Touring Queensland Fund FAQs

Arts Queensland will take into consideration what a 'reasonable person’ would determine to be unacceptable conduct, behaviour or activity by a recipient of public funding.

Arts Queensland, as an agency of the Queensland Government in its administration of public monies, will not support applicants or activities that:

• promote behaviour or speech that is hateful or insulting
• promote racism or religious intolerance
• are contrary to Anti-Discrimination or hate speech laws.

In determining the eligibility of applications, and in managing funding agreements, Arts Queensland will consider publicly available information to assess financial, operational or other risks relating to the suitability of applicants to receive public money. For example:

1. Where the Court, or a reasonable person considers behaviour to not be acceptable conduct by a recipient of public monies such as charges related to integrity, misappropriation of monies or paying employee entitlements, or hate speech. This could include posting, sharing or liking social media content created by others that fits the above descriptions of hateful or discriminatory behaviour or speech.
2. Media or funding campaigns that indicate the applicant’s business may not be a going concern, is considering closing, is facing bankruptcy or has gone into liquidation.
3. The loss of a premises or planned industrial action that may mean activity won’t go ahead.

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?

 As an individual applicant, you can use funding to pay your professional fees/salary.

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 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)?

You may only 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 for another grant.  

If your reporting becomes due after you have submitted your application and is overdue when you are notified of success, you will need to complete this reporting before your funding agreement is issued and any payment is 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 Arts Queensland 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 QTTS Round 1 (2026)
  
• you have already received funding for the same tour through a different fund
• you have received more than $1million 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 most 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 most of the touring party is from the same location, you would count this location as the home location and could not count it as a touring locations.

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

For example, if three band members are from Townsville and one is from Cairns, count Townsville as the home location and Cairns as a touring location.

If the individuals in the touring party are all from different locations and the tour will visit each of these locations, you could count them all in your touring locations.

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 Local Government Area (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 cannot provide this level of evidence, you will not be eligible to apply. 

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

You must provide 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.  This will support your demonstrating ‘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.

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 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 a photography exhibition by a single artist to 10 regional galleries over a two-year period.
• A Rockhampton-based theatre company tours its production to Brisbane, Gold Coast and Logan (eligible for funding) and to Rockhampton (not eligible for funding as it is the home location).
• 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

• In a 12-month period a Brisbane dance company tours its full year program of three shows to the same four regional venues following its Brisbane seasons.
• 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 promoter 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. They 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?

Touring workshop programs are eligible activities. You can also include workshops as activities in a performing or visual arts tour.

10. What can I use Access Support Costs for?

Access Support Costs are those expenses that specifically support the participation of people with disability or who are d/Deaf as either audiences/participants or as part of the creative team. 

The costs must relate to the project, not your general operations and must not already be funded (i.e. via NDIS) or be something you are required to deliver by law.

Examples of eligible costs include:

• Mobility challenges: transportation or shuttle services for people, temporary ramps, viewing platforms, specific technical equipment
• Sensory impairments: sign language interpretation, captioning or audio description, braille or large print materials, hearing induction loops
• Neurodiversity: relaxed performances or exhibition days, sensory maps, quiet or chillout spaces, social stories or pre-visit information, easy to read promotional or event materials
• Additional costs related to shorter working days or allowance for illness, which can increase the project delivery time
• Support workers and advisors: cost of companion tickets for people with disability, support workers not covered by NDIS, increasing ratio of front of house staff to support accessible programming, advice on developing any of the above.

These costs must relate specifically to the delivery of the tour. In addition, if your access support costs are directed towards supporting audiences then your Marketing Plan should include how you will engage audiences or participants with disability or who are d/Deaf.

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 funding request for disability access costs of up to $10,000 is in addition to your funding request for the tour. 

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 there is a section in the application budget for you to record this.  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 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 in your budget. 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, 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 cost in the main project budget or in the additional access support costs section. You may also like to consider being auspiced if this would help you. Refer to Question 5 above. 

7. The assessment criteria indicate 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’s support towards contingency. In the Arts Queensland contribution column, there should not be anything against a contingency line in Expenditure.

8. In my budget can I include items that have been contracted or paid for before the funding round’s activity start date?

You can include these earlier costs in your application budget if they are relevant to the project. However, Arts Queensland funding can’t be allocated to them.

9. If I am successful, do I need to open a separate bank account to manage each grant I get from Arts Queensland?

As part of the terms of your funding agreement with Arts Queensland, you must hold all funding paid to you by Arts Queensland in separate account to your everyday/regular bank account. The account must be with a bank or Approved Financial Institution. With Arts Queensland’s permission, you can use the same bank account for any Arts Queensland funding you receive.  Any interest you earn on the funding forms part of the overall funding.

As part of your conditions of funding, you must "maintain Arts Queensland funds under separate and easily identifiable ledger accounts”. This means you must record and track the different sources of Arts Queensland funding and how they are spent separately from other income and expenditure.

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.

An audience development plan is a more strategic document that focuses on building long-term, collaborative relationships with existing and potential audiences. 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?

The level of detail in your marketing plan should be appropriate to the size and scale of your tour and the level of marketing support you will receive from presenting partners.

An audience development plan may be more appropriate where the touring activity is focused on participation activities or slow touring or where presenters are taking responsibility for attracting attendees.

An audience development plan would outline how you communicate your activity to local stakeholders and communities and also include any actions to help connect with attendees/participants beyond the life of the project for future engagement.

3. Do I need to supply a marketing plan if presenters will be marketing my activities?

Even if presenters will be doing most of the marketing you must still provide a marketing or audience development plan to demonstrate how you will support presenters to promote your activity, and any independent marketing or promotion to your own networks or to raise your profile.

4. When will I need to provide evidence of appropriate consent and permissions for Intellectual Property (IP) or Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) for touring activity?

If you are performing or incorporating IP or ICIP that is not your own into your touring work(s), it is critical that you have appropriate permissions to do so.

The guidance below refers to the minimum expectation of what you need to supply to meet the compulsory support material requirement for eligibility. More information may be required to demonstrate best practice.

The eligibility guidance is not legal advice. We recommend you speak to Arts Law for advice relating to IP or ICIP.

Arts Law has excellent resources that explain IP in an arts context.

Intellectual Property (IP)

If you require the permission of a rights holder to deliver your project, you must provide evidence of that permission and include any fees associated with that permission in your budget. For example, if you are performing a play or musical under licence, you should attach in your application your agreement with the playwright’s agent which shows agreed royalties to be paid.

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP)

If you have the cultural authority to use the ICIP, please state that in your application.

If you do not have the cultural authority to use the ICIP, you should provide a statement from the ICIP owner/s that provides their consent for use of the ICIP.

Your evidence of consent and permission should include:

• Identify who are the traditional owners and custodians of the ICIP
• How they wish to be credited and acknowledged as the Traditional Owners and custodians of the ICIP or moral rights holders in any publications or collateral
  
• Any restrictions on the use of the ICIP
  
• If Traditional Custodians/communities will be paid for the use of the ICIP, and how much.
  

Creative Australia has published Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts. For more information on ICIP please visit the Arts Law website.