Creative WA Fellowships

Guidelines

This program supports the Creative WA vision to grow and sustain thriving culture, arts and creative industries in Western Australia by providing internship opportunities for organisations and arts workers.

Creative WA aims to strengthen the creative, cultural and arts sector, share stories and celebrate place, and increase access and participation for all Western Australians.

Creative WA Fellowships supports individual artists and creatives to undertake creative development, skills development and forge career pathways via individual arts fellowships. It includes 2 categories:

  1. Arts Fellowships for Young People
  2. Arts Development Fellowships

To decide which category is most suitable for you, please refer to the category objectives.

Creative WA Fellowships are available for applications once per financial year. The key dates calendar has opening and closing dates.

Applicants are encouraged to speak with a project officer prior to commencing their grant application by calling 61 8 6552 7400 or emailing grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au 

Please apply using the Online Grants web portal.

More information about how to apply can be found in the application manual.

Funding categories

Arts Fellowships for Young People

Fellowships of $26,000 are available for individuals to grow their participation in the arts and develop pathways for a creative future.

Funding may support research, skills development, residencies, creation of new work, mentorships, artist fees/living allowance, materials, and travel.

Up to 5 Arts Fellowships for Young People will be awarded each year.

Objectives

  • Support opportunities for young people to enhance their skills, knowledge and expertise in their chosen field.
  • Facilitate connections with industry professionals, artists and mentors.
  • Invest in innovative creative development activities that improve learning opportunities and career pathways for young people.

To be successful, your application should align to one or more of these objectives.

Who can apply?

The program is open to individuals who:

  • are aged 18 to 25
  • have Australian citizenship or permanent resident status and live in Western Australia
  • can demonstrate a dedication to their artistic practice through examples of work and letters of support.

What can be applied for?

  • opportunities to participate in skills or professional development
  • residencies in Australia or overseas
  • artist fees for a period of creative development
  • creation of new work
  • materials, travel, accommodation, and living allowance
  • up to $15,000 to pay a mentor
  • up to $10,000 for capital equipment required for activity or career development.

Arts Development Fellowships

Fellowships of $50,000 are available to emerging, mid career and established artists with a minimum of 5 years professional practice. The fellowships provide support for an intensive period of creative development for outstanding individual creative practitioners.

Funding may support research, skills development, residencies, creation of new work, mentorships, artist fees/living allowance, materials (excluding capital equipment), and travel.

Arts Development Fellowships must be for 12 months duration. Successful applicants may undertake part time or casual employment where relevant.

Up to 6 Arts Development Fellowships will be awarded each year. 

Objectives

  • support creative development activities at pivotal career moments
  • foster research and innovation
  • invest in professional and skills development
  • access commercial opportunities and markets
  • support excellence and celebrate individual achievement within a creative ecosystem and beyond.

To be successful, your application should align to one or more of these objectives.

Who can apply?

The program is open to individuals who:

  • have Australian citizenship or permanent resident status and live in Western Australia
  • work in an eligible creative arts discipline
  • can provide evidence of at least five years of professional practice.

What can be applied for?

  • an intensive period of research and creative development
  • the creation, production and/or presentation of new works or events
  • opportunities to participate in skills or professional development
  • residencies in Australia or overseas.

Indicate your relevant arts discipline

  • circus and physical theatre
  • comedy
  • community arts and cultural development
  • cross-art form
  • dance
  • design 
  • interactive arts content
  • literature and writing 
  • multi-arts festivals
  • music
  • music theatre and opera
  • other performing arts
  • theatre
  • visual arts.

What can’t I apply for?

  • purchase of capital equipment including instruments, equipment, software, licences, subscriptions, computers, tablets (iPads) and/or uniforms, except for Arts Fellowships for Young People applications which cannot exceed $10,000
  • capital works such as construction or purchasing of studios, workspaces or gallery spaces
  • activities already funded by CITS through any of our arts funding programs
  • activity that will be academically assessed or any school curriculum-based activity
  • fundraising, competitions, WA Government or Australian Government departments
  • activities related to an individual’s membership in a national organisation
  • specialised design areas such as urban, landscape, building, environmental, interior, graphic, software, systems, digital, web, UI/UX, industrial or maritime design.

