Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund: Grants for Organisations (Round 1)

Deadline: 15-Apr-24

Applications are now open for the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund to support leading Australian creative organisations and key industry stakeholders with grants to create and deliver exceptional opportunities for Australian writers, journalists, editors, publishers, English and literacy teachers, and visual artists, and especially for those from First Nations and diverse backgrounds.

Priorities

For 2024/25 the priorities are:
- Support commissions and paid opportunities for writers and visual artists through audience development projects
- Support targeted sector development projects for the writing, publishing and visual arts sectors.

Funding Information

The Cultural Fund’s grants for organisations are for a single project for up to a year. They strongly encourage all applicants to pay industry rates to writers and visual artists. This is a crucial component of your application.
Amount of grant
- Minimum: $10,000
- Maximum: $30,000

The Cultural Fund will consider applications for the following projects:

Audience Development
- Audience and reader development projects
- Commissions and payments to writers and visual artists through audience development projects
- Reviews of new Australian books in national publications
- Projects connecting teachers with Australian Literature
- Writers/artists-in-residence/schools/universities
- Literacy-based projects for children involving professional writers
- Significant national writers’ awards for payments to writers (excluding prizes offered by publishers and literary journals)
- Publishing commissions for work by First Nations and culturally diverse authors
- Three national writers’ festivals will be supported each year through an invitation-only process
Sector Development
- Sector development initiatives for the publishing industry and visual arts sector, including opportunities for First Nations and diverse editors, publishers and curators (excluding mentorships and professional development)

Eligibility Criteria

Australian creative organisations may apply for Cultural Fund’s grants for organisations if they meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Legally constituted organisations and incorporated associations may apply
- If applying as a University, only one application from the University may be submitted per round. You must confirm this before applying.
- Individuals or sole traders are not eligible to apply for these grants.
- Government departments are not eligible to apply for these grants
- Applicants may submit only one application per round to the Cultural Fund
- Applicants must have acquitted any overdue Cultural Fund grants to be eligible to apply for further funding
- They do not accept auspiced applications

Ineligible

The following activities will not be supported from 2024.
- Professional development
  - Support is no longer available for projects offering professional development (including mentorships, masterclasses, one-on-one mentorships, workshops) for writers and visual artists.
  - However, publishers and creative organisations are eligible to apply for career development, sector development and leadership projects for First Nations and diverse editors, publishers and curators.
- Academics
  - Research for purely academic audiences
  - Researcher costs associated with projects
  - Training and professional development for academics
- Art galleries
  - Exhibition costs (including installation)
  - Publishing art books and catalogues
  - Exhibition openings
- Awards
  - Awards run by book publishers and literary magazines and journals (also listed under ‘Publishers’)
- Digital production
  - Development of apps and other devices
  - Digitisation of back issues, previously published work, or catalogues of works
  - Website development or maintenance costs
- Festivals
  - Multi-arts festivals
  - Writers’ festivals and activities aligned to writers’ festivals (three national writers’ festivals will be invited to apply in 2024)
- Film
  - Film script development
  - Film festivals
  - Projects aimed at the film industry
- General
  - Business or overhead costs
  - Production costs for theatre, film and other performances
  - Projects which are primarily for the education market (ie textbooks/resources)
- Staff costs
  - Aimed at small, niche audiences
  - Which do not connect with, or reach significant audiences
  - Aimed at performing arts, music or dance audiences
- Publishers
  - Awards run by book publishers and literary magazines and journals
  - Production costs
  - Image reproduction costs
- Theatre
  - Professional development
  - Playwright development programs
- Translations
  - Into other languages for overseas publication and audiences
  - Universities
  - Artist-in-residency programs which do not connect with audiences outside the university
- Visual arts
  - Projects for professional development (including mentorships, masterclasses, one-on-one mentorships, workshops)
  - Writers’ fees for art publications, catalogues, art journals, multi-arts journals and magazines
  - Projects where visual artists are not paid a fee
- Writing
  - Projects for professional development (including mentorships, masterclasses, one-on-one mentorships, workshops)
  - Writers’ fees for art publications, catalogues, art journals, multi-arts journals and magazines
  - Projects where writers are not paid a fee