Request for Proposals: Regional Arts Development Fund (Australia)

Deadline: 27-Jun-25

The Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland and Balonne Shire Council work in partnership to provide RADF funding opportunities to locals to enable the delivery of local arts, cultural and heritage projects in their region.

Objectives

• Provide public value for Queensland communities
• Build local cultural capacity, cultural innovation, and community pride
• Deliver Queensland Government’s objectives for the community

Funding Information

• Funding of up to $2,500 can be requested through RADF.

Eligible Projects

• Participation
  • Your project should deliver opportunities for local communities to participate in arts, and cultural activities. An example of this might be a mosaics course for beginners and/or involve different, new, or emerging art forms for the Balonne Shire and/or target participants from demographics and segments of the community who have not historically participated in RADF funded programs or projects.
  • Place Your project should deliver opportunities for the development of public expressions of community identity, heritage, local stories, or artistic expression. An example of this might be a temporary woven sculpture event in a local park.
• Performance and Exhibition
  • Your project should deliver opportunities for the community to experience professional performances and exhibitions that would be available to metropolitan audiences. An example of this might be a play by a professional theatre company or an exhibition of Australian Indigenous Art.
• Creative Industries
  • Your project should deliver opportunities for local artists and arts and cultural activities to deliver value for local communities. An example of this might be a professional development workshop for local artists.

Ineligible Projects

• Craft workshops — Unless a professional artist or arts worker is employed to work with a group to apply their skills in an innovative way to an arts development outcome
• Repeated activities-unless the workshop delivers a different level of difficulty & program
• School arts activities except where those activities form part of broader community cultural development processes or are part of professional arts development
• Framing or freight — only a small proportion of these costs can be covered as part of presentation costsforsignificant exhibitions. As a guide only, 10% ofthe total framing and freight costs would be considered a small proportion
• Catering costs, openings, launches, and parties are not eligible for RADF grants, even if they are part of an exhibition or community project
• Competitions — they are prolific and could monopolise funds. The competitive environment does not necessarily nurture emerging artists, as there is generally only one winner
• Eisteddfods — they are essentially competitions

Eligibility Criteria

• The following are eligible to apply for a RADF grant:
  • Individual professional artists, emerging professional artists, arts workers, cultural workers or project co-ordinators who:
    • Are based in the Council area, or if based outside the Council area are able to demonstrate how the project will directly benefit arts, culture, or heritage in the Council area.
    • Are permanent residents or Australian citizens.
    • Have an Australian Business Number(ABN) or who will be auspiced by an incorporated organisation or individual with an ABN.
    • Incorporated not-for-profit organisations based in the Council area, or those based outside the Council area that are able to demonstrate how the project will directly benefit arts, culture, or heritage in the Council area.
    • Unincorporated organisations, auspiced by an incorporated not-for-profit body, that are based in the Council area, or those based outside the Council area that are able to demonstrate how the project will directly benefit arts, culture, or heritage in the Council area.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Applications received after the closing date
• Projects which commence before notification of successful funding has been received
• Retrospective applications (projects completed in the past)
• Application forms which are incomplete
• Requests for 100% of project costs
• Applicants who have failed to acquit previous RADF grants

Assessment Criteria

• All applications are assessed by a RADF Assessment Panel against the below four equally weighted criteria.
• The indicators listed are a sample of the types of evidence needed to achieve each criterion:
  • Quality
    • Produces or contributes to high quality arts and cultural initiatives for local communities
    • Proven capacity to effectively support and deliver arts and cultural services
  • Reach
    • Provides access to, and engagement in, arts and culture for diverse communities, practitioners, participants and audiences
    • Evidence of local demand for proposed program/s
    • Demonstrates community and stakeholder involvement in RADF priority setting, decision making and evaluation
  • Impact
    • Demonstrates cultural, artistic, social or economic returns on investment
    • Supports one or more of the Queensland Government objectives for the community including safeguarding their health, supporting jobs, backing small business, making it for Queensland, building Queensland, growing their regions, investing in skills, backing their frontline services, protecting the environment
  • Viability
    • Evidence of good planning for strong governance and management of RADF at a local level
    • Evidence of partnership capacity with partners including business and government

For more information, visit Balonne Shire Council.