What will make my application ineligible?

You will make your application ineligible if you:

  • are an organisation
  • do not provide any support material
  • tart the activity before the eligible start date
  • submit an application late
  • apply for activity that is delivered as part of an educational institution’s curriculum or will be academically assessed
  • have any key personnel with an overdue acquittal report
  • request funding that exceeds the funding cap of the program
  • are a staff member of the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport (CITS) 

When can I apply?

The key dates calendar has application opening, draft review, application closing and activity start dates.

You are encouraged to submit your application before the closing date to ensure you have plenty of time to allow for technical or eligibility/resubmission issues. All times are in AWST (for Perth, Western Australia).

When do I get notified?

You will be notified of the outcome of your application approximately 12 weeks after the funding round closing date.

Processing of grant payments to successful applicants will not start until after the grant contract is signed and returned.

Depending on the activity start date, we cannot guarantee notification and/or availability of grant funds before the activity begins. 

How many times I apply?

You can apply once per financial year, per applicant, per ABN (where relevant) to the Creative WA Arts Fellowships Program. 
Successful recipients of a Creative WA Fellowship may not apply again to the same category.

Your activity should be completed within 18 months of receiving the funds.

How can I apply?

Please apply using the Online Grants web portal.

More information on how to apply can be found in the application manual.

How will my application be assessed?

Applications to this funding program are assessed by a peer assessment panel.

All applications are assessed against 4 criteria:

  1. Quality
  2. Reach
  3. Good planning
  4. Financial responsibility.

Each has a subset of dimensions and weightings which can be found below.

More information about the dimensions and definitions, which have been developed by artists and creatives representing their sector, can be found in the application manual. You are not expected to address all dimensions and definitions, only those most relevant to your application.

Assessors will consider your application against the relevant dimensions and definitions and allocate a weighted score for each of the four criteria.

See the application manual for more information about how your application will be assessed. Final approval of successful applications depends on available budget and approval by the Minister or delegated authority.

Quality

Dimensions of quality

Imagination, authenticity, originality, inquisitiveness, excellence, captivation, relevance, innovation, challenge, risk and rigour.

Weighting 30%

Quality refers to the level of artistic and cultural significance of the activity. Quality may be demonstrated by, but not limited to; examples of previous work, sector support, timeliness of the proposed work and a strong history in your area of practice. It may also be demonstrated through the skills and experience of the people involved in the activity, and the alignment of those skills and experience to deliver the project.

Reach

Dimensions of reach

Diversity, platform, collaboration, leverage, number and growth.

Weighting 30% 

Reach refers to the level of impact the activity is likely to have. Reach may be demonstrated by including information for; networking opportunities, skills growth, diversity of location/applicant/activity, potential career pathways growth, potential increase in audience or markets, and any relevant marketing and promotional strategies.

Good planning

Dimensions of good planning

Realistic, achievable, considered, demonstrated research and/or consultation, evaluation.

Weighting 20% 

Good planning refers to the level of consideration which has been given to practically undertaking the activity. Good planning can be demonstrated by, but not limited to; carefully considered preparation, confirmation of key personnel, a realistic timeline and achievable outcomes, documented research and/or consultation, and a process of evaluation.

Financial responsibility

Dimensions of financial responsibility

Value, comprehensive budget, financial self-sufficiency.

Weighting 20%

Financial responsibility refers to the sound management of the budget. Financial responsibility can be demonstrated by but is not limited to: efficient use of resources; reasonable expenses; and an accurate and comprehensive budget. Other sources of income have been considered and included where appropriate and the activity goes some way towards self-sufficiency.

4 components of your application

There are 4 components of a grant application:

  1. core application questions
  2. project outputs
  3. financial information
  4. support material.

