Arts and Cultural Funding Program FAQs

The NSW Government’s Creative Communities policy included a commitment to make improvements to the ACFP. In response to feedback from the sector, gathered during policy consultation sessions, meetings and through hundreds of written submissions, the new model, commencing June 2024, is a simpler, fairer, faster funding program. It has been designed to meet the needs of all artists, organisations and arts and cultural workers in NSW, regardless of where they’re from, and which artform they represent.

The new program will deliver:

• Easier application, reporting and acquittal processes, to simplify the applicant experience
• Fair and transparent process, with competitive assessment and a greater focus on priority groups, diversity, access and inclusion
• Longer-term funding to ensure greater stability and financial security for organisations and individuals
• Stronger collaboration across sector organisations
• More timely decisions and reduced complexity to deliver faster outcomes

The new investment model is designed to match the needs of the sector across all artforms, career-stage and organisational size to support long-term growth and sustainability.

These reforms create a simpler, fairer, faster, more transparent funding program.

The complex structure of funding programs has been streamlined, with clearer scope and objectives. Funding application and reporting processes have been simplified and will involve less paperwork.

A new competitive multi-year program responds to calls for more transparency and fairness. Organisations can apply for longer term funding (from two years, up to eight years), to help organisations grow, build successful business models and create long-term career pathways.

There is greater focus on professional and skills development for individuals and  increasing access and inclusion for programs and projects from priority areas.

Support for the development of new work is also a new funding category within the reformed program.

The more streamlined program will replace the current program from June 2024.

The way funding is structured and assessed creates a fairer model to improve diversity and increase sector engagement, with a focus on five priority areas: First Nations stories and communities, Western Sydney and/or regional NSW, the next generation of creatives and audiences, broad and inclusive communities and content and Accessibility and Equity.

With the new competitive multi-year funding program, all eligible organisations across, every region of NSW, are able to secure long-term funding through an open and transparent process.

Project funding targeted to engage priority groups will ensure artists, arts workers and audiences reflect the diversity of the people of NSW. Organisations and individuals applying for Cultural Access Project Funding (one-off grants up to $100,00) must engage one or more priority areas (which includes Western Sydney and/or regional NSW) to be eligible. 

• First Nations stories and communities
• Western Sydney and/or regional NSW
• Next generation of creatives and audiences
• Broad and inclusive communities and content
• Accessibility and Equity

Longer-term funding giving our creatives more financial stability and security.

Annual Organisational Funding has been replaced by 2-year Multi-Year funding, enabling organisations to plan and deliver longer-term programs that contribute strategically to growth. 

A 4-year and new 8-year (4+4 year) competitive multi-year program has been introduced. This longer-term investment helps organisations achieve greater stability and sustainability.

Everyone working in the arts and cultural sector across all artforms, career-stage and organisational size, will benefit.

All artists, organisations and arts and cultural workers in NSW can access the funding level best suited for them.

A focus is for First Nations self-determined leadership in arts, culture and creative industries.

A focus on priority areas – First Nations stories and communities; Western Sydney and regional NSW communities; the next generation of creatives and audiences; accessibility and equity and broad and inclusive communities and content – will ensure funding outcomes reflect the diversity of the people of NSW.

In response to calls for more financial stability and security for creatives, not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations will be able to apply for increased funding over longer timeframes (two, four and up to eight years), creating greater organisational stability and enabling greater sector growth.

Small to medium arts and cultural organisations will benefit from longer timeframes to plan, create and deliver programs, to stimulate more longer-term employment opportunities.

A focus on sector capacity-building and sustainability programs and support for education and training and employment and career pathways, will help foster long-term creative careers.

Individual artists can apply for:

• Next Steps - professional & skills Development (for individuals) – grants up to $10,000
• Creative Steps – new work development (for individuals) – grants up to $100,000
• Cultural Access – projects for individuals and organisations led by or for priority area groups – grants up to $100,000

First Nations artists can apply for:

• Creative Nations - projects for First Nations organisations and individuals – grants up to $100,000

No. The Small Project Grants – Quick Response program (grants up to $5,000) has been replaced by new Next Steps - professional and skills development grants of up to $10,000, with 2 competitive rounds per financial year.

