Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: From $5,000 to $120,000
- Application opened: 28 January 2025
- Application closed: 17 March 2025, 5:00 pm
Program objective
In response to Creative Communities, the NSW arts, culture and creative industries policy, the purpose of this funding is to strengthen communities though equitable access to vibrant arts and cultural experiences.
This funding will:
- foster access to innovative and diverse arts and cultural presentations
- enable the presentation of new work by underrepresented artists and groups
- enhance the visibility of new work by NSW artists and arts/cultural workers
- contribute to personal and community wellbeing and economic development
- build vitality of NSW organisations by developing new markets and audiences.
Image Credit: Hannah Grogan (pictured is Kate Smith and Sophie Jones in Lingua Franca's 2024 production of Highway of Lost Hearts by Mary Anne Butler)
This program is administered by Create NSW.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Individuals, are eligible to apply:
- Applicants must be 18 years or above
- Currently living in NSW (for the past 12 months)
Partnerships, groups, unincorporated associations and organisations are eligible to apply:
- Applicants must be 18 years or above
- Currently located in NSW (for the past 12 months)
- Local Government Authorities must be a distinct business unit based in NSW
Note: Non-NSW based organisations are eligible to apply. However, preference is given to NSW-based organisations. It is highly recommended that non-NSW based organisations discuss their application with Create NSW before applying.
All applications must demonstrate that the proposal has a focus on arts and culture and directly benefits NSW artists, arts and cultural workers and/or NSW communities and audiences through arts led activities.
If successful, all applicants must have an active ABN with a nominated bank account or provide details of a funds administrator.
- Individuals must have a sole trader ABN or private company ABN (only if the individual is the sole director) or a funds administrator and a nominated bank account.
- Groups, unincorporated associations that do not have legal status must be contracted by an individual or a funds administrator on behalf of the group, association or organisation.
- Partnerships and organisations with legal status must have an ABN which matches their entity name and a nominated bank account.
Types of projects funded under this grant
- an artist/curator from Western Sydney touring an exhibition to multiple regional NSW galleries
- a small group of regional theatre-makers staging a play in two locations outside their hometown
- a performance poet partnering with regional libraries and bookshops to run poetry nights and workshops
- a Sydney-based dance company touring to three regional NSW destinations and delivering workshops with young people
- a regional NSW theatre organisation touring a performance to one Western Sydney and two regional NSW locations
- a regional gallery sending a group show to two other regional galleries and offering a talk by the curator in each location.
What costs you can apply for
Costs you need to cover to make sure your tour is a success.
- Renting or hiring of space for workshops, rehearsals, shows, exhibitions or presentations
- Community engagement or audience development costs
- You can apply for tours in development with unconfirmed venues.
- Paying artist fees based on awards and appropriate industry rates.
- Note: It is required that commercial events staged using, in whole or in part, public funding received from Create NSW, implement a $250 minimum fee for musicians. This fee is based on a ‘3 hour call’ as set out in the Live Performance Award and endorsed by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Note: You can apply for unconfirmed activities.
Who can’t apply
Applicants who:
- Have received funding before from Create NSW or Sound NSW for the same part of their tour
- Have already started their tour or will start or finish it before the funding period starts
- Are Create NSW designated National Performing Arts Partnerships Company, State Significant Organisations or Key Festivals
- Are state or federal government department/agency, including state cultural institutions
- Are schools and educational institutions (including preschools, primary and secondary schools)
- Want funding for making films, TV shows, or film festivals. For this, you should contact Screen NSW
- Want funding for contemporary music (please refer to the glossary for this definition). For more information on this, you should contact Sound NSW.
- Are employed by Create NSW or were employed in the last 12 months.
What costs you can't apply for
- Tours or activities that directly support the delivery or course requirements of an educational program or course
- Tours or activities that are led by people who aren’t professional artists, arts and cultural workers, or creatives
- Paying back money for items you’ve already bought
- Buying equipment that isn’t directly used in your tour
- Capital Works (infrastructure/building works). For this, contact Create Infrastructure.
