Who can apply

This opportunity is designed to support diverse individuals and is only open to people who identify as or are: 

• Australian First Nations
• d/Deaf and/or Disabled
• culturally and linguistically diverse
• 25 years old or under
• living in regional/remote areas. 

You must be: 

• an individual
• a practicing artist or arts worker
• an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident

Applicants can only submit one application in this round. 

Who can't apply

• you are a current board member of an organisation
• you have been on a board in the past
• you participated in training through previous rounds of Governance Training for Individuals or Organisations (1.5 day or 3 day) with the Australian Institute of Company Directors
• you are an organisation
• you have an overdue grant report to Creative Australia
• you owe money to Creative Australia.

This opportunity is designed to benefit individuals who want to develop their governance capabilities. It is not designed to support staff members of organisations to develop capability to work with their own boards. Please refer to the Company Director Capability Fund for Organisations.

What you can apply for

A flat rate of $3,000 for costs associated with training to develop your capability in arts governance with these providers: 

• Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Institute of Community Directors Australia
• Governance Institute of Australia
• Small Giants Academy

We recommend you review the available courses listed on each provider's website and contact the provider for further information about which training will be best for you.  

Eligible costs are: 

• fees for one or more courses with the listed providers that is relevant to the governance of arts organisations. This means you can use your funding to support your participation in more than one course, and courses from more than one of the listed providers
• online and/or in-person training with the listed providers
• ground transport expenses to attend your course in person. This fund does not support flights or accommodation.  
• access, carer and childcare costs associated with attending your nominated course/s
• fees for your time to attend the course/s.  

If you are awarded funding, once you have completed your activities you will need to submit a grant report with a short budget to explain how you spent your funding. You should keep records of your expenses so that you can complete the budget accurately.

What you can't apply for

• training that is not offered by one of the listed providers
• fees for courses that are not relevant to governance of arts organisations
• fees for courses commencing before 30 June 2025
• fees for courses finishing after 30 June 2026
• fees for courses that have already commenced
• fees for courses that have already been completed. 

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to Creative Australia’s Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts, and provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.  

Creative Australia is committed to increasing the diversity of leadership in our sector. 

There are lots of different ways of talking about identity, and many different words that people use to describe their identity. If you would like to discuss whether you are eligible for this Fund, please contact us. 

We also acknowledge that identity is intersectional and encourage people at intersections of the eligible groups to apply. 

Industry advisors with diverse and relevant experience will assess applications against the assessment criteria listed below and advise Creative Australia on which applicants to prioritise. Creative Australia staff will consider how the proposed activities align with the aims of the Fund when making final decisions.

Assessment criteria 

Your application will be assessed based on how well it addresses the assessment criteria below. In the application form we ask you some questions to help you respond to these criteria. You should also make sure what you write in your application responds to these criteria. 

Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what peers/industry advisors may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed. 

Quality 

Industry advisors will assess the quality of your professional development activities proposed in your application. 

They will consider: 

• your practice and experience in the Australian arts and cultural sector
• your clear explanation of what you are hoping to achieve by undertaking this professional development
• how the proposed activity is relevant to your identified professional development  needs. 

Impact 

Industry advisors will assess the expected impact/s or outcome/s of the proposed professional development activities on your ongoing career development and active engagement in the arts and culture sector. 

They will consider: 

• the benefit and impact of the professional development opportunity on your career development and ability to pursue a board role
• the extent to which the proposed professional development will enable you to contribute to and enhance an arts and cultural sector that is accessible, inclusive and equitable.

Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button at the top of this page to go to Fluxx, our system for managing applications.   

You will need an account to use Fluxx. It can take up to 2 business days for a new account to be approved. If you have an account already you can log in.   

Select ‘Apply for a Grant’ from the left panel menu. From the list of opportunities select 'Company Director Capability Fund for Individuals​’.  

The application form will require you to fill in some of your details, select from some options, respond to questions and submit support material.  

You will need to respond to the following questions:  

• tell us about you, your practice and your experience as an artist or creative worker in the Australian arts and culture sector
• what do you want to do to develop your governance capability and how your proposed activities will help you to do that
• explain how you hope to contribute to an arts organisation board in the future.

Please contact Adelaide and Emerald from the Industry Development team via  leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au  if you need support to submit an application in another format – for example, video or audio format. 

You must submit a CV with your application. We will review your CV to understand your artistic practice and impact of the funding on your capability development.  

We strongly recommend you make the information in your CV relevant and targeted to this opportunity.  

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks) that link to your CV.    

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 1 URLs or file upload.  

You can include a maximum of:  

• 2 pages of written material.

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:  

• 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 the Industry Development team via leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au.

Learn more about support material via the  Creative Australia website. 

Please contact  Adelaide and Emerald from the Industry Development team via  leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au  if:   

• you would like these guidelines in another format
• you want to submit your application in a different format including video, audio, Auslan or other form. You can also read more about accessible application formats on our  Accessibility page.
• you want to submit your application in a language other than English. You can also read more on our website:  Languages Other Than English. 

We will not assess the quality of your chosen format, just what you tell us. 

No budget is required to apply for this fund.  

If you are awarded funding, once you have completed your activities you will need to submit a grant report with a short budget to explain how you spent your funding. You should keep records of your expenses so that you can complete the budget accurately.

Yes we do. More information is available on our website: Languages other than English.

Adelaide and Emerald from the Industry Development team  can  assist  over email  leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au  or you can find a time to chat via  our  online booking portal.  If you need help to speak or listen, please use the  National Relay Service. 

Our staff are available to assist you in understanding the purpose of the grant, application requirements and submitting your application. We cannot review application drafts. 

Additional support can be discussed where needed. Where the additional support is beyond the scope of what staff can provide, we may recommend speaking to an appropriate organisation for further assistance. 

All individual or organisation grant applications 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 organisation with an ABN. Organisations operating outside of Australia do 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. 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  leadershipprogram@creative.gov.au. 

Grants can be considered income by Centrelink. The amount is generally assessed as a lump sum and could affect your Centrelink payment for the financial year. Artists who are running a business (even on a small scale) may have their grant treated differently. It is possible to  have your grant paid to an administering body  if you wish. 

Applicants should contact Centrelink on 13 28 50 for advice. Additionally, Centrelink’s Financial Information Service (FIS) is an education and information service available to everyone in the community and may be of benefit to applicants who also receive assistance through the social security system. To contact FIS phone 13 23 00. 

Grants may be considered part of your income in a financial year and may be subject to tax. You must determine your own taxation liabilities. We suggest you consult your financial advisor or contact the Australian Taxation Office. 

While we can support artists and arts workers involved in making screen-based art, we do not support organisations whose primary and main practice is associated with short film,  feature film, television or documentary or electronic games. 

Once all applications have been assessed, you will be contacted about the outcome of your application. If you have been successful, a funding agreement will be attached to the Contracts section of your online account. This outlines the conditions of funding, how you will be paid and your grant reporting requirements. More details on managing successful applications can be found here.