General funding guidelines

Step 1: Eligibility check by Arts Queensland

• Arts Queensland checks your application against the eligibility criteria for the funding program. To find out the criteria, refer to the Key program information section on the relevant fund page on this website.
• You will be notified if your application is found to be ineligible.

Step 2: Independent peer assessment

• Eligible applications are assessed by a panel of independent Peer Assessors. Find out more information about Peer Assessors.
• Peer Assessors individually assess applications against the assessment criteria.
• As part of their assessment, peers may recommend specific conditions of funding or a reduced funding amount.

Step 3: Moderation

• Peers come together as a panel with AQ senior staff to discuss their individual assessments and make funding recommendations (including funding amounts) for the Director-General or Delegate’s approval.
• In making their recommendations, the panel might consider the balance and diversity across the recommended pool of:
  • artforms
  • applicant types and groups benefitting from the activity
  • geographic location of applicants or activities. 
• The panel may seek additional advice from industry experts to support moderation and recommendations.

Step 4: Arts Queensland's due diligence

• Arts Queensland may contact funders or partners named in the application, including those writing letters of support and relevant government agencies, to check the information you supplied is accurate and/or there is no duplication of funding.
• Arts Queensland may apply a risk identification framework to recommended applications as part of a final assessment process.

Step 5: Approval by Delegate

• The Director-General or Delegate will consider the recommendations and make a final decision on the funded applications and their funded amounts.

Step 6: Notification of result

• Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application via email. Outcomes will also be published on the Arts Queensland website.

Feedback for unsuccessful applicants

If you are unsuccessful, we will include feedback in the email we send you advising of the decision.

Review of funding decision

All funding decisions can be reviewed under the Judicial Review Act 1991. If an applicant is dissatisfied with the funding decision, a written statement of reasons in relation to the decision can be requested.

The request must be made in writing and within 28 days of receiving notification of the decision to investment@arts.qld.gov.au.

Applicants may also apply to the Supreme Court for a review of the decision made on their application. Under the Judicial Review Act 1991, the Supreme Court can only review the decision-making process and not the merits of the application.

Funding deed

If your application is successful, you will receive a funding deed and a request for payment details. However, if any special conditions have been set for funding and/or you are being offered reduced funding, Arts Queensland will contact you to confirm any additional actions you must take before receiving your funding deed.

These guidelines form part of your funding deed and any subsequent variations you request will also require compliance with these guidelines.

You are encouraged to seek independent legal advice before signing a funding deed. If you don’t return the signed funding deed and provide payment details within 30 days, Arts Queensland may withdraw the offer of funding.

Payments

Funding deeds include the amount of funding you will receive at different stages of project delivery, and any milestones or actions that must be satisfactorily completed to receive your next payment.

If you are registered for GST, funding will be increased by 10 per cent to cover the GST liability. You must notify Arts Queensland if you cease to be registered, or become registered, for GST.

Funding paid by Arts Queensland may be considered as part of an applicant’s income in a financial year and may therefore be subject to tax. Arts Queensland cannot give specialist advice about taxation. Further information about the GST and other tax issues is available from the Australian Taxation Office website or by telephoning the Business Tax enquiries line on 13 28 66 or the Personal Tax enquiries line on 13 28 61.

It is your responsibility to ensure you understand all obligations of the funding deed. Please read your funding deed carefully.

Here are some, but not all, of things you are required to do as part of your funding agreement:

• Acknowledge funding: you must acknowledge Arts Queensland support of your project in all published materials associated with the activity. Visit the Acknowledgement of funding page for information about how to use the Queensland Government logo and examples of standard words you can use to acknowledge our funding.
• Financial recordkeeping: you should keep invoices and receipts related to funded activity as proof of expenditure. We may request these as part of our quality assurance activities.
• Use funding only for the purposes approved by Arts Queensland: you can only use our funding for the purposes and in the way you said you would in your application and any approved revision or variation. Arts Queensland may request the return of grant funds if they are unspent, or if you have not performed all the activities in your application, or due to other breaches of the funding guidelines or funding deed. (See the Changes and variations section below).
• Deliver on Key Performance Indicators: these are as detailed in the application and funding deed and any subsequent variations
• Comply with all relevant legislation: this includes legislation from Commonwealth, State and local governments including, but not limited to, accessibility, public health directions, workplace health and safety, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 and working with children (if relevant to your application).
• Not infringe intellectual property rights or moral rights in delivering funded activities: see the Intellectual property and moral rights section below for more information and links.
• Be properly insured: you must maintain sufficient insurance for funded activity. If you don’t have sufficient insurance covering the project activity period at the time you are applying, you will need to ensure you take out sufficient insurance before you enter into a funding agreement with us. Arts Queensland may request evidence of the currency of your insurance.
• Have the right licences and permissions: it is your responsibility to ensure you are properly licenced to complete your activity.

A variation to the terms and conditions of a funding deed or an application attached to the funding deed can be requested. This could be due to changed circumstances, including a change in one of the artistic team, a delay in completing your project or a change of venue.

Each request will be considered by Arts Queensland to ensure the Fund’s objectives are being achieved and will continue to be achieved, and the proposed changes still align with the funding agreement, including these guidelines, and the approved scope of the project as reviewed and recommended by peers.

