Frequently asked questions
This course is designed to support arts and creative practitioners to embrace a digital mindset and to enable digital innovation within the sector.
The course is delivered in partnership with University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and will draw on expert knowledge and experience to build the digital literacy and capacity of the creative industries.
Through the ‘Digital Transformation for Creative Industries’ course, participants will:
- Gain the knowledge and ability to assess the digital strengths and priorities of their practice or organisation.
- Identify and implement digital practices, workflows and platforms to gain efficiencies and digital workflows.
- Be able to develop, mobilise and implement a relevant and customised organisation-wide digital strategy.
- Be able to apply adaptive architecture principles to enable digital innovation and transformation.
The course will be facilitated by leading creatives and academics from the UTS team, with a range of guest speakers and facilitators from across artforms and across Australia.
This course is for artists and creative practitioners, arts administrators, managers, and directors working in organisations or independently in the arts and creative industry. Participants will work in a range of artforms around Australia.
best suited for those with a beginner or intermediate understanding of the digital space as it relates to the creative industries. There is not a requirement for an existing high-level of technological skills or understanding to undertake the course. The course will focus on digital mindsets, literacy and strategic development.
The course is six weeks and requires up to four hours of your time each week.
The course includes self-directed reading, activities and online content as well as one hour of group learning and discussion with a facilitator every week.
The course is delivered on UTS online learning platform Canvas. Details of how to access, use and navigate the platform will be provided on enrolment.
For any questions or further information about the Digital Culture Program please email digitalarts@australiacouncil.gov.au or call 02 9215 9036.
Frequently asked questions
To apply, you will need to answer the following questions:
- What problem are you solving and why is it worth solving?
- Can you share a time in your career (either as a freelancer or an employee) where you experienced this (or a similar) problem and how you fixed this problem?
- Why do you think now is the time to test this idea? Do you have a unique insight into the market?
A problem can be a time-consuming task, a breakdown in process or an expensive way of doing something simple. If you’ve ever thought “there has to be a simpler or better way” you’ve identified a problem.
This residency is designed to be delivered online. Over 12 weekly 2 hour sessions, (Wednesday 5pm-7pm) and with access to 2 additional hours per week to work with mentors and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
This program is for arts-aligned/creative industries individuals and organisations who have an idea for a digital product, have found a solution to a problem or see a gap in the market that they can fill. Product ideas may include as plug-ins, media players, immersive VR/AR experiences, apps, platforms and programs, that originated out of, or support the creative industries.
Not all participants in the program may end up taking their product to market after exploring the viability of the project through the program, however all participants will leave the program with new skills in product development, entrepreneurship and business, which they can take to their next project.
This program will be delivered online.
Please email digital@australiacouncil.gov.au if you would like more information.
Frequently asked questions
Over a three month period, the program is delivered in three phases. Your organisation will work with the strategist to complete the following:
- Assess: the strategist will take the organisation through the Digital Culture Compass, an online tool that will help identify the organisation’s current level of digital maturity.
- Develop: a process of ideation and investigation to identify digital challenges and opportunities for your organisation. This phase involves feasibility research to refine and resolve potential initiatives.
- Draft: collate your work into a digital strategy (and/or implementation plan) document that aligns with your existing strategic/business plan.
Our digital strategists are a diverse group of creative technologists and digital consultants with a broad range of experience across digital technologies, capacities and roles. Strategists will be located across Australia and are selected based on their:
- experience with digital transformation
- knowledge of the arts and creative industry
- commitment to digital inclusion, cultural competency and accessibility.
Organisations will be matched with strategists based on the individual needs and priority areas.
This residency is designed to be delivered online with potential for hybrid delivery, involving a combination of in-person and online sessions with your strategist via negotiation.
Proposal documents should include the following:
- A written response outlining how the individual, company or organisation proposes to meet the requirement of the project (no more than two pages).
- A breakdown of your quote, including availability and capacity to deliver the requirements within the budget requirements of this document (refer part B6). Your quote must include and note GST where applicable.
- Individual, company or organisation information such as corporate status, registered place of business, size, number of staff and insurance policies.
- Qualifications of the staff to be designated to the project.
- Two referees to whom the Australia Council may address enquiries concerning previous experience in this area.
- A declaration of any partial or non-compliance with any provisions of this RFP. This includes not agreeing to any of the draft conditions of contract stating reasons and alternatives where appropriate.
Additional information
Once you submit your application, we will send you an email acknowledging receipt of your application.
After you submit your application, we first check it meets the eligibility criteria for the grant or opportunity to which you are applying.
Applications to the Australia Council Grant Programs are assessed by arts practice peer panels against the published assessment criteria for the relevant grant program.
We aim to notify you of the outcome of your application no later than 12 weeks after the published closing date for the applicable grant round.
Once all applications have been assessed, you will be contacted about the outcome of your application. If you have been successful, you will also be sent a funding agreement. This outlines the conditions of funding, how you will be paid and your grant reporting requirements. The following accordion items outline these stages in more detail.
If your application is successful, you will receive an email advising you a grant is offered. You must then agree to the conditions of your grant, which represents the Australia Council’s contract with you – this can be done online, by email or by letter. Payment of a grant will not be made until the grant conditions have been agreed and accepted by all the relevant parties.
You should not start a project that depends on a grant until all relevant parties have agreed and accepted the grant conditions and we have evidence of such acceptance on file.
Standard grant conditions require you to, among other things:
- seek prior approval for making a change to a funded project (for example, changes in the activity budget; changes to key creative personnel; or changes to start or end dates)
- respond to requests for information about the project or grant
- satisfactorily account for how the grant is spent (if you do not you will be required to return all monies for which you cannot satisfactorily account)
- comply with all applicable laws
- acknowledge the Australia Council’s support in all promotional material associated with the project; this includes use of the Australia Council’s logo and a standard text of acknowledgement.
- provide artistic and financial acquittal reports at the end of the project
- return any unspent grant funds at the completion of your project or on notice from us to return such unspent funds.
Grant agreements must be signed by a legal entity – either a legally constituted organisation or an individual. For unincorporated groups, see the section on administered grants
All individual or organisation grant applicants based in Australia must have an 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. 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 into which we pay the funds. There are no exceptions to this rule. If applicants cannot provide an ABN and bank account that are in the same name as the applicant’s name, they will need to nominate an administrator for their grant.
Groups/ensembles/collectives, unincorporated associations/ unincorporated entities and other bodies with no legal status do not need an administrator if they have an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and bank account in their name. If they are unable to provide an active ABN and bank account that matches the name of the applicant, they must nominate an administrator. The name of the administrator must match the name of the ABN and bank account into which funds are paid if the application is successful.
If we approve your application you will need accept the conditions of the grant in a funding agreement.
After you accept your funding agreement online, we will automatically generate a payment for the grant on your behalf. You do not need to send us an invoice.
We will pay grant funds directly into your nominated bank account within two weeks after acceptance of the funding agreement. Grant payments cannot be postponed.
If you do not wish to have the grant funds paid directly into your bank account you can choose to have your grant administered by another individual or legally constituted organisation (Doesn’t apply to Arts Projects – Organisations).
When you apply, you will be asked to provide an active Australian Business Number or ‘ABN’. The ABN that you provide must correspond to the name of the applicant (or the administering body, if one has been nominated). When you accept your funding agreement, you will be asked to enter the details of the bank account you wish the grant to be paid into. The name associated with that bank account must correspond to the name in which the ABN has been registered.