Professional and skills development grants are for activities including skills development courses and workshops, conference attendance, for example. Grants can cover program, travel and associated costs.

No. The feedback we received from the sector was the annual funding category was not fit-for-purpose, as the 12-month timeframe wasn’t long enough to plan, create and deliver high-quality work.

Not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations will now be able to apply for competitive multi-year organisational funding, with more funding over longer terms (starting from two years, up to eight years). 

There will be one last round of annual funding, opening for applications in July 2024 for calendar year 2025. This is to ensure there are no gaps in funding opportunities whilst the program transitions to a 2-year program.

Organisations that are not funded through multi-year organisational funding can apply for Cultural Access projects for individuals and organisations led by and/or support priority area groups (one-off grants up to $100,000) to deliver a specific program, project or artwork that engages with one or more NSW Government priority areas.

The focus on priority areas ensures organisations have an opportunity to support artists and audiences in these areas.

Annual organisational funding will be replaced by the new Multi-year Funding program. 

Multi-year funding provides increased funding over longer terms.

There will be three streams of multi-year funding: 8-year* (4+4 year), 4-year and 2-year.

The rounds will be programmed so that unsuccessful applicants to 8-year can apply for 4-year, and unsuccessful 4-year can apply for 2-year funding.

There will be one last round of annual funding, opening for applications in July 2024 for calendar year 2025. This is to ensure there are no gaps in funding opportunities whilst the program transitions to a 2-year program.

*Only organisations currently receiving Create NSW organisational core funding equal or above $350,000 per annum will be eligible to apply for 4+4year (8-year) funding.

Not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations are eligible for 2-year and 4-year multi-year funding.

Organisations currently receiving Create NSW organisational core funding equal or above $350,000 per annum will be eligible to apply for 8-year (4+4year) funding. 

No. The reform program will ensure organisations are assessed against similar organisations of scale.

Small to medium arts and cultural organisations will benefit from longer timeframes to plan, create and deliver programs.

To find indicative dates for Multi-year funding, please refer to the Funding Calendar

The first iteration of 8-year funding will be 3+4 years to align with future rounds of Creative Australia funding, ensuring smoother processes, avoiding duplication and allowing organisations to plan sustainably into the future.

Organisations whose contracts extend beyond 31 Dec 2025 will continue to receive funding under the terms and conditions of their contracts.

The rounds will be programmed so that unsuccessful applicants to 8-year can apply for 4-year, and unsuccessful 4-year can apply for 2-year funding.

Financial Partners provide financial benefit/s for the applicant organisation to diversify income and support organisational sustainability and viability.

Financial Partnerships are part of the eligibility and assessment criteria of 4-Year Multi-year Funding.

To meet the eligibility requirement, there must be a financial partner to provide financial benefit/s to the applicant.

The financial contribution may be sourced by partnership, philanthropy, sponsorship, grants of financial donorship, co-presentations or sharing of hard and soft infrastructure (space, staff or skills):

• partnership – a reciprocal and ongoing financial relationship between two parties (such as a not-for-profit and a business) that involves the exchange of benefits. This can include co-producing or presentation, shared ticket sales, shared resources such as marketing costs and/or personnel.
• philanthropy – the planned and structured giving of money, time, information, goods and services to improve the wellbeing of humanity and the community.
• sponsorship – a business agreement between an organisation and a business with the aim of mutual benefit—material and organisational. Sponsors can provide cash and/or in-kind support in exchange for benefits such as tickets to performances, access to new audiences and markets, or naming rights.
• financial donation – an unconditional voluntary transfer of money to an organisation or individual where the donor doesn’t receive any benefit, as a condition of the gift.
• grants – financial assistance from one organisation (usually a government entity or a grant making foundation) to another by means of direct contributions, subsidies, co-payments or similar.

The following forms of support are not eligible/considered to be financial partners:

• cultural gifts
• in-kind or contra support
• loans
• pro-bono services
• endowments
• prize money
• bequests.