Please contact Arts Queensland as soon as possible to discuss any proposed variation, as funding cannot be used for activities or budget allocations other than those specified in your funding deed unless Arts Queensland approves the variation in writing.

If the application is auspiced, both the auspiced body and the applicant need to approve the request for changes in writing.

Your funding deed will specify when and how you will need to provide outcome reports and/or progress reports, and whether there are payments dependent on that reporting.

The outcome report collects information about outputs (what was done) and outcomes (the change or difference it made), including artistic, cultural, social, and economic returns on investment, and how you spent the grant funding.

A sample outcome report can be found on the relevant fund page.

If your project included an external evaluation report then you will need to provide this as part of your outcome reporting.

Outcome reports will be evaluated by Arts Queensland. You might be asked to provide further information before a report can be finalised.

If you have overdue reporting or have not provided the additional information requested to complete your progress or outcome report, you will be ineligible for further Arts Queensland funding.

Arts Queensland requires successful applicants to supply images and quotes about their projects through SmartyGrants as soon as possible. This assists Arts Queensland to promote funding outcomes including your activity. 

Visit the Acknowledgement of funding page for information about how to use the Queensland Government logo and examples of standard words you can use to acknowledge our funding in your communications and promotional materials.

Arts Queensland does not have to accept applications or any additional information after the closing time.

Arts Queensland will only consider requests to submit a late application in exceptional circumstances, and we will assess a request on its merits, and in accordance with probity principles.

You must request permission to make a late application no later than 24 hours prior to the closing date and time. The request should include a detailed explanation of the circumstances that prevented you submitting your application on time. Where appropriate, you should provide supporting evidence to justify your claim of exceptional circumstances.

Arts Queensland’s decision to either accept or decline a late submission request is final and is not subject to a review or appeal process.

If you experience technical difficulties when submitting your application, please contact Arts Queensland as soon as possible.

The information an applicant provides in their application may be used by Arts Queensland for the following purposes:

• processing and assessing the application - for this purpose, the information will be provided to peer assessors engaged by Arts Queensland
• verifying other funding incomes for the project - for this purpose, the information may be provided to other funding agencies nominated in the application
• training of Arts Queensland staff
• systems testing and process improvement
• compiling statistics
• reviewing and evaluating Arts Queensland existing funding programs, strategies, plans and services.

If an application is successful, the information provided in the funding application, the amount of funding received, the information provided in progress reports and/or outcome report/s and text and images relating to the funded activity may be used by Arts Queensland, including publication on its website and/or other Queensland Government websites as part of open data initiatives, for the purposes listed above and for the following purposes:

• the processing, payment, and administering of funding, including monitoring, and assessing delivery of the funding deed
• Arts Queensland’s own reporting and evaluation of its activities
• publishing aggregated and non-identified data to support learnings and trend information for the wider arts sector
• promoting funding outcomes and Queensland’s arts and culture - for this purpose, the information (including applicant contact details) may be provided to Queensland Government Members of Parliament, the media, local government, Creative Australia, and state government agencies, who may contact applicants directly
• promotional purposes e.g., case studies or quotes.

Arts Queensland manages all personal information in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 and all documents in Arts Queensland’s possession or control are subject to the Right to Information Act 2009.

Arts Queensland may contact applicants to request their participation in surveys or consultation activities to evaluate its programs and services and help shape policy initiatives and new programs and services. Participation is voluntary and all survey responses will remain anonymous unless an applicant chooses to identify themselves. 

Intellectual Property Rights and Moral Rights

You must not infringe Intellectual Property Rights or Moral Rights of any person in delivering funded activities.

• Intellectual Property Rights include all present and future rights in relations to copyright, trademarks, designs, patents, trade, business or company names, trade secret, confidential or other proprietary rights, or any rights to registration of such rights.
• Moral Rights means the right of integrity of authorship (the work is not treated in a way that harms the maker’s reputation), the right of attribution of authorship (the right to be identified and named as creator of the work), and the right not to have authorship falsely attributed to someone else.

For more information on Intellectual and Moral Rights obligations please refer to the Arts Law website and the Australian Copyright Council website.

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) is based on the principle of self-determination and refers to First Nations peoples' interests in protecting their cultures, heritage and knowledge and includes the intangible and tangible aspects of cultural practices, cultural expressions, resources, and knowledge systems.

Arts Queensland expects that applicants will respect and acknowledge ICIP, gain appropriate consent from owners prior to ICIP use and pay for the use of ICIP where appropriate.  For more information on ICIP please refer to the Arts Law website.

Applicants must pay at least minimum award rates or industry recommended rates of pay to arts and cultural workers involved in funded projects and programs.

Pay scales and conditions may be prescribed by legally binding industrial awards and agreements, such as those monitored by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). In other cases, appropriate industry standards have been recommended by arts industry organisations, such as:

• Australian Writers’ Guild
• Musicians Australia
• Australian Society of Authors
• Australian Production Design Guild
• National Association for the Visual Arts

Where an industry standard clearly applies, applicants are expected to meet those rates of pay.