Grant reports are required on completion of your project. Acquitting a grant means accurately reporting on the funded activities and the expenditure of Australia Council funding.
Please read your funding agreement to check details of the grant acquittal material you should provide.
The grant acquittal report is where you tell us:
- how you spent your grant
- what the artistic outcomes of your funded activity were.
If you do not provide a satisfactory grant report at the times and in the manner detailed in your funding agreement, the Australia Council will not make any further payments that may be due to you, and you will not be eligible to apply for further grants.
If you do not provide a satisfactory grant report, the Australia Council may ask you to pay back all or part of the funding provided to you.
Grant reports are used by the Australia Council to fulfil obligations of accountability to the Australian Government. They are also essential to the development work of the Australia Council. The reports help us evaluate the achievements of funded activities, monitor the effectiveness of grant categories and ensure our policy development is consistent with the experience of artists in the field.
Reporting for Multi-year Funded Organisations
Organisations in receipt of multi-year funding are required to submit financial, statistical, and artistic reporting on an annual basis.
All reporting is submitted online via the Australia Council’s arts organisations reporting system.
If you are not sure what reporting you need to submit as part of your annual reporting, or what information to provide, please get in touch with your Australia Council contact.
All recipients must acknowledge that the Australia Council provided funding for their activities. When you acquit your grant, we will ask you how you acknowledged the Australia Council.
For printed or online material use our logo and this phrase:
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body OR The (company name) is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Logos for download and guidelines for the use of our logos.
Where projects do not have a public outcome, or do not produce any printed or online material, you will need to think about how best to acknowledge the Australia Council funding.
Frequently asked questions
You will receive your grant payment within two weeks of accepting your funding agreement. Please note we pay our grants in the financial year which they are approved. We will not adjust payment timelines to the particular circumstances of individuals.
The deadline for applications is at 3:00pm AET on the closing date. We strongly recommend submitting before this. Administrative and technical support is only available during office hours (Monday-Friday) 9am to 5 pm AET. Late applications will not be accepted.
Yes, if you have support materials such as letters from project partners, collaborators or participants that are in languages other than English (including Auslan), we can arrange translation or captioning.
Please contact the Artists Services team at least four weeks before the closing date of the grant round to which you are intending to make an application. If you do not contact us at least four weeks before the closing date, we may not have sufficient time to meet your translation needs.
Our online application form also has a checkbox at the top which you can tick if you have attached materials in a language other than English. This alerts the Artists Services team that you have submitted these materials.
We do not accept applications 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.
We do not amend, correct, update or change any part of your application once it has been submitted. However, if you receive additional confirmations for activities or artists after the closing date you may alert us to these, and we may bring them to the attention of peer assessors at the assessment meeting. These updates could include confirmation that a proposed activity will take place, a partnership has been secured, or funding from another source has been received.
You can update us about such confirmations by contacting us. Briefly describe the nature of the confirmation and cite your application reference number. You do not need to send us copies of confirmation emails from third parties – if we need to see evidence of the confirmation we will request it.
If you wish to update your application once it has been submitted, but the closing date has not yet passed, you can submit a new, updated application and request to withdraw the original one by emailing operationsservicedesk@australiacouncil.gov.au
Grant applications can be found and are submitted through our online system. If you are using the system for the first time you will need to register your details before filling out a grant application form.
When will I be notified about the outcome of my application?
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application approximately 12 weeks after the closing date. Please see the guidelines page for the grant category you are interested in for more details.
Yes, however you must be the applicant. Contact us to discuss your proposal prior to submitting your application.
To apply for this category your project must be circus or physical theatre activity or proposing to support the Victorian circus and physical theatre sector.
This program supports circus and physical theatre practice, it does not extend to dance or dance-theatre.
Following changes to the circus and physical theatre landscape in Victoria during 2021, the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria are jointly managing new investments to support the circus and physical theatre sector, guided by the principles of the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework.
We define a ‘group’ as two or more individuals who do not form a legally constituted organisation. This can include co-collaborators and collectives. Groups are not eligible to apply to programs open only to organisations.
An ‘organisation’ is a legally constituted organisation that is registered or created by law. For example, incorporated associations, companies limited by guarantee or government statutory authorities are all defined as organisations. Organisations that are not legally constituted are not eligible to apply for funding in grant categories that are open to organisations only. Organisations may be required to provide a certificate of incorporation or evidence of their current legal status. Funding programs for organisations are not intended for sole traders or partnerships.
No.
Yes. However, the contact person for group applications must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
We provide funding to practising artists or artsworkers. While you may not regularly earn income from your practice, you must be identified and recognised by your peers as a practising artist or artsworker. This may include cultural practitioners, editors, producers, curators and arts managers.
No. If you have an overdue grant acquittal you will not be eligible to apply for any further grants.
No. Only Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents may apply to the Australia Council for funding. Foreign nationals who are permitted to live and work in Australia by holding visas such as a Special Category visa or a Bridging visa are not eligible to apply.
Yes. Creative research and development is a key component of the creative process and can be funded through this category.
Yes. We accept applications in languages other than English, including Auslan.
If any part of your application requires translation into English, please contact the Artists Services team at least four weeks before the closing date of the round to which you intend to apply. We will use our best and all reasonable endeavours to assist in having some or all of the material translated. However we reserve the right to refuse an application in a language other than English if we believe there is no genuine reason to accept such an application, or if the time-frame for translation precludes us from making the materials available for assessment in the round to which it was submitted.
If you wish to request an application form in a language other than English, please contact the Artists Services team at least 12 weeks before the closing date of the round to which you intend to apply.
We reserve the right to refuse an application form translation request if we believe there is no genuine reason for the request. We also reserve the right to refuse an application form translation if the time-frame for translation prevents us from providing a translated form in time for assessment in the round to which it was submitted.
Where you have supplied creative content in a language other than English, we may engage an industry expert to provide the peers with an evaluation of the artistic merit of that creative content.
You can speak with staff at the Australia Council in your first language. Please telephone the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 (local call anywhere in Australia) and ask to be connected with the Australia Council.
Applications that focus solely on academic studies, or are for activities that are part of assessable coursework are unlikely to be successful with our assessment panels. Assessment panels are also unlikely to support applications requesting the costs of academic fees or courses.
If you wish to apply for study costs, explain to the panel how your project extends, or supplements, the course’s standard curriculum requirements. Also, bear in mind that your project will be assessed on artistic merit of the work.
If you are applying for funding to complete a training program, course, workshop or diploma, explain how doing so will impact positively on your career or practice.
Do you fund feature film, television or documentary?
While we can support screen-based art, we do not generally support activities associated with feature film, television or documentary. See Screen Australia, the Federal Government’s primary agency for production of Australian screen activity. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/
No, we do not offer quick response grants. Outside of our regular grants program, we do offer a number of other grants and opportunities.
