Close to $1m drives Australia’s creative culture

December 22, 2015

The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has given more than $933,000 to 41 creative projects all over Australia in its latest grants round.

Highlights of the round include: $90k to Queensland Theatre Company for an Indigenous New Work Residency; $24k to support the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2016; $30k for the Kid’s Own (Vic) project: Into the Grand Imaginarium: Authors and illustrators inspiring family creativity; $60k for the Literature Centre’s (WA) Regional Talented Young Writers Program; and $30k over two years for the inaugural Patrick White Project run by Carriageworks (NSW). Grants range between $5,000 and $90,000.

Chief Executive of the Copyright Agency, Adam Suckling, says the Cultural Fund has given $20m to creative organisations and individuals such as authors, teachers and visual artists since it began in 2004.

“In this round of funding there is strong support for all forms of Australian creativity including journalism, Indigenous storytelling, children’s literature and enhancing Australian literacy,” Mr Suckling says.

“The Copyright Agency’s members generously give 1.5 per cent of annual revenue from their copyright royalties to provide opportunities to Australian creative organisations to develop new programs and engage audiences. This support is critical to Australia’s vibrant cultural life,” Mr Suckling says.

See the full list of recipients by State below.

State/Territory Organisation Project Title Funding amount ($)
ACT
  Australian Embassy Beijing Australian Writers Week 2016 20,000
NSW
  Carriageworks The Patrick White Project 30,000

(over 2 years)

  Currency House An investment in cultural leadership 22,800

(over 3 years)

  The Red Room Company Poetry Poetry object – supporting excellence in poetry across Australasia 30,000

(over 3 years)

  Centre for Media History, Macquarie University Brian Johns Annual Lecture series 15,000

(over 3 years)

  UTS New Writers Program 80,000

(over 2 years)

  Sydney Review of Books Sydney Review of Books Emerging Critics Fellowships 10,000
  Sappho Poetry Reading Series Sappho Poetry Reading Series 30,000

(over 3 years)

  Perpetual Limited 2016 Miles Franklin Shortlist Prize 32,000
  Playwriting Australia Indigenous Playwrights Retreat 40,000

(over 2 years)

  The Walkley Foundation Walkley Foundation Freelance Program 10,000
  The Walkley Foundation Walkley Foundation Storyology Festival 30,000

(over 2 years)

  Australian Publishers Association. Hello! From Australia 20,000
  Newcastle Art Gallery Black White & Restive 12,000
  Sydney Non Objective SNO Young and Emerging Artists Interdisciplinary Project 10,000
  Das Platforms Oberon Editorial Project 10,000

(over 2 years)

  WestWords Ltd CAL Western Sydney Writers’ Fellowships/Artist residencies 20,000
State/Territory Organisation Project Title Funding amount ($)
QLD
  State Library of Queensland Communities of Story 20,000
Queensland Poetry Festival Indigenous Poetry Prize (National) 12,000

(over 2 years)

Queensland Theatre Company Indigenous New Work Residency 90,000

(over 3 years)

Playlab The Incubator 10,500
TAS      
Festival of Golden Words Inc Tamar Valley Writers Festival 10,000
VIC
Australian Children’s Literature Alliance Australian Children’s Laureate 2016/2017 (Stipend for 2016 only) 24,000
Kids’ Own (Australia) Inc Into the Grand Imaginarium: Authors and illustrators inspiring family creativity 30,000

(over 3 years)

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) ACMI X – Cretaive Industries Co-working space – Writer residencies 20,000
National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Art Book Fair 2016 30,000
La Trobe Uni (Huss) with Melbourne Uni (Edu) Teaching Australia 15,000
The Lifted Brow Prize for Experimental Non-Fiction + related writing workshops 15,000

(over 3 years)

O L Society Limited Overland residency 15,000

(over 2 years)

Chart Collective Chart Collective online map content 5,000
Australian Poetry Australian Poets Festival and National Poetry Prize 20,000

(over 2 years)

Malthouse Theatre Co.Lab: Malthouse Theatre Writer+Director Program 45,000

(over 3 years)

Australian Booksellers Association Australian Booksellers Association Conference 2016 7000
Melbourne Fringe 2016 Artist Development Forum Series and Resources 4500
Koorie Heritage Trust Nukun and Ngujarn Footprints 15,000
PEN Melbourne Centre of International PEN PEN Melbourne FreeSpeak project 2016-2018 39,000

(over 3 years)

WA
Arts Margaret River Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival 10,000
writingWA Singapore-Western Australia Book Industry Trade Summit 10,000
The Literature Centre Inc. Regional Talented Young Writers Programme 60,000

(over 3 years)

Perth International Arts Festival 2016 Perth Writers Festival Inspired Learning Program 10,000
Westerly Centre Westerly Magazine’s Writer Development Program 5000