Touring Queensland Fund FAQs

1. If I am applying as an individual, can I use the funds to engage and pay myself as a professional artist for the tour?

Yes, you can.

1. Can I use my own personal ABN to apply on behalf of a group if it doesn’t have an ABN? If so, am I applying as an individual or as a group?

You can apply on behalf of a group with a personal ABN. In this instance you should select that you are applying as a group/collective/artist run initiative within the applicant details section of the application form. The form will then direct you to select ‘individual’ in the applicant’s name section.

The name you provide should match the name on your ABN, and if you are successful in securing funding, the bank account we pay funding into will need to be in the same name under which you applied.

2. Can I apply for different tours in the same round as an Individual (under my own personal ABN) and as an organisation from a business that I own (under my organisation’s ABN)?

No, in this instance you will only be able to apply once to the round.

3. My organisation has upcoming reports due for Arts Queensland grants – do I need to complete this reporting before I submit my application?

You must submit all reporting by the contracted due date to be eligible to apply.  If you have overdue reporting or have not provided any additional information requested by Arts Queensland in relation to the reports you have submitted, you will be ineligible to apply.

If your report becomes due after you have submitted your application and is overdue when you are notified of success, you will need to complete this report before your funding deed is issued and any payment made.

If you are the owner or Director of an organisation that has overdue reporting you may also be ineligible to apply, even if that application was made under a different ABN. Please contact Arts Queensland if you think this may apply to you.

4. Can my organisation apply for TQF if we already receive funding through other AQ funds?

You can apply to TQF if you have previously received, or are currently receiving, project or core funding from Arts Queensland. However, you cannot apply if:

• you were successful in TQF Round 6
• you have already received funding for the same tour through a different fund
• you have received more than $1m in grants in total from Arts Queensland in the 12 months prior to the round closing date
• your funding agreement specifies you cannot apply to any other Arts Queensland funding programs.
  

5. If our staff or ensemble/cast/band are not all based in Queensland, can we still apply?

To be eligible you must have a business address and staff based in Queensland. The expectation is that the majority of artists involved in the tour are permanently based in Queensland, however it is not an eligibility requirement that all employees/artists be Queensland-based.

Peers are unlikely to recommend Arts Queensland financial support for fees and expenses relating to non-Queensland residents.

1. What is meant by ‘tour-ready’?   

Performing arts productions and / or visual arts exhibitions that are artistically completed and packaged ready for public presentation at venues without the need for additional development /rehearsal and / or remounting costs.    

2. The guidelines state that touring itineraries must include at least three (3) locations, excluding the touring party’s home location.  What makes something a separate location?

Locations in different Local Government Areas (LGAs) would all count as separate locations. Different towns in the same LGA would count as separate locations (e.g. Boonah and Beaudesert in Scenic Rim Regional Council, or Charleville and Augathella in Murweh Shire Council).

Different suburbs of the same city do not count as different locations.

If your touring party all comes from the same place you can’t count that place in your three locations ( i.e. it’s not regarded as touring to deliver activities in the town or city where you live). For touring parties that come from different locations, please see Question 3.

3. My touring party comes from different places. What is their home location?

If the majority of the touring party is from the same location you would count this location as the home location, and count the other location(s) within your three touring locations. For example, if three band members are from Townsville and one is from Cairns, you could count Cairns as one of your touring locations but not Townsville.

If the individuals in the touring party are all from different locations and the tour will visit each one, you could count them all in your touring locations, as long as they could equally be considered part of a tour.

In both instances, the Fund will only support accommodation for your touring party in towns where they do not live.

4. What are the Touring Queensland Fund definitions of regional?  
In this Fund, the definition of ‘regional’ is Queensland locations outside of Brisbane City Council LGA boundaries.

5. Do I need to provide confirmation of these locations?  

You must provide evidence of commitment to presenting the work from at least 75% of participating venues or presenters.  Commitment can be dependent on funding being secured and can include email correspondence as well as booking forms or contracts etc.