Yes. Early career artists are eligible to apply for funding through this category.
Yes. Individuals and Groups can propose a program of projects and/or activities. This could be a series of projects; or a suite of activities over a fixed period of time.
We encourage applicants to be mindful of the following considerations:
The activities should each contribute toward a clear, unifying overall objective – for example, the development of an individuals or group’s artistic practice. The suite of activity could include creative development or presentation alongside professional development opportunities. It is important to demonstrate the rationale for the inclusion of these activities and how the overall program or suite of activity will align with the individuals or group’s artistic practice and ambition.
In proposing a program consisting of multiple projects or activities, it is possible that some individual projects may be less compelling than others. If you are submitting an application proposing multiple activities or projects, we encourage you to ensure that a similar level of consideration, planning, and artistic merit is common to each to avoid one component of your program potentially letting down the others.
You may wish to consider using one of the 3 URLs you can provide as support material to link to a document that provides more detail about each individual project or activity in your program.
As a national arts funding body, all Australia Council grant rounds are competitive. Success rates are usually between 15% and 20%. Success rate for this category may be higher depending on demand.
Yes. Projects must have a start date that falls after we notify you of the outcome of your application, and no later than one year from that date. We will notify you of the outcome of your application approximately 12 weeks after the closing date.
No. However, applications involving venues and partners are likely to be more competitive if their involvement is confirmed.
Australia Council staff are available to assist you in understanding the purpose of the grant, application requirements, and submitting your application. Staff can assist over email, phone and using Skype. We cannot review application drafts.
Additional support can be discussed where needed. Where the additional support required is beyond the scope of what our staff can provide, we may recommend speaking to an appropriate organisation for further assistance.
The best applications are those where the voice of the artist comes through. Where possible you, ‘the artist’, should write your application. Your manager may administer the grant on your behalf to undertake the financial and reporting requirements.
If you are applying as an unincorporated entity, unincorporated association or partnership you do not need to have an administrator for your grant. However, you must be able to provide an ABN and bank account that are in the group’s name. If you cannot do this you must nominate an administrator. For more information about this, please contact us.
All individual or organisation 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 organisation with an ABN. Organisations operating outside of Australia do not need an ABN to apply. Individuals based outside of Australia may not need an ABN to apply, depending on their circumstances (please check with your accountant or tax advisor).
Furthermore, the name of the applicant must match the name of the ABN and the name of the bank account into which we pay the funds. 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 us.
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.
Yes. The Australia Council expects that artists professionally employed or engaged on Australia Council-funded activities will be remunerated 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.
Our grants program is primarily designed to support projects that have a defined start and end date, rather than ongoing organisational administration costs. Project budgets that include a high proportion of administration costs may be less competitive. However, if you do need funding to cover administration costs directly related to the delivery of your project, you can include them in your grant request.
Grants paid by the Australia Council 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 adviser or contact the Australian Taxation Office on 13 28 66.
No. The Australia Council encourages applicants whose projects will take place in regional and remote locations to budget accurately and realistically, as it is recognised that costs may differ between regions and major cities.
If you are GST-registered when you receive an Australia Council grant, the Australia Council will pay the grant amount plus GST. The budget provided in your application should be exclusive of GST.
Yes. The Australia Council recognises that funding may be required for access costs incurred by applicants with disability, or for costs associated with working with artists with disability – who may have particular access needs (e.g. use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, support worker/carer assistance). Access costs are viewed as legitimate expenses and may be included in an applicant’s budget. The Australia Council encourages applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Therefore, budgets may also include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. performances using Auslan, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, materials in other formats such as Braille or CD).
The application form calculates your grant request as the difference between your total cash income, and your total cash costs. The gap between these two numbers is the grant request. In-kind contributions are not included in this calculation.
Total cash costs – total cash income = grant request
For example –
$50,000 cash costs – $30,000 cash income = $20,000 Australia Council grant request.
Yes. The Australia Council recognises that childcare needs may impede access to employment in the arts. Accordingly, childcare is a legitimate expense to include in an applicant’s budget.
We encourage our applicants to seek funding from other sources to cover the complete costs of their projects. While it does depend on the size of your grant request to us, we would expect that applicants with large grant requests would also secure funding from elsewhere to cover all costs associated with a large-scale project.
Yes. 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.
Yes. In-kind support refers to resources, goods and services (for example, use of a venue, materials, and/or 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 peers a full understanding of the viability of your project and levels of support you are receiving. In-kind costs are also an expense so, when you save your application, any in-kind income you included will auto-populate to the expenses side of the budget.
Additional information
Once you submit your application, we will send you an email acknowledging receipt of your application.
After you submit your application, we first check it meets the eligibility criteria for the grant or opportunity to which you are applying.
Applications to the Australia Council Grant Programs are assessed by arts practice peer panels against the published assessment criteria for the relevant grant program.
We aim to notify you of the outcome of your application no later than 12 weeks after the published closing date for the applicable grant round.
Once all applications have been assessed, you will be contacted about the outcome of your application. If you have been successful, you will also be sent a funding agreement. This outlines the conditions of funding, how you will be paid and your grant reporting requirements. The following accordion items outline these stages in more detail.
If your application is successful, you will receive an email advising you a grant is offered. You must then agree to the conditions of your grant, which represents the Australia Council’s contract with you – this can be done online, by email or by letter. Payment of a grant will not be made until the grant conditions have been agreed and accepted by all the relevant parties.
You should not start a project that depends on a grant until all relevant parties have agreed and accepted the grant conditions and we have evidence of such acceptance on file.
Standard grant conditions require you to, among other things:
- seek prior approval for making a change to a funded project (for example, changes in the activity budget; changes to key creative personnel; or changes to start or end dates)
- respond to requests for information about the project or grant
- satisfactorily account for how the grant is spent (if you do not you will be required to return all monies for which you cannot satisfactorily account)
- comply with all applicable laws
- acknowledge the Australia Council’s support in all promotional material associated with the project; this includes use of the Australia Council’s logo and a standard text of acknowledgement.
- provide artistic and financial acquittal reports at the end of the project
- return any unspent grant funds at the completion of your project or on notice from us to return such unspent funds.
Grant agreements must be signed by a legal entity – either a legally constituted organisation or an individual. For unincorporated groups, see the section on administered grants
All individual or organisation grant applicants based in Australia must have an 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. 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 into which we pay the funds. There are no exceptions to this rule. If applicants cannot provide an ABN and bank account that are in the same name as the applicant’s name, they will need to nominate an administrator for their grant.
Groups/ensembles/collectives, unincorporated associations/ unincorporated entities and other bodies with no legal status do not need an administrator if they have an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and bank account in their name. If they are unable to provide an active ABN and bank account that matches the name of the applicant, they must nominate an administrator. The name of the administrator must match the name of the ABN and bank account into which funds are paid if the application is successful.
If we approve your application you will need accept the conditions of the grant in a funding agreement.
