Supports Indigenous musicians and theatre makers to create and present innovative new music theatre works

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from 1 June 2012

About the initiative

The Indigenous Music Theatre Initiative supports Indigenous musicians and theatre makers to create and present innovative new works, that include elements of both music and theatre into the performance.

Applicants can apply for funding towards any singular or multiple stages of development, including creative development of a new work, a second stage development and presentation of a new work. Remounting costs are not eligible under this initiative.

Indigenous individual artists, as well as groups and organisations which include Indigenous key personnel with creative control are welcome to apply. Key personnel with creative control include composers, writers and directors. 

As the minimum, an initial staging or development of the proposed new work must be presented by 31 December 2013. You should outline your plans for the work in your application.

It is envisaged that a minimum of 4 applications will be funded through this initiative.

Background to the initiative

The Indigenous Music Theatre initiative follows on from a three year investment that the Music and Theatre Boards have provided to three partners for the development of new music theatre works. The three partners were the Arts Centre Melbourne, Victorian Opera and Century Venues (click on the partner name to find out more about that program).

Previously, the Australia Council has provided support to works such as Pecan Summer (Deborah Cheetam), Dirtsong (The Black Arm Band) and Soul Music (Stephen Helper, Tony Brigs and Marcus Cowora). As part of a broader strategy to resource the development of new music theatre works the Music and Theatre Boards have made a commitment to provide further support for new Indigenous Music Theatre works.

Costs

You can apply for funding of up to $30,000 for costs associated with the creation and/or presentation of Indigenous music theatre works. Costs may include those associated with creative development of new work (which includes composition, commissioning, rehearsal, collaboration with other artists) as well as costs associated with presentation of the work.

You may apply for professional fees, associated expenses such as on-costs and travel, and a reasonable level of administrative costs. If you wish to claim administrative costs, you should provide a detailed breakdown of these costs in your project budget.

Priority will be given to applications requesting contributions towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist fees.

Remounting costs are not eligible under this initiative. If you are remounting the same work with the same cast, design, with only small changes, then you are not eligible to apply for funding. If the work has been presented before but involves significant changes, then you may apply. If you are unsure whether the project involves a significant enough change, then please speak to the program officer.

For applications in which the musical creative process involves the recording of music, costs associated with recording (up to and including the mastering stage) are eligible for funding, but cannot constitute more than $5,000.

Contact

Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss their application with the relevant Australia Council team member. For further information, or to discuss your proposal, please contact:

Morwenna Collett
Program Manager, Music
Phone 02 9215 9301, Email m.collett@australiacouncil.gov.au

Supports Indigenous musicians and theatre makers to create and present innovative new music theatre works

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from 1 June 2012

Eligibility

The Indigenous Music Theatre Initiative is an initiative and does not count as one of your two possible applications to the Music or Theatre Board's in 2012.

To be eligible, you must meet the general eligibility requirements and provide the necessary support material, as listed in the Your Application tab.

This initiative is open to:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, groups and arts and community organisations
• Groups and organisations which are proposing projects which include Indigenous key personnel with creative control (including composers, writers and directors)

Remounting costs are not eligible under this initiative.

Major Performing Arts companies are not eligible to apply for this initiative. If the outcome of this project will be presented by a Major Performing Arts Company, applicants must provide details of the support that the Major Performing Arts Company is providing for the project.

Selection criteria

Applications will be ranked against the following criteria:

• Artistic and cultural merit of the project
• Artistic and/or professional skills appropriate to the activity
• Good planning and effective use of resources
• Evidence of involvement, contribution and support from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and communities

Applicants are encouraged to read the latest Music and Theatre Sector Plans before preparing and submitting their application. The sector plan describes the Australia Council’s involvement with the sector, identifies current issues and outlines short and medium term goals and priorities.

Selection process

A panel made up of Music, Theatre and ATSIA Board members and peers will assess proposals and make recommendations to the Executive Director of Arts Funding for approval. The outcomes will be published as an Assessment Meeting Report.

For more information on the assessment process, please see the page on Assessment of applications in the Information for applicants section.

Supports Indigenous musicians and theatre makers to create and present innovative new music theatre works

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from 1 June 2012

How to apply

You are encouraged to apply online for this category. To begin an online application, use the 'Apply online' button in the right-hand column. Please select 'Music Board' when prompted to choose a board for your application.

If you require an electronic or hard copy application form, please contact Music Staff.

As part of the online application you will be asked to address the following questions:

• What are you planning to do?
• Why do you want to do it?
• How are you planning to do it?
• Who are the key artists involved?
• What involvement will Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists (and communities if relevant) have in the project?
• Where do you intend to do it?
• What are the plans for the public presentation of the completed work?
• What other support do you have for the project?

The questions are listed here for your reference only, and you will need to complete them in the online application form to be eligible.

You will have the equivalent of approximately three A4 pages of space in which to provide your responses. This is based on using Arial font in 12-point, single-line spacing.

Supporting materials

Applicants to this category are required to submit examples of their work and additional written material at the closing date.

1. Examples of work - Required with your application at the closing date

All applicants must submit up to three examples (up to a total of 15 minutes) of their work and that of the key artists represented in a format listed below:

• Up to a total of 15 minutes of audio material, to be uploaded as an mp3 file with your application, or submitted in hard copy as a single audio CD; or
• Up to a total of 15 minutes of audio visual material, to be submitted only in hard copy as three identical DVDs or data discs; or
• Up to three URLs linking to audio or visual material, to be uploaded with your application as a single PDF file

You are encouraged to include support material which demonstrates the quality and range of both the artists involved in the project. 