For in-schools touring, you need evidence of interest in booking the proposed activity from at least 75% of participating schools. Evidence could include booking forms, emails, or previous touring history/ historical bookings.

If you are not able to provide this level of evidence you will not be eligible. See also answers to Question 6.

6.  I don’t have all my tour dates and venues confirmed, should I still apply?

It is important to ensure you evidence that 75% of the presenters on the tour are either confirmed, or are committed to presenting the work, if Arts Queensland funding is secured.

Provision of this evidence, supports demonstration of ‘a strong and achievable delivery plan’ as per the assessment criteria.

A threshold of 75% provides flexibility for changing circumstances while ensuring the tour has the best possible chance to be delivered as planned and budgeted.

Refer to Question 5 for the level of confirmation and the percentage required to be eligible for touring into schools.

If you are close to having 75% at the time of the application deadline and are expecting to receive the final confirmations shortly after the deadline, please contact Arts Queensland to discuss.

7. Do you have some examples of tours that are eligible?

Single tours

• A punk band from Brisbane tours to pubs and small venues in five regional centres along the east coast of Queensland over a month.
• A tour of an exhibition of photography by a single artist to 10 regional galleries over a two-year period.
• A Rockhampton-based theatre company takes their production to Brisbane, Gold Coast and Logan (the tour) and after its opening run, in Rockhampton (which is not eligible for TQF funding)
• A classical music ensemble tours a concert series in seven Western Queensland venues and community halls, accompanied by workshops for local musicians and school students and small performances in aged-care facilities.
• A Cairns-based ceramicist tours pottery workshops into schools in Far North Queensland

Touring programs

• A Brisbane dance company tours their full year program of three shows to the same four regional venues following their Brisbane seasons in a 12-month period.
• A Sunshine Coast-based theatre company offers four different shows to schools across Queensland, and does one tour to Brisbane and South-West Queensland in Term 1, and another to Brisbane, east coast and Far North Queensland in Term 2.
• A music producer tours six different bands to mostly the same venues across an eight-month period.

Slow Touring

• A music group delivers four two-week residencies in outback communities, delivering workshops with local musicians and schools that builds to a performance of the group’s work alongside local participants.

Concept Touring

• A theatre group tours a community musical theatre show to three locations, and local amateur choral and dramatic societies perform the piece, using the same script, choreography and set. The artistic team adapt the script for local references, support the learning and preparation via online interaction and direct the final rehearsals

8. What is meant by exhibitions of ‘cultural heritage’?

Cultural heritage exhibitions could include physical artefacts and objects such as artworks, historical items, manuscripts, clothing etc that represent a community’s cultural history. It can also include audio or audio-visual representations of non-physical aspects of culture, such as oral traditions, performing arts, rituals, knowledge systems and skills.

 9. Can I apply for funding to do a tour of workshops?

You can apply for a tour where the only activities are workshops delivered by the touring party.  You can also include workshops as activities in a performing or visual arts tour.

1. Applications must not request more than 50% of a tour’s total costs. Can in-kind contributions be the only co-investment to fulfil the eligibility criteria?

Arts Queensland will fund 50% of the total cost of a Queensland tour.  In-kind contributions are counted for the purposes of eligibility, however, your application will be more competitive if you have confirmed cash income as well.

Arts Queensland’s contribution can only be allocated to eligible costs (refer to the guidelines for eligible and ineligible costs).

2. If my funding request for my tour is less than $100,000, can I still include costs towards disability access?

A request for disability access costs of up to $10,000 is in addition to your funding request for the tour, meaning you could apply in total for up to $110,000 ($100,000 tour costs plus $10,000 access costs).

3. Can we include the in-kind value of volunteer time, and other in-kind costs as part of our budget?

You can include these in-kind costs within your budget, and this is included in the budget.  You should enter the different types and value of in-kind support you receive on different budget lines. Remember, in-kind costs will ultimately balance, with an equal income and expenditure value ultimately delivering a ‘net zero’ cost.