Each plays a significant and distinct role in creating a whole picture about your activity.

Core application questions 

Your answers to the core application questions should give assessors an overview of your activity. Each question has a 1500-character limit, including spaces. If you need more information on how to prepare your application, please read the application manual.

You can extract a copy of your draft application in Online Grants at any stage to share with others for their feedback.

1. Provide a summary of your proposed fellowship activity

Describe your planned fellowship activity. Consider if it may have artistic or cultural significance. 

Explain if you are undertaking professional or skills development, creating a new body of work or participating in a residency.

Outline who you may be working with and how they will contribute. 

2. How will this fellowship benefit you and why do you need to do it now? 

Explain the importance of undertaking a fellowship at this time. Demonstrate the relevance, timeliness and impact of the fellowship on your career or individual practice.

If your fellowship includes travel out of WA, you must describe the significance of the opportunity.

3. How do you plan to undertake the fellowship?

Describe in detail your plans for the fellowship. Include any expected milestone dates.

If your activity engages with Aboriginal content or community, clear evidence of Aboriginal agency and consultation must be provided in your support material.

4. How will you meet one or more of the fellowship program objectives?

Explain how your proposed fellowship will meet at least one of the funding program objectives as relevant to the specific fellowship category you are applying for:

  • Fellowships for Young People objectives:
    • support opportunities for young people to enhance their skills, knowledge and expertise in their chosen field
    • facilitate connections with industry professionals, artists and mentors
    • invest in innovative creative development activities that improve learning opportunities and career pathways for young people.
  • Arts Development Fellowships objectives:
    • support creative development activities
    • foster research and innovation
    • invest in professional and skills development
    • accessing commercial opportunities and markets
    • support excellence and celebrate individual achievement.

5. How will you know your fellowship has been successful?

Outline the methods, processes or tools you will use to measure, document and report your progress towards the achieving your goals for the fellowship you propose. This will also be important for your acquittal report if your application is successful.

Project outputs

You are required to provide relevant project outputs. An output is a specific measurable thing that is generated by your project. This information will be considered as part of your application and provide further clarity about your project for the assessor. The outputs also provide important data for the department for research, analysis and advocacy purposes.

You only need to provide outputs for the categories and items relevant to your project. 

If your application is successful, you will be required to report against your planned project outputs in your acquittal report. 

Refer to the application manual for an explanation of the project output questions.

Please contact us if you have any questions. 

Financial information

The financial information in your budget helps to demonstrate that all elements of your activity have been considered, thoroughly researched and costed. A good budget is crucial to the assessment of your application and ensures the supported activity will be a sound investment for the State of Western Australia.

You should indicate which expenditure items you want the fellowship to support. List those items in the ‘Additional Notes’ section of the application budget page.

Your budget should not contain any costs that fall before your provided activity start date. 

If you are registered for GST you should not include GST in the budget figures. All amounts should be in Australian dollars.

Your funding request is the difference between your expenditure minus your income. To ensure this amount is calculated accurately, seek quotes for all expenditure items (whether or not you intend to include these as support material) and include all costs associated with the activity, even if they are supplied in-kind.

Many activities will include in-kind contributions in the form of offering something for free or at a discount. More information on in-kind expenditure and income as well as an example of how to demonstrate your in-kind support follows this section.

For each expenditure or income item you add to the budget, use the notes area alongside the item to explain how that item relates to the delivery of your activity and how the cost was calculated.

Expenditure

Expenditure items can vary significantly from one activity to another. Any legitimate expense that is eligible may be included in the budget.

Make sure you check the list for ineligible items.

Eligible expenditure items

Administration

Expenses related to the management and administration of the activity. For example telephone/internet, insurance, postage and stationery.

Marketing, promotion and distribution

Costs associated with marketing to your target audience. For example information, promotion and audience engagement activities, advertising, graphic design, merchandise photography, videography, public relations and production of marketing collateral.

