Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Development Fund FAQs

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

Individuals can use funding to pay their own professional fees.

2. Can an individual, who also works for an organisation, apply to deliver a project in conjunction with that organisation?

Arts Queensland would treat the application from the individual as if it were from the organisation to prevent duplication of funding. The organisation and individual cannot not apply in the same round, nor can the individual apply for funding if the organisation has been successful in the previous round.

Please contact Arts Queensland if you believe this might apply to you.

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

You should select within the applicant details section that you are applying as a group/collective/artist-run initiative. The application form will then direct you to select ‘Individual’ in the applicant name section.

Your applicant name should match the name on your ABN. If you are successful, the bank account we pay the funding into will also need to match your applicant name.

2. Can I apply for different projects 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)?

In this instance you would 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 you have any overdue reporting when you are notified of success, you will need to complete this before your funding deed is issued and your first 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 that may apply to you.

4. Can my organisation apply for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Development Fund if we are already receiving funding through other AQ funding streams?

You can apply 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 First Nations Commissioning Fund (FNCF) Round 6
• you have already received funding for the same activity through a different fund
• you have received more than $1 million 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.

1. My project includes filmmaking. Am I eligible to apply?

The Fund will not support the creation or presentation of new work where the immediate or longer-term objective is for the work to be shown in cinemas, TV or digital content channels.

However, if for example, you are a visual artist working in the medium of film or video, and the context for the exhibition of the work is in a gallery or installation, you are eligible to apply to the Market Development Stream. Similarly, if you are making a live performing arts piece that includes pre-recorded film, then the film components of the performance are eligible for support from the Performing Arts Stream.

Musicians can request funding towards a music video as part of a larger project that creates and releases a song or album (i.e. the song or the album is the new work). However, a request to create only a music video is unlikely to be competitive.

2. Can I apply for funding to do workshops?

A that project involves workshops only would not be eligible, as the objective of the Fund is to support the development and presentation of new work. However, you can apply for support to deliver workshops that help people to engage with the new work or promote the new work.

Examples could include:

• A masterclass for local dancers to accompany a dance performance in a regional town.
• Curriculum-aligned drama workshops for schools to accompany a new play based on a classic book.
• Delivering music workshops with interstate collaborators for emerging musicians.
• Yarning workshops with an Elders’ group to support the creative development of a new work based on traditional stories.

1. I have already done an initial creative development of my work, if I apply for the next stage, is it considered new work?

As long as the work has not had a full public presentation in its final form then it would be considered to be still in development and therefore a new work. You should explain in your application the differences between the last creative development, and what this stage will achieve in progressing the work.

2. 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 employees and artists involved in the project are permanently based in Queensland. However, it is not an eligibility requirement that all employees/artists be Queensland-based.

3. What is meant by a ‘nationally or internationally significant artist or company’?

Developing and/or presenting new work with a ‘nationally or internationally significant artist or company’ has the potential to:

• grow new audiences for the applicant
• enhance Queensland’s cultural reputation via the applicant’s association with the artist/company
• develop the skills and artistic practice of the Queensland artists involved.

The national or international artist or company should have a strong critical reputation. They should also have good name recognition to people familiar with the artform, or reasonable recognition by the general public in Australia or their home country.

1. Can I apply to present my own exhibition overseas?

If the exhibition is part of an international market you can apply for the eligible costs listed in the guidelines to support this activity.

If you are not exhibiting at a market, you must be invited by a host museum and gallery and the assumption is that they are investing in the exhibition. If you are paying a gallery to host your exhibition, we would consider this to be venue hire rather than an invitation and the activity would not be eligible.

1. Applications must not request 100% of project or core operating costs. Can in-kind contributions be the only co-investment, or does there need to be cash co-investment secured to fulfil the eligibility criteria?

In-kind contribution is counted for the purposes of eligibility, however your application will be more competitive if you have cash income as well.

2. 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. The budget includes an in-kind section for these costs, and 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.

3. 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.

You can include this information in your ‘Notes to Budget’ question or in ‘Any other information to support income, expense or in-kind estimations’ upload.

4. 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 fees so that peer assessors can see they 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 costs.

5. 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 costs section. You may also wish to consider being auspiced if this better suits your needs (See Question 4 above).

6. If I have a disability, can I apply for the cost to help me develop and write the grant?

If this activity has taken place before the round’s Activity Start date, it would be considered retrospective funding and would not be eligible for support.

7. The assessment criteria states that 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, and you should include this in your budget. However, you cannot request Arts Queensland support towards contingency, so there should not be anything in the Arts Queensland contribution column against a contingency line in Expenditure.

8. 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 separate account an account with an Approved Financial Institution.  Any interest you earn on the funding forms part of the overall funding.