Over half a million in grants for the creative community announced
August 20, 2019
The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund continues to invest in Australia’s arts future, announcing more than $500,000 in grants for the support of 25 projects in the first of two rounds of funding for 2019.
Applications for the Cultural Fund’s three Fellowships (each worth $80,000) for two authors and an artist, are open for application until 23 September 2019. Read more.
The Cultural Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Copyright Agency and is dedicated to enhancing the profile of Australian creators and supporting the nation’s dynamic writing, publishing and visual arts sectors.
Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling says, “The Copyright Agency is proud to support Australia’s unique creative industry with these grants, which have far-reaching outcomes for our community and beyond.
“Copyright Agency members generously commit 1.5% of the agency’s revenue each year toward the Cultural Fund to benefit the Australian creative landscape. The grants champion our wide array of members – authors, journalists, publishers, visual artists and educators – ensuring they are encouraged and supported to create works that contribute substantially to the future of our cultural sector.”
Key projects receiving funding include:
Sydney Living Museums, which was awarded $10,000 to commission “Cutter & Coota”, a new play for young people by award-winning Indigenous author Bruce Pascoe to be performed at Hyde Park Barracks in early 2020. The play will invite reflection on the story of country and acknowledge the complexity in understanding early colonial Australian history and the intersection between British military, convict narratives and Aboriginal stories.
Melbourne Press Club will receive $25,000 for its Michael Gordon Fellowship Program to provide funding to several Australian journalists to amplify issues in areas such as Indigenous affairs, migration policy, human rights and Third World development.
Australian publisher Spineless Wonders was granted $5,000 for its Microflix Writers Award and Symposium, a literature-based short film festival aimed at encouraging more filmmakers to use works by Australian authors. The project will award excellence in writing and pay authors, including royalty payments for any subsequent broadcast of the film based on their work in Australia or internationally within five years of the initial screening.
Adam Suckling says, “The latest round of funding sees the Cultural Fund and Copyright Agency continue its support of Indigenous creators and programs, with six projects focused on generating a greater understanding and engagement with Australia’s First Nations’ histories and culture.
“The latest round has also funded a number of training and mentorship programs that will provide critical support and professional development for our young and emerging Australian talent. This will help them acquire knowledge and create new works that will progress their careers, encourage new thinking and add their voices to Australia’s cultural landscape.”
Other highlights of the funding round include the State Library of Queensland’s black&write Indigenous editor training program, which will receive $80,000 over three years; The Garrett podcast, which was awarded $14,000 to create podcasts to compliment teaching resources for works by diverse writers on Reading Australia; The INK New Writing Program with the Red Stitch Actors Theatre, which will receive $45,000 over three years; a grant of $18,000 for Red Room Poetry’s Poetic Moments Journeys – which will feature Australian poetry on public transport; and the National Gallery of Victoria, which receives $8,500 to support a publication accompanying its upcoming exhibition of Indigenous female artist Destiny Deacon.
The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund is now open for Round Two 2019 applications, with grants available for organisations running projects that offer broad benefits to the Australian cultural community. Round Two applications close on 30 September 2019.
Cultural Fund Round One Grants
| Organisation | Project | Amount |
| ACT Writers Centre | ACT Writer-in-Residence program | $11,992 |
| Artspace Visual Arts Centre Ltd | BOOKMACHINE, powered by Artspace, Sydney | $8,250 |
| Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) | 2019 AATE National Conference | $10,500 |
| AVANT GAGA | The Poetry Night at Sappho | $10,000 |
| Bad Producer Productions | The Garret (podcast): Develop teaching resources for works by diverse writers on Reading Australia | $14,000 |
| Biennale of Sydney | NIRIN: Reader, a commissioned volume of texts for the 22nd Biennale of Sydney | $26,655 |
| Big Issue in Australia Limited | The Big Issue Fiction Edition | $20,000 |
| Centre for Stories Limited | Inclusion Matters – creative and professional development program for emerging writers | $11,475 |
| Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria | Essays to be published in Destiny Deacon book with exhibition | $8,400 |
| Griffith Review | Griffith Review Reportage Pilot Program | $30,000 |
| Library Board of Queensland | black&write! Editor Training Program (over three years) | $80,033 |
| Melbourne Press Club Incorporated | The Social Justice Journalism Fellowships 2019 | $25,000 |
| New England Writers’ Centre | Varuna/New England Writers’ Centre Fellowship | $3,714 |
| NewSouth Publishing/UNSW Press Ltd | Reading Like an Australian Writer (edited by Belinda Castles) | $10,000 |
| Perpetual Limited | 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award | $37,500 |
| Red Room Poetry | Poetic Moments Journeys – Australian Poems on Trains, Ferries, Buses, Trams | $18,000 |
| Red Stitch Actors Theatre | INK New Writing Program 2020-22 (over three years) | $45,000 |
| Spineless Wonders | Microflix Writers Award and Symposium | $5,000 |
| Sydney Living Museums | Cutter & Coota – a play for young people by Bruce Pascoe | $10,000 |
| Sydney Review of Books – Writing and Society Research Centre | Emerging Critics Fellowships 2020-22 (over three years) | $49,500 |
| The Australian Historical Association | Travel and Writing Bursaries | $8,000 |
| University of Notre Dame Australia | Residency for novelist Charlotte Wood | $30,000 |
| University of Queensland Press | Indigenous poetry anthology edited by Alison Whittaker | $12,000 |
| Us Mob Writing | Poetry in language – skills development workshops | $10,000 |
| UWA Publishing | The Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript 2020-2022 (over three years) | $56,100 |