Preparation, development, production and exhibition/presentation

Costs related to the remount, production and delivery of the activity or its deliverables, including the costs of presentation and exhibition. Eligible items may include venue hire, lighting hire, set construction, manufacturing costs, recording fees, rehearsal space hire, props and audio-visual costs.

Salaries, fees and living allowances

Expenditure in this category should include salaries, fees and allowances for all key personnel, with separate components itemised in the budget notes.

We support appropriate rates of pay for all people involved in your activity. Refer to the following websites for information on industry standard payment rates:

If these standards do not apply to your activity then you must outline how reasonable rates have been calculated. For long-term activities, it may be appropriate to pay artists a rate based on a yearly salary for a similar kind of work. If this is the case, you need to clearly explain the rationale for the pay rate in your budget notes.

All rates should be relative to level of experience.

Please note that organisations, such as Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, predominantly provide information on minimum base rates for employees engaged on a full-time, part-time or casual basis. Rates for artists and arts workers engaged as contractors will include a loading to cover the costs of being self-employed. Full-time, part-time and casual rates do not factor in these costs and should not be used when engaging contractors.

Travel and freight

Costs associated with transporting people, equipment or goods. Eligible items may include fares (taxi, airplane, bus etc.), tolls, land or air freight, and vehicle hire.

Income

This program funds 100% of your activity costs, up to the individual category funding caps:

  • Arts Fellowships for Young People $26,000
  • Arts Development Fellowships $50,000

If your activity costs exceed these caps you will need to show how you will fund the outstanding amount by providing income information in your budget.

Eligible income Items

Earned income

May include ticket sales, product sales, performance fees, royalties, artwork and/or merchandise sales.

Corporate sponsorship

List any income received through sponsorship from corporate bodies or businesses. Income received through government sponsorship should be included in the relevant government income category. 

Philanthropic donations

May include contributions from fundraising, crowdfunding, donations, gifts and bequests.

Creative Australia, other Australian Government, other WA Government, local government

All grants and sponsorship being sought from local government, WA Government, Australian Government, Creative Australia, and other government sources must be included, whether or not this support has been confirmed. If your application is to be assessed by a peer assessment panel, we will attempt to confirm the status of any pending funding applications directly with the funding body prior to the panel assessment.

Do not include department grant funds being requested as part of this application.

Please provide contingency plans for all unconfirmed funding amounts in your budget notes.

Other income

If you are making a cash contribution, or someone is providing cash to the activity, list this item as a cash contribution or similar. Include any other income source that does not fit within any of the above categories and provide enough detail to identify the income source.

In-kind expenditure and income

Some expenses may be offered to you for free or at a discount. This might be borrowed equipment, the use of a rehearsal space, donated or discounted goods or services, volunteers (including you), negotiated discounted fees and allowances. Anything given to your project at no expense to you is considered in-kind. 

All in-kind items must be included as a budget item under the in-kind expenditure category. The corresponding recognition of in-kind income is created automatically in your online application, and you do not need to enter any in-kind income budget items. The total in-kind expenditure must always equal the total in-kind income. 

If, for example, you are hiring a venue, which would normally charge $2000, and you have successfully negotiated an $800 (40%) discount, you would include venue hire fee as a budget item under the expenditure category of $1200 and $800 under the in-kind expenditure category. The $800 in-kind will automatically be added to your in-kind income category.

Additional notes

This section of the budget provides an opportunity for you to detail any additional information you feel may help to clarify items within your budget.

You should also use this section to indicate which expenditure items you want the department to support.

Taxation

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) considers any grant payment to be taxable income for the purposes of your annual income tax return. You are encouraged to discuss your tax implications with your tax agent or the ATO prior to applying for a grant.

Registered for Goods and Services Tax

If you are registered for GST you must show your expenditure items exclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would only show lighting hire of $500. If your activity is funded, the department payment will include a 10% GST component to cover those items on which GST is payable.

Not registered for Goods and Services Tax

If you are not registered for GST you must show your expenditure items inclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would show lighting hire of $550.

