The Organisations Fund 2026-2029 (the Fund) provides multi-year funding to small-to-medium arts and cultural organisations in Queensland to support core operational and program delivery costs.
The Fund is open to applicants from Queensland-based arts organisations including First Nations and non-Indigenous organisations with a turnover of less than $5 million per annum.
Please refer to the Organisations Fund 2026-2029 Guidelines eligibility criteria for more information.
Applications are welcome from all arts organisations including those new to the Fund and from those who are currently funded through the Organisations Fund 2022-2025 or First Nations Pathways Fund 2022-2025, who have a track record of program or service delivery and meet the Fund’s eligibility criteria.
Applicants will need to demonstrate their critical role in Queensland’s arts and cultural sector and how they deliver on the Fund objectives.
For-profit organisations that can demonstrate a compelling financial rationale for subsidy and a clear case for public value are eligible to apply and must guarantee that no Arts Queensland funding will be distributed to shareholders.
Key areas where the Organisations Fund 2026-2029 is different to other iterations include:
Organisations registered under or by Australian law that don’t have a board are eligible to apply to the Fund but must demonstrate the mechanisms in place for effective management, governance, financial oversight and business sustainability. Please refer to the Evaluation Criteria in the Fund Guidelines for more information.
Yes. To be eligible you must have a business address and staff based in Queensland. The expectation is that the majority of your employees are permanently based in Queensland, however it is not an eligibility requirement that all employees be.
The assessment criteria requires you to demonstrate the impact of your activities on Queenslanders, including economic benefits which can include employment. Also, assessors may consider the level of ongoing employment for Queensland artists and artsworkers in making their recommendation of funding.
No. Family trusts are not eligible. The guidelines have been updated to reflect this.
We will accept applications from small to medium business that have a strategic focus on delivering arts and culture through key areas of the business, even if a parent business has a wider focus. For example, an organisation that primarily provides support and services for people with disability, would be eligible to apply for their dedicated arts unit. To be competitive in your application, you would need a strong rationale to secure funding for the arts-focussed unit or subsidiary. In this instance, AQ funding cannot contribute to, or subsidise, activity in your non-arts business areas.
The primary focus of your business should not be on delivering film, screen, Tv or games related activities. If it is, you must have a business unit or subsidiary that is focussed on delivering non-screen-based arts activities. Please see the answer to the above question regarding organisations that also have non-arts purposes.
Organisations that primarily deliver festivals should consider applying to the new Organisations Fund 2026-2029 Festivals stream. This stream will have adjusted eligibility and evaluation criteria to reflect festival delivery.
If you choose to apply to the Fund, you will not be disadvantaged as an applicant in either the broader Organisations Fund or within the Festivals stream, noting available funding levels align as stated in section 3 of the Guidelines. Please refer to the Fund guidelines for information about the Festivals stream including definitions and key dates.
You will only be able to apply to one stream. There is a crossover of a week between the opening of the Festival stream and the closing of the General Stream so that you can decide which fund best suits your organisation’s core activity and strengths.
We strongly recommend preparing responses to the General stream questions offline and starting to collate your supporting material now. This stream closes after the Festivals stream opens, so you will have time to decide whether the Festivals stream is a better fit for your organisation’s core activity and strengths.
If you decide to apply to the Festivals stream you will still have time to adjust your existing answers to address any change in emphasis of the Festival stream guidelines,
A total four-year investment of approximately $38 million is available through the Fund, including the Festivals stream.
Applications to the Fund are invited from organisations that are seeking a minimum $100,000 per annum, noting it is very unlikely that if successful, new applicants to the Fund would receive more than $100,000 in annual funding, or existing applicants (Organisations Fund, First Nations Pathways) would receive more than a 10% increase on current base funding.
Arts Queensland will not fund the majority of an organisation’s cash expenditure. It is expected that an applicant organisation can maintain and grow a diversified revenue model to support employment and programming or service delivery. In considering a funding request, it is unlikely an organisation will receive more than 30% of its total budget from Arts Queensland (core support and projected project funding).
This percentage is a guide and not an eligibility criterion. Strong businesses need a diverse income base to be resilient. It will be recognised that different business models have different opportunities to earn or attract other income, and we expect assessors will consider each case for funding on its merits.
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 are a separate legal entity (e.g. a controlled entity within a larger organisation) you should provide historical and forward financial information for your entity only.
If you are not a separate legal entity, you are required to provide:
No, your organisation will have already provided this information through your Smarty Grants reporting. The application form has been updated to reflect this.
Arts Queensland is keen to understand how the workforce and leadership of the arts and cultural sector reflects the diversity of Queenslanders.
You may have this data from your internal monitoring of diversity.
