Cultural Access - Priority Area Projects for Individuals and Organisations

Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for the Arts

Pre-eligibility  

After submitting your application, you will receive a confirmation email from SmartyGrants. Create NSW staff will review your application to check eligibility and ensure all materials are acceptable.  

Assessment Stage 1   

Once eligibility is confirmed, the Artform Board will assess your application based on the criteria and guidelines. Funding is competitive and will consider various factors like demographics, distribution, organisation type, and project scale.  

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.   

Assessment Stage 2   

Create NSW will consolidate and finalise recommendations based on the Artform Boards assessments, number of applications by artform, availability of funds, Strategic Priority Areas and geographic spread to ensure equity and the best outcomes for NSW government investment.  

Assessment process considerations  

Applicants should note that:   

• 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.  
• May 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.    
• Request further advice and/or clarification from applicants during the assessment process.    

Successful Grant Applications 

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 reporting requirements.  

As an individual/group you must provide: 

• An active ABN (that’s your Australian Business Number) of either an Individual/Sole Trader or private company (only if you’re the sole director) and a bank account with the same name as your ABN

Or

• A Funds Administrator is an administrative body/third party (such as a manager, agent or producing organisation) who can receive and administer funds on your behalf. You may be asked for a fee for this service, and it is recommended that you include that fee in your activity budget.  

As an organisation you must provide: 

• An ABN which matches their entity name and a bank account that has the same name as your ABN. 
• Groups/ensembles/collectives, partnerships, unincorporated associations and other organisations without legal status separate from their members cannot directly apply for Create NSW funding or be contracted directly by Create NSW. However, an individual may apply for funding and may be entitled to enter Create NSW funding contracts on their members’ behalf, so long as there is an eligible ABN. For example, while an unincorporated association cannot contract in its own name as a separate entity, it may have its own ABN.
• An organisation without separate, legal status can also be auspiced/administered by another legal entity.  

All applicants must: 

• complete an acquittal at the end of the funding period. This may include an online meeting to discuss outcomes of the project.
• acknowledgment of Create NSW funding in all publicity materials.  

You may be asked to provide:  

• a reference letter or letters from First Nations peers or community groups, as well as adherence to ICIP and First Nations Protocols prior to contracting, if appropriate
• a detailed budget  

Create NSW staff may contact you for additional information as part of this process. 

Contracts will not be issued, and payments will not be made, until all Create NSW/Sound NSW outstanding acquittals have been submitted.  

Feedback on Create NSW project funding application results  

Create NSW staff continue to help and support applicants who are preparing new funding applications. However, we have shifted away from providing individualised feedback on past applications to continue to meet service standards for the processing and assessment of applications.  

Program staff will no longer discuss past applications. Applicants applying in future rounds are encouraged to book an appointment with an Arts Funding and Development staff member to clarify any questions related to the application process.  

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 funding agreement is executed. However, if 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).  

Please refer to Information for Funding Recipients for more detailed processes for successful applicants.  

This includes:  

• Program evaluation  
• Conflict of interest management  
• Organisations working with First Nations people or communities  
• Complaint handling, access to information and privacy  

Anticipated assessment outcome date is within one week of the final approval of funding commitments by government. The anticipated assessment outcome timeframe is eight weeks after closing date

Anticipated date for funding deed execution with successful applicants is within one month of successful notification