Established Artist of the Year Award
Contact
To discuss your application, please contact:
Alana Goodwin
Project Manager, Strategic Initiatives
First Nations Arts and Culture
Phone: +61 2 9215 9163
Email: alana.goodwin@creative.gov.au
If you need help with your nomination, please call or email us.
Key dates
Amount: One award of $25,000
Applications close: Tuesday 16 September 2025, 3pm AEST
Notifications: December 2025
The First Nations Arts & Culture Awards are on Wednesday 27 May 2026.
Please note: To nominate you must be registered in our application management system a minimum of two business days prior to the closing date.
First Nations Established Artist of the Year Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts
We are pleased to invite nominations for the 2026 First Nations Established Artist of the Year Award. Valued at $25,000 for one recipient, this Award recognises the achievement of one First Nations artist in community arts and cultural development, dance, experimental arts, literature, multi-arts, music, theatre and/or visual arts with ten or more years of continued artistic practice.
We are seeking nominations from individuals, arts and community organisations. The recipient will be presented with the Award at the First Nations Arts and Culture Awards ceremony to be held on Wednesday 27 May 2026.
This 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 Pillar 1, First Nations First – Revive, the Australian Government’s shared vision for Australia: a place for every story and a story for every place. These initiatives aim to elevate existing programs and deliver new funding that builds on a 50-year legacy of First Nations leadership and investment at Creative Australia.
About the First Nations Arts and Culture Awards
The Awards are held each year on 27 May the anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the opening of National Reconciliation Week, to honour First Nations excellence and the outstanding contributions of First Nations artists, arts workers and entrepreneurs to their practice, culture, and community.
The Awards are assessed by an independent panel of First Nations Industry Advisors, with the Red Ochre Awards determined by the Creative Australia’s First Nations Board.
The Award categories are:
- The prestigious Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence, to recognise the outstanding contribution of senior First Nations artists to their arts practice. Two recipients of the award will receive $60,000 each.
- The prestigious Red Ochre Award lifetime achievement in cultural advocacy and leadership for for Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Advocacy and Leadership, to recognise the outstanding contribution of senior First Nations arts leaders or arts and cultural workers. Two recipients of the award will receive $60,000 each.
- The Established Artist of the Year Award, to recognise outstanding achievement in artistic practice of established Australian First Nations artists. The recipient of this award will receive $25,000.
- The Youth Award for Achievement in the Arts, to recognise the achievement of Australian First Nations artists or arts workers between the age of 18 and 35. The recipient of this award will receive $25,000.
- The First Nations Arts and Culture Business Innovation Award, to recognise innovation and excellence in entrepreneurship among Australian First Nations small to medium arts and culture businesses and community organisations (including Art Centres) nationwide. The recipient of this award will receive $25,000.
- The First Nations Arts Fellowships, supporting the creation of major works by two artists.
Eligibility
Who can be nominated:
You are eligible for this award if:
- you are over the age of 18 years old
- you are an artist or arts worker in community arts and cultural development, dance, experimental arts, literature, multi-arts, music, theatre and/or visual arts with ten or more years of continued artistic practice.
- you identify as Australian First Nations
- you are based in Australia.
Please note: we do not accept self-nominations in this award category.
Assessment criteria
Nominations will be assessed against two criteria.
Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what the Peer Assessors may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.
1. Merit
- contribution to Australian First Nations arts and cultural expression
- demonstrated artistic achievement within the area of practice
- outstanding body of work
- depth in area/s of practice
- continued artistic practice maintained over ten years.
2. Impact
- substantial contribution to the development of First Nations arts
- evidence that the Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to, including consultation and engagement with First Nations elders, collaborators and communities
- excellence and leadership in arts and culture
- industry and peer recognition and acknowledgment
- contribution to diverse cultural expression.
Nominations
Please consider the below when providing your nomination:
- If an individual or organisation is nominating for the Award.
- The nominee’s key art form(s) practice.
- Why you are nominating this person for the Award.
- Describe how the nominee has demonstrated professional achievements and leadership in their arts practice and how has this contributed to their visibility and impact within First Nations and broader arts sectors.
- Provide a summary of nominee's achievements
Please note we do not accept self-nominations in this award category.
Support material
- You must submit a CV/extended bio for the nominee (approx. 2 x A4 pages, or a link to a CV/bio on the nominee’s website).
- You must submit examples of the nominees artform (up to 2 pages of images or up to 5 minutes of audio/video).
- You may submit up to four letters or statements of support (approx. 2 x A4 pages, or up to 5 minutes of audio/video).
Types of support material we accept
- our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks)
- you can provide up to three URLs that link to content that is relevant to your nomination.
Please note:
- do not supply any URLs that require users to log in or sign up to a platform.
- do not provide links to applications that require users to log in or pay for access.
- If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected, please provide the password in the password field on the nomination form.
Other accepted file formats
If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your nomination in other formats, for example:
- video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
- audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
- images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
- written material (Word and PDF).
We do not accept support material submitted via post. 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, Alana Goodwin at 02 9215 9163 or alana.goodwin@creative.gov.au.
How to submit a nomination
To nominate, log in to our Application Management System. You must register an account if you do not already have one. It may take up to two business days for us to process your registration. Once you have logged in:
1. select ‘Submit a Nomination’ from the left panel menu
2. under ‘Awards’ select ‘Start a new award nomination’
3. ensure you select the correct award from the list of options
4. complete the fields and select answers using the dropdown menus
5. upload any necessary support material
6. select ‘Save’ once complete
7. if you are not ready to submit your nomination you can return to it through ‘Your Draft Applications’ in the left panel menu
8. when you are ready to submit your nomination, select ‘Submit’.
