The Australia Council for the Arts has today announced changes to its grants program in response to the 2015-16 budget measures.
Source: Australia Council outlines revised grants program | Australia Council
Their announcement leads with a focus on
‘The Council will continue to deliver a grants program for individuals, groups, and small to medium sized organisations, with assessment by a national pool of expert peers’.
Here’s 5 quick points of summary:
1. The next funding round closes on 1 September 2015 and will include
- Development grants for individuals and groups
- Arts projects for individuals and groups
- Arts projects for organisations
- Fellowships (8 to be offered annually)
- Playing Australia and the Contemporary Music Touring Program.
2. The published December 2015 round will be cancelled … however…Playing Australia will be offered with a 1 December 2015 closing date. International Residencies will continue to be offered annually and their applications will also close 1 December 2015.
3. The following grant round will be in February 2016 and will include
- Development grants for individuals and groups
- Arts projects for individuals and groups
- Arts projects for organisations (with a reduced maximum limit)
- Playing Australia and the Contemporary Music Touring Program
- Dedicated funding for Artists with Disability is maintained
4. The Six‐Year Funding for Organisations program will be replaced with a Four‐Year funding model. Organisations will only need to submit one application by 1 December 2015 deadline. Decisions will be announced in April 2016, with funding to commence in January 2017.
5. 3 grant rounds in 2016-17 with closing dates in June 2016, October 2016 & February 2017
And of course ….
During this planning process the Council is also considering potential cost saving opportunities and efficiencies in operating costs that can be achieved from 2015‐16.
The Australia Council is currently developing a new Corporate Plan which is slated to be published 31 August 2015. This Plan will provide further details about our national and international development activity (including market and audience development initiatives), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts support, research and sector capacity building.
Deborah Stone’s article just released in Artshub breaks down the money for us. It confirms what we all feared: fewer grant rounds, less funds, less long-term stability.
Read more at: Grant Rounds Halved
We’d love to know what this means for you specifically….comments welcome.