If your activity is funded, the department payment will include the GST component for those items on which GST is payable.

Support material

Support material is crucial to a successful application and is essential for assessors to fully gauge the value of your activity. It is highly recommended you pay close attention to the support material you choose and make sure it offers the best support for your application.

Recommended support material includes: a two-page CV for yourself, bios for any other people or organisations involved in your activity, examples of your work, two letters of support, confirmation from any key personnel and quotes for any major costings. Please refer to the support material guide below for more information and other examples of support material that may be relevant to your activity.

Support material should help demonstrate the 4 assessment criteria that your application will be scored against: quality, reach, good planning and financial responsibility, as well as the objectives of the category you are applying to.

Support material summary

  • text — maximum 20 A4 pages 
  • images — maximum 10
  • audio/video — maximum 12 minutes.

Please note:

  • The support material formats and limits are requested to ensure equality between applications in competitive programs.
  • If you exceed the support material limits, the assessor will only watch, listen or read up to the specified limit.
  • Files and links in ineligible formats will be deactivated and not viewed by the assessor.
  • Formats that will not be viewed include: .pages, .zip, .excel, MP3s (or similar) and .eml (however screenshots of emails converted to PDF are okay).
  • Links to support material using file sharing services such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive will not be viewed.
  • Weblinks to text and image information online will not be viewed. Weblinks can only be used for audio and video support material. Please see below for further information.
  • Where possible, please only upload one document or file per support material type.
  • Items of support material cannot exceed 5 MB file size.
  • As an Online Grants portal user, you must upload your support materials with your online application.

Types of accepted support material you may provide

Text

Maximum 20 A4 pages of text, in PDF or Word format. Preferably in one single document. (maximum file size 5 MB. All text must be legible at 100%). It’s ok to include images and diagrams in your text support material. Note: weblinks for text materials are not accepted.

Examples of material:

  • your CVs, biographies or profiles for key creative or artistic personnel
  • participant confirmation*
  • quotes for major expenditure items/confirmation of fees*
  • letters of peer/industry support (external to your activity)
  • reviews, media reports or articles on your previous work
  • evidence of confirmed events, activities or appointments*
  • confirmation of consultation and/or support from the target community/participants, such as Aboriginal communities or young people
  • evidence of significant Aboriginal involvement, participation and decision making (where required)
  • marketing, promotional or activity plan/s
  • synopsis of proposed text/script
  • curatorial statement
  • director’s notes
  • invitations to present, perform, exhibit or showcase*
  • extracts of literary manuscripts, play scripts or other writing samples
  • publishing samples
  • product catalogue
  • safety and contingency plan (for example COVID-19 contingency plan).

*Can include multiple screenshots of emails and quotes. We suggest taking a screenshot of the essential information and pasting up to 4 per A4 page so they are still legible when viewed at 100%.

Images

  • Maximum 10 images in one PDF or Word document or up to 10 image files (maximum file size 5 MB with one line of text caption permitted for each image)

Note: weblinks for images are not accepted.

Examples of material:

  • images of previous work or activities.

Audio and video

Maximum 4 links to audio and video content not exceeding 12 minutes combined listening or viewing time.

Audio and/or video files must be uploaded to file streaming sites like Vimeo, YouTube, Bandcamp or SoundCloud that do not require a log-in to access. Do not use Spotify.

You can find instructions on how to use these sites at the following links:

Examples of material:

  • examples of previous work or activities
  • interviews, recordings, or presentations that support your activity
  • a recorded explanation of your proposed project
  • testimonials of support for the project.

Draft reviews

Draft reviews are not available for this funding program.

Acquittal report

If your application is successful you will be required to fill in an acquittal report when your activity has finished. An acquittal report details your activity and how you spent the grant. The acquittal report will be available for you to access in Online Grants, via the Edit/View Report button or Reports tab on the Home page, once a copy of your signed funding agreement has been received.

Your acquittal report must be submitted within 90 days of the activity completion date as specified in your funding agreement. 