Although these questions are not compulsory, we encourage you to include it in your application if your organisation has this information and permission to share it.
Understanding the diversity of your employees and leadership may also help demonstrate to assessors that your organisation has the capacity to understand and meet the needs of your audiences and communities, and to help share their stories.
You are eligible to apply to the Fund providing the staff you employ will be permanently based in Queensland and you meet all other Fund criteria.
Applications must be submitted online through Arts Queensland’s SmartyGrants portal.
Applicants must view a recorded briefing on the Fund prior to accessing the application form. Please request a copy by emailing organisationsfund@arts.qld.gov.au.
Incomplete applications or applications submitted after 2pm on 20 January 2025 for the Fund, or in the instance of the Festivals stream after its published closing time and date when available, may be deemed ineligible. Ineligible applications will not be assessed.
Support for technical issues related to the online application is available by contacting an Arts Queensland Grants Officer by email at organisationsfund@arts.qld.gov.au or by phone (07) 3034 4016 or toll-free 1800 175 531.
You can contact Arts Queensland by phoning (07) 3034 4016 or toll-free 1800 175 521 or by emailing organisationsfund@arts.qld.gov.au
Arts Queensland will update and publish these FAQs with relevant information and clarification, as required. All registered applicants will have access to the same information.
No. Support material must be submitted by the closing date.
Arts Queensland will undertake initial eligibility checks (including financial analysis). Eligible applications will then be assessed by an independent Assessment Panel (the Panel) comprised of arts and culture and business expertise and 50% First Nations representation in line with Arts Queensland’s Peer Assessment approach. First Nations organisations can request their applications be assessed by a panel with 100% First Nations representation.
The Panel will assess and score all eligible applications based on responses to the Evaluation Criteria and delivery of fund objectives.
The Panel will meet to moderate funding recommendations to ensure balance across art forms, geographic spread and government priorities. Funding recommendations are made to the Delegate for consideration and approval.
If an organisation receives a government rental subsidy, this will be considered when funding levels are recommended by the Panel.
Your previous 2 years of activity should align to your financial reporting. If you complete your financial reporting on a calendar year basis, please provide a summary of key activity and achievements for 2023 and 2024 as the application is due in January 2025. If you complete your reporting on a financial year basis, please provide a summary of key activity and achievements for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
Arts Queensland staff will check eligibility against published eligibility criteria and will generate financial summaries based on application data to assist the peer assessment panel.
Arts Queensland staff will attend moderation meetings to:
A Probity Advisor has been appointed to support the Fund application and assessment process and ensure that government and the public can be confident all processes are managed efficiently, effectively and represent best use of public money and resources.
The Probity Advisor will provide advice and assistance before and during the Fund assessment process to support good governance and decision making.
Not always. It is anticipated the Fund will be highly competitive. The Panel may recommend that an applicant receives less funding than requested in consideration of available funding and demand on the Fund.
If you are offered less than you requested, AQ will work with you to ensure your funding agreement, contracted deliverables and KPIs reflect the amount of funding offered.
At the moment, organisations that receive Organisations or First Nations Pathways funding are eligible to apply to most AQ project funding programs, as long as they meet the fund-specific eligibility criteria.
If you intend to apply for AQ project funding in the 2026-2029 period, please include it in your forward budgets. However, approval for funding in the Organisations Fund does not mean that the budgeted project funding is guaranteed.
All our funding programs are independently peer assessed and are highly competitive, and there may be changes to funding programs as a result of new directions or priorities. We strongly recommend that you consider this in your risk analysis and have a plan for how you will deliver activity if you are unsuccessful in getting additional AQ project funding.
Applicants may request verbal feedback on their application after being notified of funding outcomes. The Assessment Panel’s feedback will focus on the assessment criteria and areas where the applicant can improve for future funding applications.
Written feedback will not be provided.
Successful applicants will be required to enter into a funding agreement with Arts Queensland, which will include Key Performance Indicator measures and targets based on the information provided in the application. If you are offered less than you requested this will be considered when discussing your deliverables and KPIs at the contracting stage. Please refer to the Fund Guidelines for further information about reporting requirements.
Arts Queensland can respond to queries regarding the Fund guidelines that may not be answered here, however due to probity considerations, queries must be sent in writing to organisationsfund@arts.qld.gov.au, with de-identified questions and answers published on our website.
If you are experiencing technical issues in relation to submitting or completing your application please call (07) 3034 4016 or toll-free 1800 175 521.
We recommend you follow the Arts Queensland Facebook page www.facebook.com/artsqueenslandAQ and our website at www.arts.qld.gov.au to make sure you receive timely updates and tools to support your application to the Fund.
In addition to the Frequently Asked Questions, you can find additional resources to support you in making an application at Arts Acumen.