Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Applicants can apply for a minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $600,000 each year.
- Application opened: 23 October 2024
- Application closed: 2 December 2024, 11:00 pm
Program objective
The 4-Year Multi-year program aims to strengthen the creative ecosystem in NSW and drive positive outcomes for NSW citizens. Funding will support small to medium organisations including Local Government Authorities that have clear collaborative models and strong financial partnerships.
The first iteration of this funding program will provide funding for three years to align with Creative Australia’s multi-year program dates. This will assist organisations in the future to economise the effort it takes to apply to both programs.
Successful applicants will be expected to deliver on at least one of the following ACFP priorities:
- 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
Grant Value
Applicants can apply for a minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $600,000 each year. To ensure equity of distribution of funding, it is recommended that you approach your request based on your current level of funding and program delivery, considering CPI adjustments.
Funding requests must:
- not be more than 80% of program costs
- be realistic and supported by the application and budget
- be commensurate with the level of programming.
Note: If your organisation is successful in achieving multi-year funding, you cannot apply for any additional ACFP project funding.
Funding is provided by Create NSW on behalf of the NSW Government.
Image - Moorambilla Voices MAXed Out Intensive, Photo by Noni Carroll Photograp
This program is administered by Create NSW.
Eligibility
Who can apply
To be eligible to apply, an applicant must be one of the following:
- an independent not-for-profit organisation located in NSW with the primary purpose of providing arts and cultural activities
- a Service Organisation located in NSW (including Regional Arts Development Organisations)
- a Local Government Authority located in NSW (separate business units of LGAs can apply).
To be eligible to apply, an applicant must demonstrate all the items below:
- be based in NSW unless approved by Director Arts, Create NSW*.
- be a not-for-profit arts and cultural organisation, service organisation or LGA with a primary purpose of arts and cultural activity
- have an ABN (Individual business units and entities of local government authorities, such as art galleries or performing arts centres, are eligible to submit applications on their own behalf if they have their own ABN. If the business unit or entity does not have its own ABN, the application must be submitted by the LGA on behalf of the business unit)
- have operated as a legally constituted entity for a minimum of two years at time of application
- be able to demonstrate delivery of arts, cultural or creative programs or services for a minimum of two consecutive years (as demonstrated in Strategic Plan), at time of application
- be able to address and deliver on at least one of the ACFP strategic priorities
- include an independent financial contribution and not request funding for the total cost of an organisations program
- have annual turn-over in the applicant’s most recent financial year (2023/24 or 2023) greater than $100,000 (including Create NSW grant/s but excluding Create Infrastructure and COVID funding).
- if working with First Nations artists and/or communities, confirm you adhere to Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) policies and procedures and Create NSW Aboriginal Cultural Protocols
*Note: In exceptional circumstances the Director, Arts can authorise an application from an organisation located outside of NSW that can demonstrate significant benefits to NSW. Any exceptions to this eligibility criteria will be documented and submitted to the decision-maker as part of any recommendation.
If you are an independent arts and cultural organisation based outside NSW and can demonstrate that your program fills a gap in the NSW arts and culture ecology, approval to apply to this round must be sought no later than two weeks prior to the round closing by emailing multiyear@create.nsw.gov.au.
Types of projects funded under this grant
Funding contributes towards the cost of delivering a wide range of arts and cultural activity, including but not limited to creation of new work; production, presentation or publication; development of audiences, market and/or partnerships; sustainability and capacity building initiatives; the purchase of equipment if it is integral to the arts and cultural activity (excluding LGAs); and devolved funding programs for service organisations.
When the project can start and end
The first iteration of this funding program will provide funding for three years to align with Creative Australia’s multi-year program dates. This grant is to fund organisations to deliver an annual program on a calendar basis over a three-year period starting 1 January 2026 and ending 31 December 2028.
The project should be started by 1 January 2026 and the project must be completed by 31 December 2028.
What costs you can apply for
Applications must not request more than 80% funding from Create NSW (all applications must include income from other sources).
