Cultural Fund announces grants for 42 Australian literary and creative organisations
January 28, 2025
Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund announces $754,769 in funding for 42 Australian literary and creative organisations. The second round of funding for 2024 attracted impressive applications providing pivotal support for Australia’s creative sector along with some targeted industry initiatives.
The Cultural Fund’s priorities provide commissions and paid opportunities for writers and visual artists in audience development projects, or sector development projects for the writing, publishing and visual arts sectors.
Out of the 64 eligible applications received 42 were approved for funding, including support for four writers’ festivals (Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, NT) along with support for the National Teachers’ Conference in Hobart in July 2025.
Copyright Agency CEO Josephine Johnston says, “We’re delighted that this round is supporting key projects to benefit our industry. We recently adjusted our funding priorities, to ensure the Cultural Fund’s support remains impactful and relevant, with a focus on sector and audience development and to benefit projects aligned to Reading Australia.
“We’re thrilled to have received so many strong applications that will deliver exceptional opportunities for the Australian creative sector in 2025.”
This round of supported projects includes the Australian Publishers Association’s Leadership Program for Educational Publishers, which received $40,000. This Leadership Program will target mid-career educational publishing staff and is designed to support the development of the next generation of industry leaders through a mix of in-person and online training and networking.
Books+Publishing has also received a grant of $25,000 to support writers’ fees for pre-publication reviews of Australian titles.
Similarly, the Art Gallery of New South Wales received $25,000 for artist fees for a new artwork by The Mulka Project, as part of the Art Gallery’s major 2025 exhibition on the art of Yirrkala. The project will provide the artists and creative practitioners with the opportunity to create an expansive, immersive artwork that acknowledges and pays homage to the extraordinary artistic legacy of cultural practice within Yirrkala, Northern Territory.
Find the full list of projects supported in Round 2 2024 here.
ENDS
For media enquiries or interview contact:
Lydia Spooner lspooner@copyright.com.au
About Copyright Agency
The Copyright Agency is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that represents 40,000 members across the publishing, media, visual arts and education sectors. Our mission is to provide simple ways for people to reproduce, store and share words, images and other creative content, in return for fair payment to creators.
About the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund
The Cultural Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Copyright Agency, providing support to individuals and organisations to run projects that will enrich Australia’s publishing and visual arts industries.