You must also include details of the support material included with your application. This should include title, duration, year, composer/songwriter and performer details, and a brief explanation of the material’s relevance to the application. You can include this information in the comments space provided or attach a separate document (Support material details), which you can download below.

Applicants who do not provide this material by the closing date will be ineligible.

2. Additional material to be provided with your application

The following additional material should be submitted with the audio or audio visual material and your application form by the closing date, as relevant to the project.

• Please provide letters of confirmation from all key artists, presenters and venues involved in the project.
• Summary of biographies of key artists, up to two pages total
• A one-page treatment or synopsis of the work

• In line with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts policy and its underpinning principles, the Australia Council requires that applications for projects containing representations of artistic/cultural practice or intended outcomes relating to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists or communities must provide letters from relevant communities or artists. Letters must show clear evidence of support and agreement for the activities undertaken. In preparing your application, you may wish to consult the Indigenous protocol guides in song, performance, writing, new media and visual arts.

For proposals that involve companies funded by the Major Performing Arts Board, a letter of agreement between the applicant and the MPAB-funded company must be provided to both the MPAB and the Music Board. For further details please contact MPAB staff directly.

In line with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts policy and its underpinning principles, the Australia Council requires that applications for projects containing representations of artistic/cultural practice or intended outcomes relating to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists or communities must provide letters from relevant communities or artists. Letters must show clear evidence of support and agreement for the activities undertaken. In preparing your application, you may wish to consult the Indigenous protocol guides in song, performance, writing, new media and visual arts.

Letters of support are not required in this category.

Any material supplied in addition to the required support material will not be considered in the assessment of your application.

Updates before the board meeting

For your application to be eligible for consideration for funding, you must submit the above support material with your application at the closing date.

You can submit updates, such as additional confirmations of funding, confirmation from venues, as well as confirmation from the key artists involved in your project. Updates need to be submitted by 13 April 2012. All other support material needs to be submitted at the closing date.

Support material formats

Support materials can be submitted in the following digital formats:

• Audio files – .mp3 (192.1 kb/s)
• Documents – .pdf
• Video - standard H264 QuickTime .MOV or .mp4 format only
• URL - to be uploaded with your application as a single PDF file

For more information about support material formats please see the FAQ’s here.

The Music Board does not accept notated scores or video cassettes and will not assess them if provided.

Please contact Music Board staff with any questions related to support material requirements.

Please submit any hard copy support material to:

Music Board
PO Box 788
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

Please ensure the support material is clearly labelled, with the applicant’s name, application ID and the category. All hard copy support material must be postmarked no later than the closing date.

Application checklist

We encourage you to use this handy checklist to help you prepare and submit your application. You should:

1. read the Funding Guide for 2012, in particular the general eligibility requirements, the information on making an application and the information on how your application will be assessed;
2. read all of the information provided for this grant (across all the tabs above);
3. get in contact with the grant contact person to discuss your application;
4. prepare your application, being mindful that you address all of the eligibility and selection criteria for this grant; and
5. submit your application form online using the 'Apply online' button in the right-hand column.

Supports Indigenous musicians and theatre makers to create and present innovative new music theatre works

A grant for up to $30,000
Applications for this grant close 12 March 2012
Decisions will be advised in May 2012
Funded projects can start from 1 June 2012

We encourage you to carefully consider the budget components of your application. The budget information provided is essential in demonstrating the project’s viability, and also its competitiveness under the “good planning and effective use of resources” criterion.

We have compiled some tips to assist you in submitting a strong budget. You are always welcome to contact music staff for assistance and advice.

Key budget notes

• Ensure your income and expenditure are equal when your budget is complete. A balanced budget shows that the project is viable and is able to take place
• It is unlikely that the Australia Council will be able to fund 100% of your project costs. We encourage you to seek additional support from other sources and/or include your own contribution (cash or in-kind) towards the project

How to complete a budget

Budget headings

Budget steps

Step 1 – list all expenses that will be incurred in the execution of your project and total these figures (see expenditure table for more information).

Step 2 – List all sources of income and resources that you can dedicate to delivering the project and allocate a value to these items (see income table for more information).

Step 3 – Total the income identified in Step 2 and subtract this figure from the total expenditure calculated in Step 1. The resulting figure should be the amount of the grant that you are applying for.

Total expenses - total income without the grant = grant request

Step 4 – Complete the budget summary section, focusing on the column titled “Amount of expense this grant will cover.” To do this, you will need to identify how much of the grant will be allocated to the items listed in the expenses column.

Step 5 – Ensure that:

• Total income (including Australia Council grant request) equals total expenses
• Total of “Amount of expense this grant will cover” column equals the Australia Council grant request
• You are only requesting funding towards expenses that the grant can cover – see category guidelines for specific details.

Additional budget notes

• Loss of income (from being away from work for the project period) is not an acceptable expenditure item to include in your project budget.
• Australia Council grants can cover per diems (a daily amount to cover basic personal expenses while on tour) and accommodation costs. However, applicants are encouraged to keep these to a realistic amount. As a guide, you  can refer to the Australian Tax office’s per diem guidelines which you can view here.
• While quotes are not required for Australia Council grant applications, the budget section has room to provide notes in the ‘details’ column. Keep accommodation funding requests realistic and  relevant to the project.
• The Australia Council will not fund a salary/fee for applicants to attend events. However, you can request funding to cover the costs associated with attendance (e.g. travel, accommodation, registration etc).
• Expenditure must include the GST to be paid on purchases. If you are registered for GST, do not add GST to the grant amount you are requesting. If you are successful in receiving funding, the Australia Council will provide you with the 10% GST to remit to the Australian Taxation Office.