After you accept your funding agreement online, we will automatically generate a payment for the grant on your behalf. You do not need to send us an invoice.
We will pay grant funds directly into your nominated bank account within two weeks after acceptance of the funding agreement. Grant payments cannot be postponed.
If you do not wish to have the grant funds paid directly into your bank account you can choose to have your grant administered by another individual or legally constituted organisation (Doesn’t apply to Arts Projects – Organisations).
When you apply, you will be asked to provide an active Australian Business Number or ‘ABN’. The ABN that you provide must correspond to the name of the applicant (or the administering body, if one has been nominated). When you accept your funding agreement, you will be asked to enter the details of the bank account you wish the grant to be paid into. The name associated with that bank account must correspond to the name in which the ABN has been registered.
Grant reports are required on completion of your project. Acquitting a grant means accurately reporting on the funded activities and the expenditure of Australia Council funding.
Please read your funding agreement to check details of the grant acquittal material you should provide.
The grant acquittal report is where you tell us:
- how you spent your grant
- what the artistic outcomes of your funded activity were.
If you do not provide a satisfactory grant report at the times and in the manner detailed in your funding agreement, the Australia Council will not make any further payments that may be due to you, and you will not be eligible to apply for further grants.
If you do not provide a satisfactory grant report, the Australia Council may ask you to pay back all or part of the funding provided to you.
Grant reports are used by the Australia Council to fulfil obligations of accountability to the Australian Government. They are also essential to the development work of the Australia Council. The reports help us evaluate the achievements of funded activities, monitor the effectiveness of grant categories and ensure our policy development is consistent with the experience of artists in the field.
Reporting for Multi-year Funded Organisations
Organisations in receipt of multi-year funding are required to submit financial, statistical, and artistic reporting on an annual basis.
All reporting is submitted online via the Australia Council’s arts organisations reporting system.
If you are not sure what reporting you need to submit as part of your annual reporting, or what information to provide, please get in touch with your Australia Council contact.
All recipients must acknowledge that the Australia Council provided funding for their activities. When you acquit your grant, we will ask you how you acknowledged the Australia Council.
For printed or online material use our logo and this phrase:
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body OR The (company name) is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Logos for download and guidelines for the use of our logos.
Where projects do not have a public outcome, or do not produce any printed or online material, you will need to think about how best to acknowledge the Australia Council funding.
Frequently asked questions
You will receive your grant payment within two weeks of accepting your funding agreement. Please note we pay our grants in the financial year which they are approved. We will not adjust payment timelines to the particular circumstances of individuals.
The deadline for applications is at 3:00pm AET on the closing date. We strongly recommend submitting before this. Administrative and technical support is only available during office hours (Monday-Friday) 9am to 5 pm AET. Late applications will not be accepted.
Yes, if you have support materials such as letters from project partners, collaborators or participants that are in languages other than English (including Auslan), we can arrange translation or captioning.
Please contact the Artists Services team at least four weeks before the closing date of the grant round to which you are intending to make an application. If you do not contact us at least four weeks before the closing date, we may not have sufficient time to meet your translation needs.
Our online application form also has a checkbox at the top which you can tick if you have attached materials in a language other than English. This alerts the Artists Services team that you have submitted these materials.
We do not accept applications 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.
We do not amend, correct, update or change any part of your application once it has been submitted. However, if you receive additional confirmations for activities or artists after the closing date you may alert us to these, and we may bring them to the attention of peer assessors at the assessment meeting. These updates could include confirmation that a proposed activity will take place, a partnership has been secured, or funding from another source has been received.
You can update us about such confirmations by contacting us. Briefly describe the nature of the confirmation and cite your application reference number. You do not need to send us copies of confirmation emails from third parties – if we need to see evidence of the confirmation we will request it.
If you wish to update your application once it has been submitted, but the closing date has not yet passed, you can submit a new, updated application and request to withdraw the original one by emailing operationsservicedesk@australiacouncil.gov.au
Grant applications can be found and are submitted through our online system. If you are using the system for the first time you will need to register your details before filling out a grant application form.
When will I be notified about the outcome of my application?
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application approximately 12 weeks after the closing date. Please see the guidelines page for the grant category you are interested in for more details.
Yes, however you must be the applicant. Contact us to discuss your proposal prior to submitting your application.
To apply for this category your project must be circus or physical theatre activity or proposing to support the Victorian circus and physical theatre sector.
This program supports circus and physical theatre practice, it does not extend to dance or dance-theatre.
Following changes to the circus and physical theatre landscape in Victoria during 2021, the Australia Council for the Arts and Creative Victoria are jointly managing new investments to support the circus and physical theatre sector, guided by the principles of the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework.
We define a ‘group’ as two or more individuals who do not form a legally constituted organisation. This can include co-collaborators and collectives. Groups are not eligible to apply to programs open only to organisations.
An ‘organisation’ is a legally constituted organisation that is registered or created by law. For example, incorporated associations, companies limited by guarantee or government statutory authorities are all defined as organisations. Organisations that are not legally constituted are not eligible to apply for funding in grant categories that are open to organisations only. Organisations may be required to provide a certificate of incorporation or evidence of their current legal status. Funding programs for organisations are not intended for sole traders or partnerships.
No.
Yes. However, the contact person for group applications must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
We provide funding to practising artists or artsworkers. While you may not regularly earn income from your practice, you must be identified and recognised by your peers as a practising artist or artsworker. This may include cultural practitioners, editors, producers, curators and arts managers.
No. If you have an overdue grant acquittal you will not be eligible to apply for any further grants.
No. Only Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents may apply to the Australia Council for funding. Foreign nationals who are permitted to live and work in Australia by holding visas such as a Special Category visa or a Bridging visa are not eligible to apply.
Yes. Creative research and development is a key component of the creative process and can be funded through this category.
Yes. We accept applications in languages other than English, including Auslan.
If any part of your application requires translation into English, please contact the Artists Services team at least four weeks before the closing date of the round to which you intend to apply. We will use our best and all reasonable endeavours to assist in having some or all of the material translated. However we reserve the right to refuse an application in a language other than English if we believe there is no genuine reason to accept such an application, or if the time-frame for translation precludes us from making the materials available for assessment in the round to which it was submitted.
If you wish to request an application form in a language other than English, please contact the Artists Services team at least 12 weeks before the closing date of the round to which you intend to apply.
We reserve the right to refuse an application form translation request if we believe there is no genuine reason for the request. We also reserve the right to refuse an application form translation if the time-frame for translation prevents us from providing a translated form in time for assessment in the round to which it was submitted.
Where you have supplied creative content in a language other than English, we may engage an industry expert to provide the peers with an evaluation of the artistic merit of that creative content.
You can speak with staff at the Australia Council in your first language. Please telephone the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 (local call anywhere in Australia) and ask to be connected with the Australia Council.
Applications that focus solely on academic studies, or are for activities that are part of assessable coursework are unlikely to be successful with our assessment panels. Assessment panels are also unlikely to support applications requesting the costs of academic fees or courses.
