The Australia Council will assess all applications that meet both the general eligibility requirements described below and the specific eligibility requirements for each grant category. Please contact us if you are in doubt about your eligibility.

Individuals, groups and organisations can apply to the Australia Council for funding. Individuals must be Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia. Proof of citizenship or residency may be required.

Applications may be accepted from non-Australian individuals or organisations for projects that meet the purpose of the category and mainly involve artists or artsworkers who are Australian citizens or permanent residents.

Individuals and groups

Individual applicants must be practising artists or arts workers. While they may not regularly earn income from their practice, they must be identified and recognised by their peers as practising artists.

Groups of individual artists who join together informally to collaborate in the creation, development or presentation of work may apply for funding as a group, but only to grant categories open to individuals. Groups must either nominate a member of the group to take legal and financial responsibility for the grant (should one be offered) or arrange for it to be administered by a legally constituted organisation (see below).

The Australia Council requires that organisations be registered under law (for example, incorporated association, company limited by guarantee) or created by law (for example, a government statutory authority). Organisations that are not legally constituted are not eligible to apply for funding to grant categories open to organisations only. Organisations may be required to provide a certificate of incorporation or evidence of their current legal status.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply to any relevant grant program offered by the Australia Council, as well as to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board.

How often can you apply?

In general, individuals and organisations may submit five applications to grant categories per calendar year. However, there are some restrictions:

• You can only submit two applications to the same artform board, committee of panel in one calendar year
• You can only submit one application per grant category closing date
• Some grant categories have restrictions that limit how often you can make an application (refer to individual artform sections)
• If you received a Key Organisations grant, you can submit up to four other applications in any year for the period of your funding
• If you received a Key Organisations grant, you cannot submit another application for a Key Organisations grant during the period of your funding
• If you received a Fellowship from any board after 1995, you are not eligible to apply to this category again.

Universities and local governments may place two applications to the same grant category at the same closing date if these applications are from clearly distinct areas within the university or local government.

Links to major performing arts companies

The Australia Council recognises that there are desirable and potentially beneficial links between artists, groups and the Major Performing Arts Board (MPAB) companies that are supported by the Australia Council.

The 28 Major Performing Arts Board companies currently operate under conditions defined by the major performing arts inquiry and the resulting injection of resources.

Proposals from organisations or individuals which are to be submitted to other areas of the Australia Council, and which involve MPAB-funded companies, must be discussed with MPAB staff well in advance of the relevant closing date, as MPAB companies cannot be major beneficiaries of these applications. The MPAB company will be deemed to be a major beneficiary if it has overall artistic control of the development or presentation of the work that is the subject of the funding application.

Ineligible applications

The Australia Council does not redress errors in applications. If they are eligible, applications are assessed as they have been submitted.

Your application will be considered ineligible, and returned to you, if:

• You do not meet the eligibility criteria for the grant category to which you are applying
• You have not applied on a 2010 application form for the relevant grant category or it does not strictly conform to the style, format or length of that application form. It is your responsibility to ensure that you complete the correct application form. Any pages exceeding the specified length will be removed and will not be assessed
• You have not included all the required information and support material specified for the category to which you are applying
• You received a grant, or administered a grant, from the Australia Council in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
• You owe money to the Australia Council
• You are a member of the peer body making the grant decision
• You have listed a member of the peer body making the decision on your application as the sole or major beneficiary of your project
• It includes requests for funding for activities that have already occurred or will occur before the published start date for the category to which you have applied
• It is sent by fax or email
• It is postmarked or hand-delivered after the closing date (except when the closing date falls on a weekend or public holiday, in which case applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered by the next business day)
• It is for one of the activities that the Australia Council does not fund (see below).

Activities not funded

The Australia Council’s budget represents a small percentage of all cultural funding in Australia. There are many activities that are beyond the scope of Australia Council funding, regardless of merit.

The Australia Council does not accept applications for the following:

• Projects or activities that do not involve practising artists or artsworkers
• Projects or activities that do not have a clearly defined arts component
• Major capital expenditure, including the purchase of real estate, the purchase and refurbishment of buildings, and purchase of major equipment and vehicles
• Equipment (for example, musical instruments, computers, videos, photographic or printing equipment) except where such equipment is essential to artists creating new work as proposed in the application
• Initial arts training or initial study in government or private institutions in Australia or overseas, and research or studio work that will be offered for assessment in such courses
• Tertiary course costs or projects where participation in a tertiary course in Australia is the main focus of the proposal (for example, a thesis, artwork for assessment, payment of academic wages, creation of teaching resources). Some boards or sections may support travel and associated costs for professional artists to attend exceptional courses or programs not offered in Australia. For these proposals, applicants must speak to a program officer of the appropriate board or section to determine if the activity will be considered
• Administration or infrastructure costs for academic conferences
• The core costs of organising and running a competition, prize, award or fundraising event (for example, jurors’ expenses, administration and infrastructure costs)
• Works and activities that are primarily for instructional or technical purposes.

Further restrictions may apply to specific categories, please check grant category information before applying.

The Australia Council recognises that some Australian competitions have gained national and international reputations. They have played an enormous role in raising the profile of the arts and have offered significant career opportunities for artists. However, the Australia Council is currently unable to provide recurring core support to competitions. We will continue to consider support for competitions by access through project grants for particular activities and, where relevant, for strategic initiatives (which might include support for education programs).