Please note: Some of the content on this page was published prior to the launch of Creative Australia and references the Australia Council. Read more.

Our assessment panels


 
We have ten peer assessment panels: First Nations, Arts and Disability, Community Arts and Cultural Development, Dance, Emerging and Experimental Arts, Literature, Multi-artform, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. The membership of these panels rotates, with peers selected from the Pool in response to the grants being assessed.

Only First Nations people, groups and organisations can submit applications to this panel. Applicants work with all areas of artistic and cultural expression, including contemporary forms of music, dance, visual arts, theatre, literature, experimental arts and community arts and cultural development.

All peers on this panel identify as First Nations people. We aim for representation from every State, Territory and the Torres Strait on each panel, as well as peers who live on and have close links to their ancestral lands. Peers have regional, national and/or international experience of one or more arts and cultural practices. They may have gained this experience as a practicing artist, designer, curator, performer, director, choreographer, community or cultural worker, academic or arts manager or leader, for example. It is a great way to see a national snapshot of the amazing First Nations arts and cultural projects that are happening across the country.

We engage with a wide range of peers including young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for ATSIA Fellowships and other strategic programs.

Only artists identifying with disability can submit applications to this panel. Applicants work across all areas of artistic practice, including music, dance, visual arts, theatre, literature, experimental arts and community arts and cultural development.

The Australia Council uses the social model of disability, which distinguishes between impairment of the person, and the barriers in society that are disabling. These can include attitudes, discrimination, or the physical environment. This definition includes mental health. However, not all people who experience a mental health condition identify with disability.

The term ‘disability’ can also include people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. However, members of the Deaf community may not always identify with disability and may identify as part of a cultural and linguistic group with their first language being Auslan (Australian Sign Language) or another sign language.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds peoples; young people; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to the Arts and Disability Mentoring Initiative.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for the National Arts and Disability Awards and other strategic programs.

Applications to the CACD panel involve collaborations between professional artists and communities, where the creative process and relationship developed with the community to make the art is the driver, rather than the artist or area of arts practice.

Peers on the CACD panel need experience across a variety of artforms.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for CACD Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.

Applications to the dance panel often encompass practices such as: improvisation, conceptual or narrative based, street dance, dance theatre, classical ballet, physical theatre, youth dance, screen-based work, hybrid and technology based and dance for specific communities.

It is not uncommon for works to be based on the body but for the movement and choreography to include inanimate or technological aspects – e.g. robotics or objects intersecting with or moving bodies. Contemporary dance practice can include work that is traditional or intersects with traditional practice whether that is Indigenous or from non-dominant cultures.

Peers on this panel have experience and knowledge of one or more of these dance practices. The peers gained this experience nationally and/or internationally as a dancer, choreographer, arts manager or leader, presenter, programmer, producer, tour coordinator or community worker.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for Dance Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.

Applicants to the EEA panel explore challenging new concepts, methodologies and forms in the creation and experience of arts and culture. Work could be highly experimental within an existing arts practice, collaborative across several arts practices or involve collaborations with non-art disciplines.

Peers on this panel have experience and knowledge of new and experimental practice across contemporary visual arts, sound and art music, digital media, socially engaged live art, contemporary performance and art / science collaborations. They may have gained this experience nationally or internationally as an artist, performer, producer, curator, academic, arts manager or leader, or presenter.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for EEA Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.

Applicants to the Literature panel cover a wide range of genres and experience including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for performance, podcasts, works for children, graphic novels, literary magazines, writers’ centres, festivals, residencies, writers’ collectives, publishing and rights sales.

Peers on the panel have national or international experience of one or more of these areas. The Literature Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups panel receives a very high proportion of applications from individuals, so peers with their own writing practice are particularly important.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for Literature Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.

Applicants to a Multi-artform panel work with a diverse range of arts practices, including dance, music, theatre, music theatre, visual arts, literature and community arts and cultural development. Applications from multi-artform festivals and venues are common, as well as from artists working across more than one area of arts practice.

Peers on the panel have regional, national or international experience and knowledge of more than one arts practice. They may be practicing artists, producers, curators, venue or tour managers, festival directors, arts managers and leaders. Peers with recent experience at regional or remote presenting venues, and producers with experience of regional touring across one or more arts practices, are particularly important.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals, Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations or Playing Australia.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for other strategic programs.

The Music panel considers music and sound art practice and music based creative industry. The type of activities supported can include composition, song writing, recording, live and virtual touring, festivals, international market development, professional development programs, residencies, mentorships, digital distribution and organisational activity from artist based practice and music based creative industries.

Peers on the panel have national or international experience as practicing musicians, composers, producers, artist managers, publishers, record labels, live production and other creative industry roles. This panel receives a high proportion of applications from individuals, groups and small businesses, so peers in these fields are particularly important. The panel will particularly welcomes applications from under-represented music communities.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals, Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations and the Contemporary Music Touring Program.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for Music Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.

Australian theatre represents artists working across a number of genres: text based theatre; devised theatre; verbatim theatre; contemporary inter-disciplinary performance and live art; participatory theatre; circus and physical theatre; visual theatre; puppetry; music theatre and cabaret; theatre for young audiences and youth theatre, including and increasingly a merging of any number of these genres. The notion of what is theatre in the 21st Century is constantly evolving and we remain open to what theatre could be or mean into the future, particularly in response to the impacts and disruption of COVID-19.

Peers could have gained experience nationally or internationally as theatre makers, performers, playwrights, dramaturgs, designers, directors, programmers, producers, tour coordinators, company managers or artistic directors.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups and Arts Projects for Organisations.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for Theatre Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.

Applicants to the visual arts panel cover a wide range of genres and experience including curating, art writing, interdisciplinary arts (eg. installation, multi-media, experimental practice), craft and design (eg. jewellery, ceramics, weaving) and visual arts (eg. painting, sculpture, installation, video art).

Peers on the panel have national or international experience in one or more of these areas. Peers on a visual arts panel include curators, writers, artists, gallerists and academics.

We engage with a wide range of peers including those from First Nations and/or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; young people; people who identify with disability; people living in regional or remote Australia.

Peers will assess applications to Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups, Arts Projects for Organisations and the Contemporary Touring Initiative.

There will also be opportunities for people with this experience to act as industry advisors for Visual Arts Fellowships, Awards and other strategic programs.