If you wish to apply for study costs, explain to the panel how your project extends, or supplements, the course’s standard curriculum requirements. Also, bear in mind that your project will be assessed on artistic merit of the work.
If you are applying for funding to complete a training program, course, workshop or diploma, explain how doing so will impact positively on your career or practice.
Do you fund feature film, television or documentary?
While we can support screen-based art, we do not generally support activities associated with feature film, television or documentary. See Screen Australia, the Federal Government’s primary agency for production of Australian screen activity. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/
No, we do not offer quick response grants. Outside of our regular grants program, we do offer a number of other grants and opportunities.
Yes. Early career artists are eligible to apply for funding through this category.
Yes. Individuals and Groups can propose a program of projects and/or activities. This could be a series of projects; or a suite of activities over a fixed period of time.
We encourage applicants to be mindful of the following considerations:
The activities should each contribute toward a clear, unifying overall objective – for example, the development of an individuals or group’s artistic practice. The suite of activity could include creative development or presentation alongside professional development opportunities. It is important to demonstrate the rationale for the inclusion of these activities and how the overall program or suite of activity will align with the individuals or group’s artistic practice and ambition.
In proposing a program consisting of multiple projects or activities, it is possible that some individual projects may be less compelling than others. If you are submitting an application proposing multiple activities or projects, we encourage you to ensure that a similar level of consideration, planning, and artistic merit is common to each to avoid one component of your program potentially letting down the others.
You may wish to consider using one of the 3 URLs you can provide as support material to link to a document that provides more detail about each individual project or activity in your program.
As a national arts funding body, all Australia Council grant rounds are competitive. Success rates are usually between 15% and 20%. Success rate for this category may be higher depending on demand.
Yes. Projects must have a start date that falls after we notify you of the outcome of your application, and no later than one year from that date. We will notify you of the outcome of your application approximately 12 weeks after the closing date.
No. However, applications involving venues and partners are likely to be more competitive if their involvement is confirmed.
Australia Council staff are available to assist you in understanding the purpose of the grant, application requirements, and submitting your application. Staff can assist over email, phone and using Skype. We cannot review application drafts.
Additional support can be discussed where needed. Where the additional support required is beyond the scope of what our staff can provide, we may recommend speaking to an appropriate organisation for further assistance.
The best applications are those where the voice of the artist comes through. Where possible you, ‘the artist’, should write your application. Your manager may administer the grant on your behalf to undertake the financial and reporting requirements.
If you are applying as an unincorporated entity, unincorporated association or partnership you do not need to have an administrator for your grant. However, you must be able to provide an ABN and bank account that are in the group’s name. If you cannot do this you must nominate an administrator. For more information about this, please contact us.
All individual or organisation 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 organisation with an ABN. Organisations operating outside of Australia do not need an ABN to apply. Individuals based outside of Australia may not need an ABN to apply, depending on their circumstances (please check with your accountant or tax advisor).
Furthermore, the name of the applicant must match the name of the ABN and the name of the bank account into which we pay the funds. 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 us.
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.
Yes. The Australia Council expects that artists professionally employed or engaged on Australia Council-funded activities will be remunerated 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.
Our grants program is primarily designed to support projects that have a defined start and end date, rather than ongoing organisational administration costs. Project budgets that include a high proportion of administration costs may be less competitive. However, if you do need funding to cover administration costs directly related to the delivery of your project, you can include them in your grant request.
Grants paid by the Australia Council 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 adviser or contact the Australian Taxation Office on 13 28 66.
No. The Australia Council encourages applicants whose projects will take place in regional and remote locations to budget accurately and realistically, as it is recognised that costs may differ between regions and major cities.
If you are GST-registered when you receive an Australia Council grant, the Australia Council will pay the grant amount plus GST. The budget provided in your application should be exclusive of GST.
Yes. The Australia Council recognises that funding may be required for access costs incurred by applicants with disability, or for costs associated with working with artists with disability – who may have particular access needs (e.g. use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, support worker/carer assistance). Access costs are viewed as legitimate expenses and may be included in an applicant’s budget. The Australia Council encourages applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Therefore, budgets may also include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. performances using Auslan, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, materials in other formats such as Braille or CD).
The application form calculates your grant request as the difference between your total cash income, and your total cash costs. The gap between these two numbers is the grant request. In-kind contributions are not included in this calculation.
Total cash costs – total cash income = grant request
For example –
$50,000 cash costs – $30,000 cash income = $20,000 Australia Council grant request.
Yes. The Australia Council recognises that childcare needs may impede access to employment in the arts. Accordingly, childcare is a legitimate expense to include in an applicant’s budget.
We encourage our applicants to seek funding from other sources to cover the complete costs of their projects. While it does depend on the size of your grant request to us, we would expect that applicants with large grant requests would also secure funding from elsewhere to cover all costs associated with a large-scale project.
Yes. 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.
Yes. In-kind support refers to resources, goods and services (for example, use of a venue, materials, and/or 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 peers a full understanding of the viability of your project and levels of support you are receiving. In-kind costs are also an expense so, when you save your application, any in-kind income you included will auto-populate to the expenses side of the budget.
Frequently asked questions
Are the residency dates flexible? No. The dates for this residency are fixed.
Yes, but this will be at your own cost and the Australia Council will not be able to provide additional funds towards the extension.
No. You are not required to provide a budget with your application.
There is no requirement for you to provide a timetable of your activities, unless stated otherwise in the individual residency program guidelines.
Yes. If successful, you are required to take out travel insurance for the duration of your residency. It is recommended you pay for this from your grant.
The unit will accommodate couples and Acme can arrange additional bedding for additional guests. However, Fire Station work/live units are not family friendly.
Yes, the grant to an individual that accompanies a residency is considered income and taxable. Please visit the Australian Taxation Office website for more information.
The International Residencies Program is dynamic and responsive and the programs on offer may vary from year to year.
Yes. If you are looking for some tips on organising your residency or programs in the region you’re interested in, check out the Tips and Links resources on our International Engagement web page.
Yes. Please note, applications to International Engagement funding opportunities do not count as an application to the Australia Council Grants Program.
Yes, as long as you have satisfactorily acquitted the previous residency grant.
The grant is not intended to cover lost income or rent at home and applicants will need to consider their capacity to undertake the residency prior to applying.
The Australia Council partners with established and reputable residency providers and each program is unique. Successful applicants will be provided with detailed information about each residency and introductions to the residency providers who will assist artists with making local connections. Australia Council staff are able to provide further advice and contacts, as requested. Artists are also expected to have their own resources, contacts and project plans for the residency.
The grant is a contribution from the Australia Council toward your travel (including airfares and travel insurance) and living costs during the residency period. Applicants are expected to research the cost of living in the residency location they are travelling to. You may need to supplement the grant with your own funds depending on your projected costs for the residency period.
No. The Australia Council cannot provide any advice on visa or immigration matters. You must contact the relevant country’s visa service to get current information. We suggest you allow plenty of time to apply for all international visas.
Access needs for living quarters during a residency can be accommodated on request.
2022 Delegates