Who can’t apply
Your organisation cannot apply if it:
- is a for-profit organisation
- is a sole trader
- has already been successful for Create NSW ACFP funding for the same period, including ACFP project funding, 4+4 or 2-Year Multi-year funding
- has a primary focus on filmmaking, screen production, mainstream animation, digital games, or film festivals (funding programs for these areas are managed by Screen NSW)
- has a primary focus on contemporary music (all funding programs for contemporary music are now managed by Sound NSW). Note: Multi-arts presenting organisation with contemporary music streams as part of their annual program should include this in their submitted program.
- is an educational institution (including preschools, primary and secondary schools)
- is a national performing arts partnership organisation
- is a state or federal government department/agency, including state cultural institutions
- does not engage professional artists or professional arts/cultural workers as key creative personnel
- is requesting more than 80% funding from Create NSW (all applications must include income from other sources)
- has a primary focus of delivering competitions, awards or fundraising activities
- has been advised by Create NSW that your organisation is not eligible for further funding as a result of failing to meet contract conditions.
What costs you can't apply for
Grant funds cannot be used for:
- arts and cultural activities that are led by non-professional artist/s, practitioners and/or arts and cultural workers
- cost of regular maintenance and repairs, building and/or capital works
- filmmaking, screen production, mainstream animation or film festivals (funding programs for these areas are managed by Screen NSW
- revitalisation of urban precincts
- the purchase of artworks, land or buildings
- loan repayments
- competitions, awards, fundraising activities or prize money
- Local Government Authority operational costs and capital items
- Compliance with local government environmental or sustainability plans
- costs already incurred or retrospective funding for activities already completed or due to be completed before the funding period commences.
What co-contributions are required
Applications must not request more than 80% funding from Create NSW (all applications must include income from other sources).
Additional eligibility requirements
Successful applicants will be expected to deliver on at least one of the following ACFP priorities:
- 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.
Funding requests must:
- not be more than 80% of program costs
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
All applicants must submit the following materials. All materials will form part of the assessment:
- a completed online application form
- a detailed strategic plan (see resources below)
- a detailed artistic/service plan for activities in 2025 and 2026 (see resources below)
- audited financial reports for 2023 or 2023/24.
- projected budgets for 2025 and 2026 including a breakdown of funding sources (budget template provided is optional)
- statistical data including employment, audience, and geographic data. (NB. This data is submitted via the online application form).
Create NSW may also use previously submitted acquittal and forward plan data and information to inform the decision making of this funding round.
Resources and templates
- Strategic Plan guide and outline (template optional) - Maximum of 20 written pages and up to 35 pages with images.
- Artistic/Service plan template (mandatory)
- Budget template (optional)
- FAQs and Guides
- Glossary
- Create NSW information sessions (online and face to face).
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Address the assessment criteria
Applications (including written responses and supporting documentation) will be assessed against the following criteria.
To assist applicants, the Essential Criteria are detailed separately below.
Artistic and Cultural Leadership (40%)
Specific information or evidence to be provided:
- Demonstrate an understanding of your position within the NSW arts ecosystem
- Contribute to the artform or region your organisation is servicing OR for service organisations, demonstrate provision of unique services that are needed by a defined arts and/or cultural sector
- Deliver programming and/or capacity building that provides social as well as cultural value
- Drive collaboration across the NSW arts and cultural ecology
- Create and share NSW stories/content on a local, national and/or international stage OR for service organisations, deliver devolved funding and/or development programs to build sector sustainability
Diversity and Participation (25%)
Specific information or evidence to be provided:
- Prioritise First Nations arts, culture, communities and self-determined practice
- Ensure access to and engagement with arts and cultural activity for the NSW arts sector and/or audiences
- Develop and deliver engagement strategies for growth, diversity and participation across NSW, including with strategic priority areas
- Improve individual and/or community wellbeing through programming, skills development and engagement activities
Career Pathways (10%)
Specific information or evidence to be provided:
- Engage, support, develop and promote NSW arts and cultural workers, including creating pipelines for young workers and leaders
- Demonstrate First Nations self-determination by providing opportunities for First Nations creatives and arts and cultural workers
Organisational Sustainability (25%)
Specific information or evidence to be provided:
- Organisations must demonstrate good governance, safe workplaces and strong financial management
- Demonstrate strong financial partnerships.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for the Arts
Applications will undergo a staged assessment process, including assessment against eligibility and essential criteria, as outlined below.
