Create NSW  has announced new guidelines for multi-year arts funding for small to medium independent arts and cultural organisations.

This funding program is designed for the long-term support of arts organisations providing recipients with financial stability, while enabling them to leverage support from philanthropy, corporate sponsorship and other Government funding.

The multi-year funding has been adjusted to make it simpler for a wider range of independent arts and cultural organisations to apply, while aligning with Federal funding timelines to reduce cost and paperwork for the sector.

With these refreshed guidelines, the NSW Government hopes to support new ideas, practices and artforms from independent organisations, with programs that are relevant to the sector and flexible enough to respond to their needs.

Key changes to multi-year funding guidelines include:

• applicants do not need to have received prior funding from Create NSW to apply for funding
• tiered funding reporting requirements means that organisations can apply for funding that best suits their capacity and size
• alignment with Federal funding periods (2 + 2 years) – meaning less administration and reporting for supported applicants.

The funding refresh will also include new opportunities for supporting Local Government arts and cultural programs including galleries, museums, and performing arts spaces.

New guidelines – which will be made available from November – are being developed with defined outputs and a focus on better supporting a wider range of Western Sydney and regional NSW areas.

Create NSW is also undertaking a six-month review of support for professional development services. This will be completed for a program to begin at the start of 2021, with existing support in place for the 2019-20 financial year.

Expressions of Interest for multi-year funding for Independent Arts and Cultural Organisations are now open and close at 5pm AEST 25 November 2019. Full information and guidelines are available here.

Local Government Arts and Cultural Program funding will open on 25 November 2019.

The Create NSW Frequently Asked Questions page has a section devoted to multi-year funding for Independent Arts & Cultural Organisations.

Image: On the road for Postcards from the Riverlands. Photo: Sarah Parsons.