The NSW Government has announced a $50 million Rescue and Restart package for NSW arts and cultural organisations to ensure the sector continues to make an important contribution to the NSW economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rescue and Restart package will be delivered in two stages:
- Funding available now to enable NSW not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations to hibernate temporarily.
- Funding available in the coming months to enable NSW not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations to restart operations after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding will be available to NSW not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations assessed as being in financial distress across the State on a case by case basis.
The portal to assess your status as a not-for-profit NSW arts company and the degree of COVID-19 related financial distress you are currently experiencing is now open.
Please use the following link to launch the application form.
https://artsnsw.smartygrants.com.au/COVID19
Companies are reminded that there are two stages to the $50M rescue and restart package.
- Immediate funding to allow organisations to hibernate temporarily
- Funding available in the coming months to enable organisations to restart operations when health guidelines permit.
The information being collected through this current portal is focussed on addressing Stage 1 of the funding package.
Download a hard copy of the form that you will need to complete.
In this application you will need to provide specific financial data. This is to enable Create NSW to identify not-for-profit NSW arts companies in financial distress.
Those in critical need will be prioritised for funding assessment in this initial stage.
To receive this priority status, companies will need to demonstrate that their financial position is due to the impact of COVID-19 and not as a result of pre-existing underlying financial issues.
Companies identified as requiring assistance to stabilise will be requested to provide additional information including, but not limited to:
- Full data export into excel from finance package for 2018 (17/18) and 2019 (18/19) and Jan-Apr 2020 (Jul-Apr 2020) including all detailed profit and loss and balance sheet information split by month.
- Forecast information to 31 December 2020 and, if possible, 2021.
- Assumptions underpinning forecast modelling
- If the company retains restricted reserves, legal advice on why these reserves are restricted.
Where appropriate Create NSW will use an independent third-party to assess the information provided.
Once all at risk companies have been stabilised, the second stage will commence to determine the funding amounts required to support restarting operations when health guidelines permit.
Create NSW will provide updates on this second stage of funding as soon as possible.
For more information, visit the Create NSW website.
Image: 30 Years of Sixty Five Thousand (detail), Bangarra Dance Theatre. Photo: Daniel Boud.
