Deadline: 02-Dec-2025
The Creative Australia is offering a unique opportunity for First Nations arts and culture organisations through the Digital Specialist in Residence program.
This initiative provides organisations with fourteen weeks of dedicated support from a digital specialist, aimed at helping them develop a comprehensive Digital Capacity Strategy. The program is designed to strengthen digital skills, foster innovation, and support organisations in creating meaningful digitally led projects.
During the residency, the digital specialist will work with organisations through four key phases. The first phase, Assess, involves identifying the organisation’s current digital capacity. In the Vision phase, the specialist will guide the organisation in exploring digital opportunities and challenges. The Development phase focuses on creating a digital project tailored to the organisation’s values, people, and context. Finally, the Pilot and Refine phase allows organisations to launch their project, evaluate early results, and present findings to inform future work.
The program also provides $3,000 in seed funding to support the piloting of a new digital project. This funding is intended to enable organisations to experiment and implement their digital ideas alongside guidance from the specialist throughout the residency period.
To be eligible, organisations must be First Nations-led, with more than 51% Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander representation on their governance board. They must be based in Australia and producing Australian work, and have not previously received support from the former Digital Strategist-in-Residence Program. Additionally, applicants are required to nominate two or more digital champions within their organisation to actively participate in the residency.
Certain groups are not eligible to apply. This includes individuals, non-First Nations organisations, organisations based outside Australia, screen or film-based organisations, and those who have already received funding for the same project from Creative Australia. Organisations with overdue grant reports or outstanding debts to Creative Australia are also ineligible.
This program represents a valuable opportunity for First Nations organisations to enhance their digital capabilities, experiment with innovative projects, and strengthen their capacity to engage audiences and communities through digital technology.
For more information, visit Creative Australia.