Yvette Dal Pozzo – ACT

Yvette Dal Pozzo – ACT
Yvette Dal Pozzo is the Director of the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery. Prior to this role, Yvette was at the National Gallery of Australia, where she worked on major projects, including the two-part exhibition ‘Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now’ and was the editorial assistant and contributor of the corresponding publication titled ‘Know My Name’ (2020). She was also the coordinating editor of Roger Butler’s publication ‘Printed: images by Australian artists 1942-2020’ (2021).
In 2019, Yvette was selected as an Exhibition Attendant to facilitate the Australia Pavilion as part of the 58th Venice Biennale. She has held appointments in galleries, arts festivals, and universities. Yvette holds a Master of Art History and Curatorial Studies from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Melbourne.

Chrischona Schmidt – NT

Chrischona Schmidt – NT
Chrischona is an arts professional and researcher with a background in art history and social anthropology. She has worked with Central Australian Indigenous communities as a researcher and art centre manager since 2006. In 2018, as Manager at Ikuntji Artists, the business won the Australian Small Business Champion Awards in Indigenous Business. The art centre is now one of the most renowned fine art specialised Indigenous art centres in Australia.
Before that, she worked in research and different areas of the art market, including auction houses, galleries and museums in Australia and overseas.
Chrischona researches local art histories in Central Australia with a particular focus on women’s work. She wrote the first art history of an art movement without an art centre and co-organised the first conference on Indigenous jewellery. She engages actively with the academic discourse through her publications, conference attendance and as a co-organiser of the University of Queensland art history program field school.