Assessment process
Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email confirmation from our secure online grants system, SmartyGrants. Applications will be initially reviewed by Create NSW staff to ensure they meet eligibility requirements, and all application materials are acceptable.
After eligibility is confirmed, the application will be evaluated by members from one of the 10 Artform Boards. Applications will be assessed with organisations of similar type, against the published criteria and consistent with these guidelines. Note: Presenting organisations that program activities and events across multiple artforms are encouraged to identify multi-arts as their primary artform in the application form. These applications will be assessed by a subcommittee of members drawn from across the relevant Artform Boards.
Funding allocation follows a competitive process. Evaluations by the Artform Boards will consider the assessment criteria, the demographics, distribution, organisation type, range and scale of applications. This may include prioritising programs and organisations with outcomes that address ACFP Strategic Priority Areas, geographical spread, artform spread and the Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework to ensure equity across the state and the best outcomes for NSW Government investment. Create NSW will consolidate evaluations and finalise recommendations based on the quality of the applications as assessed by the Artform Boards, demand by artform, availability of funds, distribution across the state, the Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework and ACFP Strategic Priority Areas.
Notification of application outcomes
All applicants will be notified within one week of the final approval of funding commitments by government. The anticipated assessment outcome date is March 2025. Feedback will be provided to unsuccessful applicants only. Successful applicants will meet with Create NSW at the contracting stage.
Assessment process considerations
Applicants should note the following:
- The NSW Government typically receives far more applications than it can support.
- You are not guaranteed funding even if your application meets the published criteria.
- If you are successful, your application may not be funded to the amount you requested.
Create NSW may, at its sole discretion and at any stage of the application process, do all or any of the following:
- require additional information from an applicant
- request applicants to provide clarification or additional information regarding the Eligibility Criteria
- change the scope of the requirements of these guidelines
- vary, amend (including by replacement), or terminate the application process
- re-open an application after the closing date, provided it doesn’t give the applicant an advantage over other applicants
- consider any non-conforming or late application
- allow cross-board consultation on applications
- request further advice and/or clarification from applicants during the assessment process.
Artform Boards may:
- set aside an application if it is assessed as below acceptable in any one of the published criteria.
- consider whether an application needs to be reallocated to another board for assessment.
- ask for a Cultural Review from Create NSW First Nations staff or the First Nations Arts and Culture Artform Board for applications with First Nations content and engagement.
Publication of grants information
The Grants Administration Guide (Guide) requires that certain information is published in relation to grants awarded no later than 45 calendar days after the grant agreement takes effect (see section 6.5 of the Guide and Appendix A to the Guide). This information is also open access information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), which must be made publicly available unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information. In accordance with these requirements, relevant information about the grants awarded will be made available on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder as soon as possible after the grant agreement is executed. However, due to the commercial-in-confidence nature of the information provided, the amount of funding provided will not be published.
All records in relation to this decision will be managed in accordance with the requirements of the State Records Act 1998 (NSW).
Successful grant applications
Successful applicants to the 4 Year Multi-Year Funding program will need to:
- Enter into a three-year funding agreement for 2026-2028
- Demonstrate that 10% of its annual Create NSW funding supports collaboration.
- Provide Key Performance Indicators as agreed to by Create NSW
- Complete evaluation data at time of agreement.
Reporting
Reporting requirements will be subject to awarded grant amounts. All successful applicants will be required to:
- meet with Create NSW each year to discuss KPI outcomes, artistic program delivery and financial health
- provide copies of the organisation’s annual report, audited accounts and Board approved financials annually
- submit artistic program and financial projections every two years (for this program, this will be the end of year 1 and end of year 3)
- provide a detailed artistic plan and budget for 2027 and 2028 in 2026.
Annual financial reports must be audited or externally reviewed (note the reporting period for these reports will be 1 January to 31 December).
Grant agreement
- If your application is successful, you will be sent a funding agreement (contract). This outlines the conditions of funding, how you will be paid and your grant reporting requirements.
- Prior to contracting, successful applicants will need to provide Key Performance Indicators and evaluation data. This includes the special condition that 10% of allocated funding per annum supports collaboration with collaborative activities negotiated with Create NSW to ensure agreed outputs are met.
- Successful applicants may be asked to provide a reference letter from First Nations peers or community groups, as well as adherence to ICIP and Aboriginal Protocols, if appropriate.