Financial Partners may be a wide range of local, national or international organisations and businesses, including:

• other NSW Government agencies, such as Department of Health, Education
• other small-to-medium not-for-profit arts, cultural or creative organisations (excluding other recipients of Create NSW 4-Year Funding)
• NSW State Cultural Institutions
• Trusts and foundations
• screen, film or contemporary music companies or organisations
• for-profit organisations or businesses.
• individuals.

Note: Definitions based on those in glossary of Creative Partnerships Glossary - Creative Partnerships Australia

Multi-arts presenting organisation with contemporary music streams as part of their annual program should include this stream in their submitted program. If contemporary music is the primary focus of your program you should apply to Sound NSW. 

If you are using film as a medium to deliver Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) or other artforms, this can be included in your multi-year arts and cultural program.

However,  the same activity or program cannot be funded by both Screen NSW and the Arts and Cultural Funding Program.

No. Federal partnership agreements provide a crucial investment of over $60 million per annum to the NSW arts ecology and will not be subject to change.

National Partnership Frameworks includes NSW National Performing Arts Partnership Framework (NPAPF) organisations, the Arts Law Centre of Australia and NSW Visual, Arts, Craft and Design Framework (VACDF) organisations funded jointly by Creative Australia,  Create NSW and other states.

Applications will be assessed by 10 Create NSW Artform Boards.

There are 10 Artform Boards with up to 20 members on each board.

The artforms are:

• First Nations Arts and Culture 

First Nations artistic and cultural expression is based on traditional and contemporary practice. Arts and culture are intrinsic to contemporary First Nations society and an important part of the social fabric of NSW’s First Nations communities.

• Classical Music / Opera / Choral/ Ensemble
  • Classical Music is a form of music developed from the European tradition of the 18th and 19th centuries. This panel will include contemporary classical and ensemble groups including percussion.
  • Opera is a staged drama set to music, made up of vocal pieces with instrumental or orchestral accompaniment.
  • Choral is a group of people who sing together.
• Community Arts and Cultural Development

Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) involves artists working collaboratively with communities through art and culture.

• Dance and Physical Theatre

Dance includes all forms of dance from ballet to contemporary dance. Physical Theatre includes all forms of physical theatre from circus, acrobatics to storytelling through physical movement.

• Digital and Experimental, Immersive and Light Art
  • Digital & Experimental - combining or involving two or more artforms using experimental approaches, artistic risk-taking, and including the development of cutting-edge contemporary practice. Encompasses new artform development. Digital artforms includes application of new forms of technology and existing forms such as podcasts.
  • Immersive artforms are those that envelop the participant in a total experience, engaging multiple senses and often blurring the lines between the artwork and the real world and could include virtual reality and Infinity rooms.
  • Light Art is a visual art form in which light is the main if not sole medium of creation. It includes projection mapping using projectors to create images and videos on surfaces, often buildings or landscapes.
• Festivals

Festivals are an event that celebrates a program of a specific artform or various artforms through live performances, workshops, and exhibitions, often across multiple locations.

• Literature / Writing

Works of fiction, literary non-fiction, children’s and young adult literature, poetry, writing for  performance, graphic novels, and literary digital and new media work.

• Museums and History

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development which acquires, conserves, research, and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study, and enjoyment. History is the analysis and interpretation of the human past enabling us to study continuity and changes that are taking place over time.

• Theatre and Musical Theatre

Theatre: all forms of theatre from performance, playwriting, directing, new work, devising and adaption of the canon. 
Musical Theatre: a genre of theatre in which singing, dancing, and composing play an essential role.

• Visual Arts 

Visual Arts includes design and craft. Applications submitted to the Visual Arts Board often include but are not limited to elements of sculpture, performance, painting, installation, ceramics, video, and printmaking.

The Artform Boards will be appointed through an open Expression of Interest EOI process.

See Artform Board FAQs

Yes, the membership of the Artform Boards will be refreshed with the new program. Create NSW invited everyone in the sector to consider joining an Artform Board by submitting an Expression of Interest, (until 17 July 2024). 

We want fresh perspectives, from people who are representative of our diverse state, with different ages, career stage, geographic and cultural heritage.  

See Artform Board FAQs