Investment FAQs

Download our FAQs for using the Application Management System in Word and PDF.

You can only submit one application per closing date to each of the following categories: Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups, Fellowships and Arts Projects for Organisations.

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.

Please refer to the Languages Other Than English page.

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

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.

We accept applications in the following artforms and arts practice areas: First Nations Arts and Culture, Community Arts and Cultural Development, Emerging and Experimental Arts, Multi-Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre, Visual Arts and Literature.

If you are unsure of which assessment panel you should apply to, and for more information about what constitutes Community Arts and Cultural Development, Multi-Arts and Emerging and Experimental Arts, please refer to the Investment FAQs page.

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.

Yes, provided that the project that they are proposing directly benefits Australian artists or the Australian arts sector.

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.

The following eligibility requirements apply to applicants to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Arts Assessment Panel:

• Individuals – must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
• Groups – the members of the group must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
• Organisations – the majority of the governing body of the organisation must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

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 our Arts Projects grants.

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 six 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.

If you supply examples of creative content in a language other than English, we may engage an industry expert to give the peer assessors an evaluation of its artistic merit.

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 an Arts Projects grant for funding to complete a training program, course, workshop or diploma, explain how doing so will impact positively on your career or practice.

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.

No, we do not offer quick response grants. Outside of our regular grants program, we do offer other grants and opportunities.

Yes. Early career artists are eligible to apply for funding through our Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups grant and a number of other opportunities listed on our website.

Yes. Organisations can propose a program of projects and/or activities. This could be an organisation’s full artistic program for a given calendar year or more, for example.

We encourage applicants to be mindful of the following considerations:

• The activities should each contribute toward a clear, unifying overall objective – for example, the organisation’s artistic vision.  It is important to demonstrate the rationale for the inclusion of these activities and how the overall program will align with the organisation’s vision.
• 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 three 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.

Read more about how your application is assessed by Peer Assessor and Industry Advisors here.

Yes, if relevant. If your project has an environmental impact, you should provide evidence of an environmental impact plan which may include cost-benefits. Arts On Tour’s Green Touring Toolkit provides detailed information and resources for artists and arts organisations on how to mount a sustainable tour.

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.

You can have your application assessed by the multi-art form peer panel if your project involves multiple separate art form-specific activities. This could include, for example: a festival that incorporates music, literature and theatre, or a project that has no one specific arts practice focus.  However, if your project does involve more than one area of arts practice, you still have the option to choose one of the single art form panels, which you think will best relate to your work, to assess your application.

Our multi-art form assessment panels are made up of artists and arts workers from a range of art form areas. Peers may include those from specific art form areas (e.g., music or visual arts), peers who work across several art forms, and/or peers who work in interdisciplinary practice.

Community Arts and Cultural Development practice is a community-based arts practice and can engage any art form. There are many variations of how community arts and cultural development works are made, developed and shared, and as such, there is no one model. What is at the core of this practice, however, is the collaboration between professional artists and communities to create art. The activity must be undertaken by with and for the communities involved. The artists and arts working facilitating the project should be highly skilled in these processes, and the activities should reflect the energy and qualities of the community.

In this context, the term ‘emerging’, refers to emerging art forms, not artists who are at the emerging stage of their careers.

Emerging and experimental arts practice is characterised by the exploration of challenging new concepts in the creation and experience of arts and culture. It plays with or invents new forms, methodologies, technologies or explores non-material ideas.  These sometimes include art/science research collaborations, bio art, live art, socially engaged practices and new technologies.

If you’re unsure about which assessment panel to select, contact the Artists Services team.

The First Nations Arts and Culture assessment panel consists entirely of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander industry professionals across art forms and across states and territories.

We also encourage First Nations applicants to apply to other art form assessment panels (for example visual arts, music and literature).

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, as the artist, should write your application. Your manager or producer 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).

The name of the applicant must match the name of the ABN and the name of the bank account we pay the grant into. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you cannot provide an ABN and bank account that are in the same name as the applicant, you will need to nominate an administrator for your grant.

For more information about this, please contact Artists Services.

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 paid for their work in line with industry standards. Payment of artist fees should be reflected in your application budget.

For more information, see our Payment of Artists page.

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, we recognise 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. Access costs are viewed as legitimate expenses and may be included in an applicant’s budget.

The Australia Council recognises that funding may be required for access costs incurred for applicants with disability, or for costs associated with working with artists with disability who have access needs (e.g., use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, or support worker/carer assistance). We encourage you to ensure that your work is accessible to everyone. Therefore, your budgets may also include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of peope (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. Childcare is a legitimate expense to include in your 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, we would expect that applicants with large requests would also secure funding from elsewhere to cover all costs associated with a large-scale project.

Yes. Volunteer out-of-pocket expenses, such as telephone calls or petrol for travel, are recognised as legitimate expenses and may be included in an applicant’s budget.

Yes. In-kind support refers to resources, goods and services (for example, use of a venue, materials, and people’s time) provided by yourself or others either free of charge, or below market value. Detailing in-kind costs in the budget is important as it gives 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.

Activities are of artistic excellence and the communities are directly involved in their purpose, design, and evaluation.

This involves working within each community in ways that are meaningful and relevant. The collaborations that underpin the activity are inclusive, respectful and able to demonstrate that they are based on the needs and aspirations of all stakeholders.

The management of a project should demonstrate a blend of effective leadership and decision-making that engages the community at all stages of the process.

The proposal should be able to clearly set out how the activities will increase the capacity and skills of the communities and how this will lead to the communities being able to continue their artistic and cultural development after the completion of the project.

Artists, arts workers and producers should be able to demonstrate their excellence in artistic and cultural development practice. The arts workers need to be able to clearly explain the collaboration processes that will achieve excellence in the artistic expression of the communities’ vision.

Project leaders should be actively engaged in partner-building and be able to effectively manage, sustain and leverage partners for strategic and mutual advantage.

Proposals which capture the unique dynamic and energy of a community will be able to reflect a freshness of vision and design.

Activities ought to embrace the strong emotional and aesthetic elements of each community, and strive to assert the role of activities of artistic excellence in contributing to its vibrancy and well being.