three (3) artist-in-residencies for individual Australian artists or collectives to work on-site with a confirmed Field Partner at a World Heritage Site within Australia. See list of eligible sites below.
Each of the three (3) awarded recipients will receive a grant of $50,000, provided at the beginning of their residencies.
Residencies are self-directed and may vary in duration, up to a maximum of one (1) year. Each residency will culminate in a public reflection on their learnings, such as a seminar, workshop, or new creative work.
All residencies must be completed by 31 August 2026.
Aims of the Program
- Applicants are to consider the importance of partnerships, connection to communities and to sites, as well as the relevance of place.
- Applicants will demonstrate cooperation and collaboration with local communities to celebrate Australia’s natural environment – specifically at Australian World Heritage Sites (see list of eligible sites below).
- Residency outcomes are artist-led and self-determined, shaped by the creative practice and priorities of the participating artist or creative collaborators. Final public reflections can be in the form of writing, seminar(s), workshop(s) and/or the creation of new work.
Eligible Australian World Heritage Sites
- Australian Fossil Mammal Sites – Naracoorte (SA)
- Australian Fossil Mammal Sites – Riversleigh (QLD)
- Gondwana Rainforests of NSW (NSW)
- Gondwana Rainforests of QLD (QLD)
- Greater Blue Mountains (NSW)
- K’gari (Fraser Island) (QLD)
- Ningaloo Coast (WA)
- Purnululu National Park (WA)
- Shark Bay (WA)
- Wet Tropics of Queensland (QLD)
- Willandra Lakes Region (NSW)
Eligibility
Artforms
Applications are welcomed from individuals and groups who work in First Nations arts and culture, community arts and cultural development, dance, emerging and experimental arts, literature, multi-art form, visual arts, theatre, and music, except screen (which includes short film, feature film, television or documentary or electronic games).
Who can apply
You can apply for the residency if you:
- are a practicing artist and an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident (living in or outside of Australia)
- are a group or collective
- are 18 years and older
- are at any phase of their career, e.g. emerging, mid-career or established
- have a confirmed Field Partner. (A Field Partner is the World Heritage Site’s authority body.)
Who can’t apply
You cannot apply for the residency if:
- you have an overdue grant report
- you owe money to Creative Australia
- you have already applied to this program, note one (1) application per round
- you do not have a confirmed Field Partner who is the World Heritage Site’s authority body identified in your application
- You are not an Australian individual, group or collective
- Your residency starts before 01 August 2025
What you can apply for
The residency will support the following activities:
- artist and creative worker fees. Please refer to the payment of artists details for further information relevant to your sector for the duration of your residency
- flights, accommodation, per diems, ground transport costs
- travel insurance
- freight and/or baggage costs
- marketing, promotion and project management costs
- a reasonable contribution to staffing or operational costs in support of this activity. This includes costs associated with the Field Partner individual/group/organisation
- childcare, carer and access costs
- costs associated with reducing the heritage 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. 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. Please contact Creative Australia to discuss your specific needs.
What can’t be applied for
You cannot apply for:
- projects or activities that do not involve or benefit Australian practicing artists
- projects or activities that do not have a clearly defined artistic, creative or cultural component
- projects that have already taken place
- the same activities that have already been funded by Creative Australia
- activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to our First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols
- costs associated with touring.
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. This includes meaningful consultation with Traditional Owners and communities on any project proposals. 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.
Assessment Process
Assessment
Assessment Process
Your application will be assessed by Creative Australia Industry Advisors. View Creative Australia’s assessment information. We may seek industry advice on your application before making our final decisions. Please note no feedback will be provided on your application or the decision.
Assessment Criteria
Applications will be assessed against three (3) criteria. Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what Creative Australia Industry Advisors may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.
1. Quality
Creative Australia Industry Advisors will assess the artistic merit and quality of the proposal with consideration to the artistic potential of the applicant.
They may consider:
- the vision, ideas, and artistic rationale proposed for this residency including:
- proposed promotion of the location of the residency, including the period of time
- the proposed public reflection outcome, which can be in the form of writing, seminar(s), workshop(s), and/or the creation of new work
- the benefit and impact on the career or artistic practice of the artist
- the level of ambition as part of your planned activities.
2. Viability
Creative Australia Industry Advisors will assess the viability of the proposal with consideration to good planning and relevance to the artist and their ongoing development.
They may consider:
- relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
- skills and ability of the artist/s and relevance to activity
- realistic and achievable planning and resource use. The application considers, relevant plans for activities involving travel and mitigating risk for working in remote or isolated areas, (if applicable)
- the safety and wellbeing of people involved in the residency
- the role of partners or collaborators, including confirmation of involvement of the Field Partner
- where relevant to the activity, evidence that the Protocols for First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to.
- Support of the Field Partner, Traditional Owners, community and other key stakeholders
3. Impact
Creative Australia Industry Advisors will assess the expected impact or outcome/s of the proposed activities on the applicant and any targeted groups/communities/peoples.
They may consider:
- how the activity and site is relevant to the identified areas of practice and career development
- potential to discover and develop new partnerships, relationships or collaborations, including the importance of partnerships
- the connection to communities and to sites, as well as the relevance of place and how you will work with target groups or communities or First Nations peoples, particularly if the site is sacred and a place of importance to the local First Nations peoples.
Applications
Applications for this program are submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System. If you are using the system for the first time you will need to register your details to access the application form.
We do not accept entries submitted via post. Any material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your application online, please contact Artists Services.