- Successful applicants will be asked to provide an active ABN, bank account with the same name or details of the organisation prior to contracting.
- Funding agreements will not be issued, and payments will not be made, until all Create NSW outstanding acquittals have been submitted.
- Create NSW staff will review required reporting and may contact you for additional information as part of this process.
Successful applicants must acknowledge Create NSW funding in all publicity materials. The detail of this will be outlined in the funding agreement.
Program evaluation
From time to time, the ACFP will be evaluated to measure how well its outcomes and objectives have been achieved. We may collect and use information from your application and reports for this purpose. We may also interview you or ask you for more information to help us understand how the program impacted your organisation and to evaluate how effective the program was in achieving its outcomes. We may contact your organisation up to three years after you receive the final grant payment associated with the program for more information to assist with this evaluation. Create NSW and the NSW Audit Office reserves the right to undertake an audit of program funding and support within seven years. Tracking, reporting and an independent audit will be a requirement of the funding agreement
Conflict of interest management
Any conflicts of interest will be managed by Create NSW in accordance with the NSW Government Grants Administration Guide.
A conflict of interest, or perceived conflict of interest, may be identified if Create NSW staff, any member of an Artform Board, committee or advisor and/or you as the applicant or any of your staff:
- has a professional, commercial, or personal relationship with a party who can influence the application selection process, or
- has a relationship with or interest in, an organisation, which is likely to interfere with or restrict the applicants from carrying out the proposed activities fairly and independently, or
- has a relationship with, or interest in, an organisation from which they will receive personal gain because the organisation received a grant under the grant program.
If you identify an actual, apparent, or perceived conflict of interest at any time, you must inform Create NSW immediately. Create NSW staff can be contacted 9.00am - 5.00pm Monday to Friday via:
- Phone: +61 9372 8700
- Email: multiyear@create.nsw.gov.au
- One on one meetings - Book here
NSW Government staff, Artform Board or committee members and other officials including the decision maker must declare any conflicts of interest and ensure they are managed as per the DEIT Code of Ethics and Conduct and the Grants Administration Guide.
Any conflicts of interest will be managed by Create NSW in accordance with the NSW Government Grants Administration Guide.
Complaint handling, access to information and privacy Details on how Create NSW handles complaints, access to information and your private information is available at: https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/about-us/feedback-complaints-privacy-and-government-information
Other information
- First Nations organisations and communities - First Nations led organisations are encouraged to apply and will be assessed in alignment with First Nations self-determination principles through the First Nations Arts and Culture Artform Board.
- Organisations working with First Nations people or communities - Create NSW plays an important role in supporting the NSW First Nations cultural sector through providing direct investment through funding programs, developing strategies and policies for cultural development and advice and guidance to First Nations artists, arts and cultural workers, and organisations. Create NSW acknowledges that a strong and vibrant First Nations cultural sector starts with supporting self-determination for the First Nations sector to manage, maintain and preserve First Nations cultures and ensure that the right way to do cultural business is supported, understood and acted on. With the Aboriginal Arts & Cultural protocols, Create NSW seeks to work with the First Nations cultural sector to champion a new body of practice that has First Nations self-determination and cultural authority and agency at its foundation. Just as First Nations culture is living and continues to evolve, these protocols have been developed to be a living document. Create NSW will continue to work with the NSW First Nations cultural sector to update the protocols annually to ensure that the continued growth and new and emerging areas are covered. These protocols aim to provide guidance to those planning to work with the First Nations communities and/or artists. The protocols can be found here.
Anticipated assessment outcome date is March 2025
Anticipated date for funding deed execution with successful applicants is within one month of successful notification
Support and contact
Create NSW staff are available to provide technical advice and general information to potential applicants on the interpretation of these guidelines, including the types of activity eligible for funding and support with the online application process. For further information or clarification, please contact Create NSW staff between 9.00am - 5.00pm Monday to Friday on:
- Ph: 02 9372 8700
- Email: multiyear@create.nsw.gov.au
- One on one meetings - Book here
Create NSW staff cannot help directly with your application. To maintain a fair and equitable process, staff cannot edit or correct any applications or provide advice on the content or choices required against the Assessment Criteria.