- Fundraising and donations
- Awards, prizes, competitions, or prize money
- Paying back loans.
What co-contributions are required
Create NSW does not fund 100% of your tour. You must contribute at least 5% from other cash or in-kind support towards your tour. The definition of in-kind can be seen in the glossary.
Additional eligibility requirements
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria. Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion. This includes:
- Organisations will need to provide a description of their workplace safety and wellbeing activities and policy.
- The project must start after 1 August 2025 and be completed by 30 June 2027.
- Regional Arts Touring funding is for any activity directly related to a regional NSW tour. Note: Regional NSW is defined as all NSW local government areas outside of Greater Sydney. Please refer to the glossary for this definition. If you are NSW regionally based, you can also apply for funding towards the Sydney or Western Sydney component of your tour.
Applications to rounds
- You can only submit one application to this round.
- You cannot apply to this round if you were successful in the previous round of Regional Arts Touring.
Most recent recipients
Grant recipients
This overview is based on the period between June 2025 and June 2025.
Recipients received funding from this grant
Total funds approved for recipients of this grant
What your application needs to include
- Read the guidelines
- Check your eligibility
- Samples of work
- Letters of invitation, collaboration, or partnership (where applicable)
- Outcome information including location, estimated employment and audience numbers
If successful, all applicants must have an active ABN and a nominated bank account or provide details of a funds administrator.
Individuals must have a sole trader ABN or private company ABN (only if the individual is the sole director) or a funds administrator and a nominated bank account.
Groups, Unincorporated associations that do not have legal status must be contracted by an individual or a funds administrator on behalf of the group or organisation.
Partnerships and Organisations with legal status must have an ABN which matches their entity name and a nominated bank account.
The Nominated Bank Account must be a separate account at a financial institution used solely for the Grant, or an existing general account at a financial institution where adequate internal financial controls are in place to identify the Grant.
More information on who can be contracted if your application is successful, can be seen in the glossary.
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Idea (30%)
A vision for your tour that clearly summarises the ideas, its aims and purpose.
Question: What do you want to do?
You may want to consider the following:
- What is your idea for this tour?
- What do you want to achieve?
- What is interesting about it?
- What will you communicate to other artists, communities and /or audiences?
Diversity and participation (20%)
Demonstrate how your tour is relevant to/or will benefit, regional NSW artists, arts and cultural workers, or communities.
Question: Why do you want to do it?
You may want to consider the following:
- Who is the tour relevant to?
- Who will it benefit e.g. artists, communities and/or audiences?
- How does the tour reflect the diversity of regional NSW?
- What are the results you want to see at the completion of your tour?
The NSW Government is committed to ensuring fair access by all communities and individuals across the state. If the activity engages with the needs of a community or has outcomes that benefit specific Strategic Priority Areas, please include these details.
The Strategic Priority Areas are:
- First Nations stories and communities
- Accessibility and equity
- Regional NSW
- Western Sydney
- Broad and inclusive communities and content
- Next generation of creatives and audiences
Experience (20%)
List the artistic experience of those involved in the tour.
Question: Who is involved and why are they the right people for this activity?
You may want to consider the following:
- What experience do the individuals or organisations involved bring to this tour?
- What skills and expertise do the artists/arts and cultural workers or organisations involved have that will ensure the tour is a success?
- How will those involved help build sustainable careers and professional skills for regional NSW individuals and communities?
Connection to Country (10%)
Details of the location/s for the proposed tour.
Question: How does the location provide access to the intended audience or benefit the regional NSW communities involved?
You may want to consider the following:
- Where will the tour activities take place?
- Why are these the most appropriate places for the tour?
- How will the tour create meaningful connection with artists, communities and/or audiences?
- Who is your audience?