In the ‘Notes to Budget’ section, please provide details on how you have calculated the value of volunteer time.

4. What award or rate should we use to calculate the value of volunteer time?

You should use the most appropriate award or industry standard for your organisation and the role when calculating and valuing volunteer time. For example, the hourly rate for a volunteer front of house person may be lower than the rate for a volunteer lighting board operator.  This information can be included in your ‘Notes to Budget’ response or in ‘Any other information to support income, expense or in-kind estimations’ upload.

5. My application is being auspiced, can I include auspice fees in my budget?

You can include auspice fees. Please provide information about what services are included in the fee so that peer assessors can consider whether these are reasonable.

If you are a person with disability and require support to manage your grant and complete your reporting due to your disability, you can include auspice costs in either the main project budget or in the Additional access support costs section.

6. If I have a disability, can I apply for the cost to help me financially manage and acquit the grant?

You can.  Include this in either the main project budget or in the additional access support costs section. You may also like to consider being auspiced if this better suits your needs. Refer to Question 5 above. 

7. The assessment criteria say I should include Contingency Costs, but they are listed as an item that is ineligible for Arts Queensland support. Isn’t this a contradiction?

Prudent budgeting should include an amount to cover unexpected new costs or increases in existing costs. You should include this in your budget. However, you cannot request Arts Queensland support towards contingency, so there should not be anything in the AQ contribution column against a contingency line in Expenditure.

8. What is meant by “retrospective funding requests”?
Arts Queensland cannot fund activity that has taken place before a funding application is submitted or that will take place before the activity start date you give in your application. This includes anything you have paid for in advance or things you have signed a contract to pay.   You can, however, include these earlier costs in your overall project budget but AQ funding can’t be allocated to them.

9. If I am successful, do I need to open a separate bank account to manage the grant?

As part of the terms of your deed of funding, you must hold all funding paid to you by Arts Queensland in a separate account with an Approved Financial Institution.  Any interest you earn on the funding forms part of overall funding.

1. What is meant by a ‘marketing/ audience development plan’, and what is the difference?

A marketing plan refers generally to activity focused on promoting an activity to generate sales or attendance. While an audience development plan is a more strategic document that focuses on building long-term, collaborative relationships with existing and potential audiences to ultimately grow a sustainable business model by fostering engagement, loyalty, and a sense of community. Applicants have the option of providing one or the other, as we recognise that a marketing plan is not appropriate for all types of activity funded through TQF.

2. How detailed should my marketing/audience development plan be?

You need to include a marketing plan outlining how you are going to reach your audience/participants. The level of detail in the plan should be appropriate to the size and scale of your tour and the level of marketing support you will receive from presenting partners.

For example, a self-presented tour or one that relies on box-office splits would require a more detailed marketing plan than one which is funded through fees from presenters, who are marketing to their own audiences (refer to Question 3 for more information about marketing plans in this scenario).

An audience development plan may be more appropriate where the touring activity is focussed on participation activities or for slow touring, or where the presenters take responsibility for attracting attendees, or where the attendees are a captive market (i.e. in-schools touring).

An audience development plan would cover how you will be communicating about the activity to local stakeholders and communities to help them engage with, and value, the activity (e.g. inclusion in newsletter/ local paper, communications with community leaders, behind the scenes insights), and any actions you might take to help connect with attendees/participants beyond the life of the project to become audiences for the future (e.g. joining mailing list, getting people to follow you on social media).

3. Do I need to supply a marketing plan if presenters will be marketing my activities?
Even if presenters will be doing the majority of marketing you must still provide a marketing or audience development plan showing how you will support presenters to promote your activity, and any independent marketing or promotion you will do to your own networks or to raise your profile.

If you have not yet developed marketing collateral for the tour, you could also include sample marketing you have done for previous projects and/or overviews from presenters of their standard marketing activity for activities like yours.