You will need to answer the following questions:

1. Describe your fellowship.

Explain what you did and who with. Also outline if there were any changes from your original application.

2. What were the benefits of your fellowship?

Explain the impact of the fellowship on your career or individual practice. You might also share here any highlights you experienced.

3. Did you meet the objectives set out in your original application?

Considering the objectives you outlined in your original application, explain how you addressed them. Share whether you experienced any unexpected outcomes or challenges.

4. Using the measures of success you outlined in your application, how successful was your fellowship?

Explain how you progressed towards your goals and share how you documented your fellowship. As part of this you should evaluate your experience. For example, would you do anything differently in the future?

Acquittal report project outputs: You will be expected to enter your actual figures against those you estimated in the Project Outputs section. Use the Notes section to explain any large differences or new output categories.

Acquittal report budget: Your acquittal report will also include your activity budget and you will be required to enter all the actual figures against each budget item and add any additional items not in the original budget. Variations between budget and actual figures are acceptable; however, you must provide an explanation for large variations in the Notes section for that item. As you enter actual figures, the activity profit/loss will be automatically updated and displayed at the top of the Financial Information page.

Acquittal report support material: You must upload relevant documents, images and/or videos that substantiate the delivery of the activity and that may demonstrate the impact and outcomes achieved.

Consider including receipts for your major expenditure items, any reviews or feedback from attendees or stakeholders, examples of your work, photographs or video documenting the process or presentation, evidence of box office or sales where relevant, examples of any promotional material produced, and any evaluation related documents.

As a suggested guide please refer to these formats and limits for your acquittal report support materials:

  • up to 10 images (JPEGs, PNGs or PDF document — no larger than 5MB)
  • up to 20 pages of text (Word or PDF documents only. Can include images)
  • up to 12 minutes of audio/video (must be uploaded to file streaming sites like Vimeo, YouTube, Bandcamp or SoundCloud that do not require a log-in to access)

Do not use zipped files, or file sharing services such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive to submit your support materials, or any streaming services that require a log-in to access, such as Spotify.

You may use links to websites as acquittal report support material where relevant, for example if you were funded to create or update your website.

Refer back to your application’s activity outcomes for guidance in selecting suitable material.

If possible, please provide your support material in one PDF document for text and one document for images. Please note there is a 5 MB size limit for documents. Audio and video material must be supplied as separate URL links directly in the Online Grants portal.

The funding acquittal report also includes the option to provide feedback to help us to continually review and improve the service we provide.

Assistance for applicants

More information on how to apply can be found in the application manual.

Project Officers are available via telephone and email to answer queries about applications and suitability of activities to specific programs.

If you need extra assistance due to disability, language barriers or any other factor that may disadvantage you in completing your application, please contact us.

The advice provided by Project Officers does not guarantee the success of your application.

Due to the high number of applications received, each funding round is highly competitive.

All applications are considered on their own merits and against the assessment criteria and program objectives.

Contact us

Online Grants portal technical support

For assistance using Online Grants or to report any related technical issues, contact the Online Grants Support Team: onlinegrantsupportca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

Project Officers

For enquiries relating to this funding program, including advice or assistance with your application, contact a Projects Officer: 

Telephone 61 8 6552 7400
Toll Free (Country WA callers only) 1800 634 541
Email grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au 

Assistance for people with disability

The department is committed to supporting applicants with disability. Information can be provided in alternative formats (large print, electronic or Braille) upon request.

If you require special assistance in preparing your application, please call 61 8 6552 7400 or toll free for regional WA callers on 1800 634 541 .

Family, friends, mentors and/or carers can attend meetings with you.

If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through one of the following:

Interpreting assistance

For interpreting assistance in languages other than English, telephone the Translation and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask for a connection to 6552 7400 or 1800 634 541.

Regional applicants

Toll Free (Country WA callers only): 1800 634 541 

Email the Project Officers: grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

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Page reviewed 02 July 2025