Copyright Agency Cultural Fund strengthens creative industries with latest grants
December 4, 2025
Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund is pleased to announce timely grants for individuals and organisations in the final round of funding for 2025.
Launched earlier this year, the revamped Publishing Fellowships are designed to provide support specifically for mid-career professionals in Australian book publishing as they embark on new career enhancing projects. From 11 eligible applications for the Publishing Fellowships, three grants have been awarded for a total of $30,860. The funded projects reflect the nature of the immense challenges facing the industry and the importance of bespoke research to uncover valuable insights to assist publishers in Australia. The recipients are:
Miriam Rosenbloom, Publisher Scribble at Scribe Publications.
Project title: Born-Accessible Publishing Professional Development
Rosina Di Marzo, Communications and Marketing Manager at UNSW Press.
Project title: Investigating AI Adoption in the Global University Press Ecosystem.
Anabel Pandiella, Head of Marketing at Allen & Unwin.
Project title: Reading Futures: Lessons from Spain’s Publishing Revival.
A further $828,566 in funding has been awarded to 44 organisations (from 72 applications received) for projects to benefit writers, visual artists, publishers and creative organisations in the literature and visual arts sectors. The Cultural Fund’s priority is to ensure that writers and visual artists are paid appropriately and at industry rates where possible.
Copyright Agency CEO, Josephine Johnston, said “The introduction of our Publishing Fellowships reflects our commitment to strengthening Australia’s publishing ecosystem by supporting the people who power it. We’re equally proud to back impressive projects from so many Literature and Visual Arts organisations. These opportunities make a real difference for the sector as well as benefitting writers and visual artists. We can’t wait to see the stories and projects that will emerge from this round of funding.”
Recognising the importance of literary magazines and journals and industry publications in commissioning and publishing new writing and reviews of new titles, the Cultural Fund will support some new publications, including Eureka Street and Good Reading in addition to regular reviews in Books + Publishing, Guardian Australia and Australian Book Review.
Developing readers and a love of reading in schools is an ongoing priority for the Cultural Fund, with support approved for Westwords Writers in NSW Regional Schools, Story Hunter schools’ program and Bankstown Poetry Slam. Funding has also been renewed for the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) national conference and bursaries for teachers, and the Australian School Library Association DANZ Awards.
For the visual arts, the priority is to ensure artists are paid appropriately for new commissions with exhibition partners and we’re pleased to support the Art Gallery of SA’s 2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, the Queensland Museum’s exhibition Terror and Triumph: responses to Queensland’s Native Mounted Police and funding for Agency’s Projects UNTOLD talks series in Darwin and Melbourne.
Writers’ festivals in Byron Bay, Melbourne and Sydney will receive funding to program Australian writers in key panel sessions at each festival in 2026.
Two First Nations editors will be supported to attend the Australian Publishers Association’s Residential Editorial Program in April 2026.
Next year’s application closing date for Grants for Organisations is 13 April 2026. Publishing Fellowships will also be offered in 2026, with dates to be confirmed soon.
For more information about Cultural Fund initiatives and full listing of projects supported, click here.