Sustainability (20%)
Detail how your budget will support and sustain your tour. The budget must show how funds are used.
You may want to consider the following:
- How your budget reflects efficient use of funds to achieve the tour’s goals?
- What other sources of funding are there for your tour?
Applicants can apply for either:
- Small tours from $5,000 up to $60,000
- Large tours from $60,001 up to $120,000
These will be assessed separately to ensure equity and fairness. If successful, you may be required to provide a more detailed budget prior to contracting.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for the Arts or under the financial delegation of the Secretary or Create NSW CEO.
Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for the Arts or under the financial delegation of the Secretary or Create NSW CEO.
Applications will undergo a staged assessment process, including assessment against eligibility and essential criteria, as outlined below.
Pre-eligibility
Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email confirmation from our secure online grants system, SmartyGrants. Applications will be initially reviewed by Create NSW staff to ensure they meet eligibility requirements, and all application materials are acceptable.
Assessment Stage 1
Once eligibility is confirmed, applications will be assessed by the Touring Advisory Panel, which is made up of members from the current Artform Boards. They will assess your application based on the criteria and guidelines. Funding is competitive and will consider various factors like demographics, distribution, organisation type, and project scale.
Touring Advisory Panel:
- may set aside an application if it is assessed as below acceptable in any one of the published criteria.
- consider whether an application needs to be reallocated to another board for assessment.
- ask for a Cultural Review from Create NSW First Nations staff or the First Nations Arts and Culture Artform Board for applications with First Nations content and engagement.
Assessment Stage 2
Create NSW will consolidate and finalise recommendations based on the Touring Advisory Panel assessments, number of applications by artform, availability of funds, Strategic Priority Areas and geographic spread to ensure equity and the best outcomes for NSW government investment.
Assessment process considerations
Applicants should note that:
- The NSW Government typically receives far more applications than it can support.
- You are not guaranteed funding even if your application meets the published criteria.
- If you are successful, your application may not be funded to the amount you requested.
Create NSW may, at its sole discretion and at any stage of the application process, do all or any of the following:
- Require additional information from an applicant.
- May request applicants to provide clarification or additional information regarding the Eligibility Criteria.
- Change the scope of the requirements of these guidelines.
- Vary, amend (including by replacement), or terminate the application process.
- Re-open an application after the closing date, provided it doesn’t give the applicant an advantage over other applicants.
- Consider any non-conforming or late application.
- Request further advice and/or clarification from applicants during the assessment process.
Publication of grants information
The Grants Administration Guide (Guide) requires that certain information is published in relation to grants awarded no later than 45 calendar days after the grant agreement takes effect (see section 6.5 of the Guide and Appendix A to the Guide).
This information is also open access information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), which must be made publicly available unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information.
In accordance with these requirements, relevant information about the grants awarded will be made available on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder as soon as possible after the grant agreement is executed.
However, due to the commercial-in-confidence nature of the information provided, and as the grant amount is determined as a percentage of the NSW Qualifying Production Expenditure on an individual and negotiated basis, the amount of funding provided will not be published.
All records in relation to this decision will be managed in accordance with the requirements of the State Records Act 1998 (NSW).
Successful grant applications
- If your application is successful, you will be sent a funding agreement (contract), generally within one month of notification. This outlines the conditions of funding, how you will be paid and your grant reporting requirements.
- Successful applicants may be asked to provide a reference letter from First Nations peers or community groups, as well as adherence to ICIP and Aboriginal Protocols prior to contracting, if appropriate.
Successful applicants will be asked to provide an active ABN with a bank account with the same name as the ABN. For more details see: Prepare your application with the checklist (above)
- Contracts will not be issued, and payments will not be made, until all Create NSW/Sound NSW outstanding acquittals have been submitted.
- Successful applicants must acknowledge Create NSW funding in all publicity materials.
- Create NSW staff will review required reporting, outlined below, and may contact you for additional information as part of this process.