The type of questions we ask in the application form include:
- your name and contact details
- confirm a Field Partner, key personnel and collaborators. Applicants are required to engage with the location’s authority body who will be named as a residency ‘Field Partner’. Field Partners are required to be identified to support local engagement and if applicable, provide access to necessary facilities or provisions
- information about your practice, your professional experience and your career goals
- information regarding the importance and relevance of this site on your artistic practice
- the likely impact of this residency on your ongoing practice
- details on the proposed public outcome for your work and how you will reflect on the residency
- a timetable or itinerary for your residency
- a detailed budget, listing income and expenditure
- your approach to risk management for working in remote or isolated areas
- confirmation that you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident
- support material relevant to your proposal.
Support Material
Additional material must be submitted to support your application. We will review support material to understand your artistic practice and viability of your proposal.
We strongly recommend you curate the support material you provide 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 application.
Creative Australia will not view any URLs that require log in or to 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 three (3) URLs and three (3) file uploads.
You can include a maximum of:
- 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording, and/or
- 10 images, and/or
- 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of writing, scripts and letters of support/confirmation).
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.
- Creative and cultural support material
This should include relevant, recent examples of your creative or cultural work using the formats identified above.
You should also submit your CV/bio to demonstrate your relevant experience.
- Information about your Field Partner and collaborators
This could include background information on your Field Partner or collaborators and how they are associated with the World Heritage Site.
You must include evidence of the confirmed partnership with your Field Partner, who is the World Heritage Site’s authority body. This may look like emails/letters of confirmation and support.
- 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.
- Budget
A budget is required to be submitted as part of your application for this Residency. Your budget can include, but is not limited to, fees relating to artist and creative worker fees, flights, accommodation, per diems, ground transport costs, travel insurance, freight costs, marketing, promotion and project management costs, a reasonable contribution to staffing or operational costs in support of this activity. This includes costs associated with the Field Partner, if applicable childcare, carer and Access costs, and costs associated with reducing the heritage impact of your activity.
Please populate the provided Budget Template and attach as supporting material.
- Risk management template
A risk management template is required to be submitted as part of your application for this Residency.
Find the Risk Management template here.
- Self-assessment toolkit
Please be aware of the environmental impact of your project. You may be asked by your Field Partner to complete the self-assessment toolkit to evaluate and mitigate any potential impacts identified. You can access the toolkit via the link provided. By submitting this application, I confirm that I am aware of the environmental impacts associated with the proposed project and have uploaded the completed self-assessment toolkit as Support Material.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Field Partner?
A Field Partner is the World Heritage site’s authority body. Each site has a designated contact person for this program. Field Partners are required to be identified to support local engagement and if applicable, provide access to necessary facilities or provisions.
Why do I need a Field Partner?
It is an eligibility requirement of all applications to have a Letter of Support from the Field Partner / site authority body. Competitive applications will be those where the artist is able to demonstrate confirmation and the nature of the mutually beneficial partnership with the Field Partner.
Can Creative Australia provide assistance with connecting me to a Field Partner?
The Field Partner should be contacted to discuss residency plans in advance of submitting the application to obtain a Letter of Support.
Artists Services will provide applicants with the Creative Australia Program Co-Ordinator’s email to obtain details of the Field Partner for further discussion.
When do my activity/residency have to take place to be eligible?
Supported activity must start after 01 August 2025 and be completed by 31 August 2026.
If the activity in your application starts before 01 August 2025, your application will not be eligible.
Do you accept applications in language other than English?
Yes, we do. More information is available on our website, Languages other than English.
How can I get assistance with my application?
Our staff are available to assist you in understanding the purpose of the grant, application requirements and submitting your application. Creative Australia staff can assist over email, phone and video calls. We cannot review application drafts. Additional support can be discussed where needed.
Do I need an ABN to apply for a grant?
All individual grant applicants based in Australia must have an active Australian Business Number (ABN).
Individual applicants without an ABN may have their grant administered by an individual or an orgsanisation with an ABN. Individuals based outside of Australia may not need an ABN to apply, depending on their circumstances (please check with your accountant or tax advisor).
The name of the applicant must match the name of the ABN and the name of the bank account we pay the grant into. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you cannot provide an ABN and bank account that are in the same name as the applicant, you will need to nominate an administrator for your grant.
For more information about this, please contact Artists Services.
Phone: 02 9215 9000
Toll-free: 1800 226 912
NRS: 1800 555 677 | Visit the NRS
Email: enquiries@creative.gov.au
Can I include artist fees in my budget?
Yes. We expect that artists professional employed or engaged in funded activities will be paid for their work in line with industry standards. Payment of artist fees should be reflected in your application budget.
For more information, see our Payment of Artists page.
Can I include childcare or carer costs in my budget?
Yes. Childcare and carer costs are a legitimate expense to include in your budget.
Can I include volunteer costs in my budget?
Yes. Volunteer out of pocket expenses, such as telephone calls or petrol for travel are recognised as legitimate expenses and may be included in an applicant’s budget.
Can I include in-kind support for the project in my budget?
Yes. In-kind support refers to resources, goods and services (for example, use of a venue, materials and people’s time) provided by yourself or others either free of charge or below market value. Detailing in-kind costs in the budget is important as it gives assessors a full understanding of the viability of your project and levels of support you are receiving.
I want to create a work for screen, can I apply for this fund?
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.
Activities that develop, produce, promote and distribute Australian narrative (drama) and documentary screen content are not eligible.