Rebekah Raymond – NT

Rebekah Raymond – NT
Rebekah Raymond is a proud Arabana, Mualgal, and Wuthathi woman, with further cultural connections which have been disrupted by the Stolen Generations. She grew up on Larrakia Country and Limilngan-Wulna Country. Rebekah holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, with majors in Art History and Archaeology.
Rebekah has worked across state and national arts organisations and institutions, while also undertaking independent curatorial, editorial and research projects. Her curatorial practice centres community collaboration, language, archives, and intergenerational knowledge. She currently works as the Curator of Aboriginal Art and Material Culture at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), located on Larrakia Country.

Aleshia Lonsdale – NSW

Aleshia Lonsdale – NSW
Aleshia Lonsdale is a Visual Artist, Arts Worker and Curator based in regional New South Wales (NSW). As a proud Wiradjuri woman from Mudgee in Central Western NSW, Lonsdale creates work using various materials, including natural and found objects that endeavour to give voice to First Nations peoples. She sees the arts as a vehicle for intergenerational cultural transmission and as a tool that allows the audience to view the world through a First Nations lens. With a strong grounding in Culture and Country, her works are influenced by the past, present and future experiences of First Nations Peoples with a particular focus on social, cultural, political and environmental issues.

Eddie Abd – NSW

Eddie Abd – NSW
Eddie Abd is an artist and arts worker living and working on unceded Darug and Gundungurra Lands. Eddie creates intricate, multilayered digital and textile works grounded in her lived experience while responding to a range of concerns from the social to the political and religious.
Her video and digital print works often feature self-referential composite characters inhabiting remixed spaces and engaging in heightened acts of identity performance. Eddie was awarded the 2021 Blake Prize (Emerging Artist) and shortlisted for the Create NSW 2021/2022 Visual Arts (Emerging) Fellowship.
Born in Lebanon in 1979, Eddie studied Fine Arts (Painting) at the Lebanese University. After moving to Australia in 2001, she completed a Bachelor of Digital Media at the University of New South Wales (COFA).

Jazz Money – NSW

Jazz Money – NSW
Jazz Money is a poet and artist of Wiradjuri heritage, a fresh-water woman currently based on Gadigal land. Her practice is centred around the written word while producing works that encompass installation, digital, film and print. Jazz’s writing has been widely performed and published nationally and internationally.
Trained as a filmmaker and arts worker, Jazz specialises in storytelling, community collaboration and digital production, working with First Nations artists and communities to realise digital projects.
Jazz’s debut collection of poetry, ‘how to make a basket’, was released in September 2021 with University of Queensland Press.

Riana Head-Toussaint – NSW

Riana Head-Toussaint – NSW
Riana Head-Toussaint is an interdisciplinary disabled artist who uses a manual wheelchair for mobility. Her work often crosses traditional artform boundaries and exists in online and offline spaces. She employs performance, choreography, video/film, sound design, installation and audience activation to create works that interrogate entrenched systems, structures and ways of thinking; and advocate for social change. The enduring concerns across her works are agency, representation, the limits of empathy, and how these impact people across various marginalised intersections. Her work is deeply informed by her experiences as a disabled woman of Afro-Caribbean heritage and her training as a legal practitioner.
Riana’s practice also involves broader curatorial/space-making projects. She is the founder of Headquarters, a disability-led, digital space; centring and celebrating disabled creatives. Riana is also a qualified Solicitor and Access Consultant. She lives and works on the unceded lands of the Eora Nation.

Mandy Quadrio – QLD

Mandy Quadrio – QLD
Mandy Quadrio is an Indigenous Palawa artist connected to her maternal ancestral countries of Tebrakunna, north-east Tasmania and the Oyster Bay Nation of eastern Tasmania. Currently based in Meanjin (Brisbane), she works across sculpture, installation, photography and mixed media. She received a Doctorate in Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, in 2021.
By reimagining cultural associations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous objects, Quadrio aims to draw attention to historical and contemporary cultural and political events that impact Australian Indigenous people. She works to expose holes and myths in Australian colonial histories
Quadrio has shown in numerous solo, and group shows around Australia, including the TarraWarra Biennial in Melbourne in 2021 and at Ace Open in Adelaide as part of Tarnanthi festival of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art 2021. Her work was permanently acquired by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania, in 2021.

Ruha Fifita – QLD

Ruha Fifita – QLD
Ruha Fifita (Tonga/New Zealand) is an interdisciplinary artis based in Brisbane. She is co-founder of Pacific art research collective, IVI, Griffith Asia Institute Industry Fellow, and Curatorial Assistant for Pacific Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.
Her creative practice fosters collaboration, community engagement and connection with indigenous methods and materials to achieve social change. She holds a Bachelor of Creative Industries, and a post-graduate Certificate in Discourse and Social Transformation.
Ruha’s work has exhibited throughout the Pacific region in settings such as, the Mori Art Museum, Festival of Pacific Arts, the Dreaming Festival, Auckland Art Festival, Pataka Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, UNSW Gallery, and Seoul Museum of Art.

Erin Davidson – SA

Erin Davidson – SA
Erin Davidson holds the position of Project Manager at the Art Gallery of South Australia and is responsible for delivering two of the country’s major biennial programs celebrating contemporary art and artists, the Ramsay Art Prize and the Adelaide Biennial Australian Art. Over the last decade, she has worked with South Australian cultural institutions and organisations in various roles.
In 2021, she commenced lecturing in Business Practice for Artists and Designers at the University of South Australia. Her formal education includes Interior Design, Art History, Criticism and Conservation, and Museum and Curatorial Studies. Her professional experiences range from tutoring in interior design, working in engineering and design studios, and managing exhibitions and projects for arts and cultural organisations.