- Successful applicants will be required to provide an acquittal at the end of the funding period. If your tour runs over 12 months you will need to provide a progress report at the half-way point in the timeline.
Please refer to Information for Funding Recipients for more detailed processes for successful applicants. for more detailed processes for successful applicants.
Feedback on Create NSW project funding application results
Create NSW staff continue to help and support applicants who are preparing new funding applications. However, we have shifted away from providing individualised feedback on past applications to continue to meet service standards for the processing and assessment of applications and to focus on helping applicants with their future submissions.
Program staff will no longer discuss past applications. Applicants applying in future rounds are encouraged to book an appointment with an Arts Funding and Development staff member to clarify any questions related to the application process.
Program evaluation
The grant round will be evaluated to measure how well the outcomes and objectives have been achieved.
We may collect and use information from your application and reports for this purpose. We may also interview you or ask you for more information to help us understand how the tour impacted you and to evaluate how effective the tour was in achieving its outcomes.
We may contact you up to three years after you receive the final grant payment associated with the grant round for more information to assist with this evaluation. Create NSW and the NSW Audit Office reserves the right to undertake an audit of Program funding and support within seven years.
Tracking, reporting and an independent audit will be a requirement of the funding deed.
Conflict of interest management
Any conflicts of interest will be managed by Create NSW in accordance with the NSW Government Grants Administration Guide.
A conflict of interest, or perceived conflict of interest, may be identified if Create NSW staff, any member of the Touring Advisory Panel and/or you as the applicant or any of your staff:
- has a professional, commercial, or personal relationship with a party who can influence the application selection process, or
- has a relationship with or interest in, an organisation, which is likely to interfere with or restrict the applicants from carrying out the proposed activities fairly and independently, or
- has a relationship with, or interest in, an organisation from which they will receive personal gain because the organisation received a grant under the grant program.
NSW Government staff, assessors and other officials including the decision maker must declare any conflicts of interest and ensure they are managed as per the Departments Code of Ethics and Conduct and the Grants Administration Guide.
Organisations working with First Nations people or communities
Create NSW plays an important role in supporting the NSW First Nations cultural sector through providing direct investment through funding programs, developing strategies and policies for cultural development and advice and guidance to First Nations artists, arts and cultural workers, and organisations.
Create NSW acknowledges that a strong and vibrant First Nations cultural sector starts with supporting self-determination for the First Nations sector to manage, maintain and preserve First Nations cultures and ensure that the right way to do cultural business is supported, understood and acted on.
With the Aboriginal Arts & Cultural protocols, Create NSW seeks to work with the First Nations cultural sector to champion a new body of practice that has First Nations self-determination and cultural authority and agency at its foundation.
Just as First Nations culture is living and continues to evolve, these protocols have been developed to be a living document. Create NSW will continue to work with the NSW First Nations cultural sector to update the protocols annually to ensure that the continued growth and new and emerging areas are covered. These protocols aim to provide guidance to those planning to work with the First Nations communities and/or artists. The protocols can be found here.
Complaint handling, access to information and privacy
Details on how Create NSW handles complaints, access to information and your private information is available here.
Anticipated assessment outcome date is within one week of the final approval of funding commitments by government. The anticipated assessment outcome timeframe is eight weeks after closing.
Anticipated date for funding deed execution with successful applicants is within one month of successful notification.
Anticipated assessment outcome date is within one week of the final approval of funding commitments by government. The anticipated assessment outcome timeframe is eight weeks after closing
Anticipated date for funding deed execution with successful applicants is within one month of successful notification
Support and contact
Create NSW staff are available to provide general information on the interpretation of these guidelines and support with the online application process.
- Email: arts.funding@create.nsw.gov.au
- Phone: (02) 9228 4578
- Scheduling an online meeting to speak to Create NSW staff using the link to Microsoft Bookings
- Visit our website