2020 Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program: Round 2

Deadline: 16-Oct-20

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is seeking applications for its Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program (ACDGP) round-2 that will advance Australia’s international strategic, security and economic interests including through bilateral, regional and multilateral engagement on Australian Government foreign, trade and international development policy priorities.

The key aim of cultural diplomacy is sustained purposeful engagement to promote Australia’s cultural and creative industries overseas; to establish networks; and support ongoing collaborations and exchange.

Funding is available for projects that:

• create a positive and contemporary image of Australia;
• build people-to-people links;
• strengthen engagement;
• enhance markets and develop export opportunities, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.

Objectives

• support the economic and social recovery efforts of the Australian creative industry sector and communities adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and/or the 2019-2020 bushfires;
• promote Australia’s economic, artistic and cultural assets to an international audience;
• influence perceptions of Australia at home and abroad;
• build people-to-people and /or institutional links internationally;
• leverage existing partnerships and foster engagement with key stakeholders in line with DFAT’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.

Funding Information

• The minimum grant amount is $10,000.
• The maximum grant amount is $60,000.

Eligible expenditure 

You can only spend the grant on eligible expenditure you have incurred on eligible grant activities or agreed project activities. Eligible expenditure items are:

• economy flights;
• modest accommodation costs;
• meals and travel allowances;
• ground transport;
• artists/performers fees;
• freight costs;
• venue hire;
• catering;
• advertising and promotion;
• graphic design;
• photography;
• printed material.

What the grant money cannot be used for?

You cannot use the grant for the following activities:

•  purchase of land;
• wages (including for research assistants or administrative staff);
• major capital expenditure;
• purchase of equipment (for example, musical instruments, IT equipment, photographic or printing equipment);
• the covering of retrospective costs;
• costs incurred in the preparation of a grant application or related documentation;
• subsidy of general ongoing administration of an organisation such as electricity, phone and rent major construction/capital works;
• activities for which other Commonwealth, state, territory or local government bodies have primary responsibility;
• activities undertaken by primary schools, including study tours, where travel by a significant number of students is the principal element of the program;
• scholarships to individual students.

Outcomes

• increase public awareness of Australia’s economic, artistic and cultural assets in the host countries;
• develop enduring partnerships in the creative sector in the bilateral, regional and global context between Australian institutions and those in the host countries;
• increase Australia’s capacity to effectively engage with the host countries, especially in the arts and creative sectors.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible applicants must:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN);
• be registered for the purposes of GST;
• be a permanent resident of Australia.
• have an account with an Australian financial institution and be one of the following entity types:
  • a company incorporated in Australia;
  • a company incorporated by guarantee;
  • an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust;
  • an incorporated association;
  • a partnership;
  • a joint (consortia) application with a lead organisation;
  • a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation;
  • an individual;
  • an Australian local government body;
  • an Australian state or territory government body;
  • an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006.
• Applicants are not eligible to apply if they are:
  • not an Australian citizen, a permanent resident of Australia or an Australian organisation;
  • a previous applicant who has failed to provide a full and proper acquittal of an earlier ACDGP grant.

If your application is successful, they may ask you to verify project costs that you provided in your application. You may need to provide evidence such as quotes for major costs. Not all expenditure on your grant activity may be eligible for grant funding. The Program Delegate makes the final decision on what is eligible expenditure and may give additional guidance on eligible expenditure if required.You must incur the expenditure on your grant activities or project/services between the start date and end or completion date for your grant activity/grant agreement for it to be eligible.

Selection process

• Assessment of grant applications
  They review your application against the eligibility criteria. If eligible, they will then assess your application against the assessment criteria and against other applications. They consider your application on its merits, based on:
  • how well it meets the criteria;
  • how it compares to other applications;
  • whether it provides value with relevant money.

When assessing the extent to which the application represents value with relevant money, they will have regard to:

• the overall objective/s to be achieved in providing the grant;
• the relative value of the grant sought;
• extent to which the geographic location of the application matches identified priorities;
• the extent to which the evidence in the application demonstrates that it will contribute to meeting the outcomes/objectives;
• how the grant activities will target groups or individuals.

For more information, visit https://www.dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/public-diplomacy/acdgp/australian-cultural-grants-program