Rayleen Forester – SA

Rayleen Forester – SA
Rayleen Forester is an Adelaide based, independent curator and arts writer. She holds Graduate Diplomas in Art History (University of Adelaide) and Arts & Cultural Management (University of South Australia) and is a South Australian School of Art graduate.
Rayleen’s curatorial interests focus on cross-cultural engagement through contemporary and experimental art practices. She was awarded the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Travel Grant (2010) to collaborate with Japanese curator and Gallery Director Katsuya Ishida and the inaugural Curator Mentorship Initiative grant (2012) to work with international curator Cuauhtémoc Medina at the MANIFESTA biennale. She co-curated the Artists’ Week symposium in 2014 with Lars Bang Larsen (DEN) and Richard Grayson (UK). In 2016, she completed a residency at ICI New York curatorial hub program.
Rayleen writes for national publications and is a founding member of initiatives FELTspace and fine print magazine. In 2020 she was inaugural curator in residence at ACE Open, Adelaide, co-curating If the future is to be worth anything: 2020 Artist Survey with Artistic Director, Patrice Sharkey.

Sarra Tzijan – SA

Sarra Tzijan – SA
Sarra Tzijan is an Indian/Australian artist, originally from Naarm, now living in Tarntanya. Tzijan makes functional, sculptural and wearable objects, playing with the intersections of art and craft, highlighting their limitations. She draws on her mixed heritage to unpack themes of belonging, cultural displacement and colonisation. Adopting a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach, she encourages the influence of others in her work.
During early education, Tzijan focused on drawing and illustration. In 2014 she completed a degree in Communication Design (RMIT), refining her work on paper. In 2016 she completed an Advanced Diploma of Object and Jewellery Design (Melbourne Polytechnic) and began combining her illustrative aesthetic with three-dimensional objects. In 2018 she was selected to undertake an associateship at JamFactory in the metal studio where she’s currently a tenant.

Theia Connell – TAS

Theia Connell – TAS
Theia Connell is an artist, curator and producer living on unceded Muwinina country in nipaluna/Hobart. Her professional practice has seen her working within festivals, museums, galleries and not-for-profit art spaces regularly for a decade. Theia works closely with contemporary artists to build exhibitions, live events and site-specific projects. Her practice is grounded in the value of collaboration and mutual support and in developing meaningful context for experimental art.
Recent roles include Co-founder and Co-director of Visual Bulk art space, member of the Artistic Directorate at Next Wave, Creative Associate at Dark Mofo, Creative Producer at Dark Mofo, and board member at CONSTANCE ARI. She has exhibited as an independent artist across Australia and internationally, including Incheon Art Platform (Seoul), Snehta (Athens), BUS Projects, Watch This Space ARI, Firstdraft, Kings ARI and more. Theia completed a BFA (Visual Art) at VCA in 2014, and a BA (Art History) at University of Melbourne in 2010.

Claire G. Coleman – VIC

Claire G. Coleman – VIC
Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose ancestral country is on the south coast of Western Australia. Born in Perth, she has spent most of her life in Naarm (Melbourne).
Her debut novel Terra Nullius, published by Hachette in Australia and Small Beer in the US, won a black&write! Fellowship and a Norma K. Hemming Award and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Aurealis Science Fiction Award, among others. The Old Lie (Hachette 2019) is her second novel.
Her art criticism has been published in Spectrum, Artlink and Art Collector, and in exhibition catalogues for NGV, AGSA, NGA, and others. Her conceptual/video work, Refugium, won the Incinerator Art Award in 2021.
Lies Damned Lies: A Personal Exploration of the Impact of Colonisation, her first nonfiction book published in September 2021 by Ultimo Press.

Nikki Lam – VIC

Nikki Lam – VIC
Nikki Lam is an artist, curator and producer based in Naarm. Working primarily with moving images, her practice explores hybridity and memory through the contemplation on time, space and impermanence. Born in Hong Kong, her work deals with the complexity of migratory expressions. Nikki’s current research focuses on the artistic agency during cultural, social and political transitions, particularly within the context of moving image and screen cultures. With an expanded practice in writing, exhibition and festival making, she is interested in exploring anti-colonial methods in artistic and curatorial practice.
Nikki is the co-director of Hyphenated Projects and Hyphenated Biennial, and curator-at-large at The Substation. She was Artistic Director of Channels video art festival, alongside many hybrid roles in the arts including at ACMI, Next Wave and Footscray Community Arts Centre. Nikki is a current PhD (Art) candidate at RMIT University.

Sebastian Henry-Jones – VIC

Sebastian Henry-Jones – VIC
Sebastian Henry-Jones is a curator led by an interest in writing, DIY thinking, and the exhibition format’s potential to cultivate strategies of collectivity, social responsibility, and tenderness. He looks to embody these ideals in his work by centring the needs, ideas, and requirements of those he works with. His practice is informed by striving for personal ethics with sincerity, generosity, honest communication, and learning at its core.
Seb has staged group exhibitions and independent projects in Sydney and interstate and co-founded Desire Lines and Emerson. Previously, he was an editor at Runway Journal and has held curatorial roles at The 22nd Biennale of Sydney and West Space.

Esther McDowell/Yabini Kickett – WA

Esther McDowell/Yabini Kickett – WA
Yabini Kickett (Esther McDowell) is a descendant of the Kickett and Hayden families of the Bibulmun/Noongar Nation. Having grown up with an artist and poet mother and a photographer and land conservationist father, her practice is heavily rooted in language, endemic plants, family, totemic relations and found objects from Country.
Yabini has exhibited as an independent artist across Australia, including at Art Gallery of Western Australia (2021), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (2020), Cool Change Contemporary (2018) and more.

Gok-Lim Finch – WA

Gok-Lim Finch – WA
Gok-Lim is a writer and artist living on the unceded sovereign lands of the Whadjuk people of the Bibbulmun nation. In 2019, they were a Creative Research Fellow for the State Library of WA. From 2018 to 2020, they were the board secretary of Propel Youth Arts WA, and the Project Coordinator for Community Arts Network’s Lotterywest Story Street project. They are currently studying a PhD at the University of Western Australia on the history of the Christmas Island workers union and working as the Student Engagement Officer for Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.

Rachel Ciesla – WA

Rachel Ciesla – WA
Rachel Cieśla is the Lead Creative for the Simon Lee Foundation Institute of Contemporary Asian Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Boorloo. She is also a co-founder and co-editor of Heart of Hearts Press.