Application Guide

Writing

We receive a high volume of applications, so you must describe your current art practice and project clearly and concisely. 

We recommend you:

• Compose your application in a separate document and proofread your answers before starting the application form.
• Use specific terms rather than generalisations.
• Avoid jargon and acronyms. Assume our reviewers don't know what they mean.
• Explain the objectives of your project in detail, including goals and outcomes, and how it will benefit you at this stage of your career development.
• Carefully check each of your responses to ensure they have answered the questions. For example, ask yourself, ‘Have I clearly articulated why this professional development is valuable to my artistic practice?'.

References

Please ensure you include two original, signed, and scanned letters of reference for the proposed project from relevant teachers, colleagues, or mentors. We will not accept:

• References without signatures. We do not accept typed names.
• References from two referees at the same institution or organisation.
• Character references or references from referees that are unrelated to your artistic practice.
• References from anyone at your proposed host institution or someone involved in the mentoring/tuition of the proposed project are not suitable. These are considered letters of confirmation.

Common mistakes include: reference letters missing signatures and uploading the same reference twice.

Confirmation letters

We require that you submit letters of confirmation from all individual(s) or organisation(s) with which you will be undertaking professional development.

If your placement, study, lessons, workshops, mentorships etc have not been confirmed by the application closing date, your application cannot be reviewed.

Artists should contact the education provider to obtain a 'conditional' confirmation letter if a course only provides acceptance confirmations after our application deadline.

If there are any issues in obtaining letters of confirmation by the closing date, please contact us to discuss.

Budget & Itinerary

Itineraries should demonstrate a carefully planned project by providing an informed and detailed travel and project schedule.

You must also provide a tight, detailed, and well-researched budget for the duration of the project.

Your budget should show:

• A breakdown of all expenditure items, such as flights, public transport, accommodation, cultural expenses (e.g. conference fees, concert tickets, gallery passes), travel insurance, day-to-day living expenses, and study expenses.
• The total funding requirements.
• Anticipated funding sources (confirmed and unconfirmed), including your personal contribution.

Please ensure your budget figures add up and the income and expenditure totals match.

Support material

All support material must be provided via a URL. Providing a URL allows you to present examples of your work in high definition.

Please ensure:

• The URL(s) directly link to your written material, images, video or audio. The link(s) should not require further navigation or for a file to be downloaded.
• Any passwords required to access URL/s are included in the 'Support Material Notes' section.
• You regularly check that the URLs you provide are working through the course of the assessment period, as we take no responsibility if the link does not work.
• You provide examples that best demonstrate the quality of your past or present work and are relevant to the proposal.

Common mistakes include: links that are not public with no password provided and non-responsive links.

Review

Please note that changes or corrections to your application or support material after submission are not permitted. Review all fields and check uploaded documents before submitting your application. 

Ensure your documents:

• Contain the required information
• Have clear labels
• Are uploaded within the correct field.

A confirmation and a copy of your submission will be emailed to the address submitted in the application form. If confirmation is not received, check your email junk or spam folder.

Deadlines

Ensure you get your application in on time. The deadline is always 5 pm AEST or AEDT on the closing date. In fairness to all applicants, you cannot submit after this time. Individual IT issues and personal circumstances cannot be considered an excuse for a late submission.

Applying while overseas? We recommend submitting your application a day early.

If you are in a different time zone, please note that the application form within GivingData may incorrectly list the due date and time. Always refer to the date and time listed on our website for the funding round you are applying within. The application portal will always close at 5 pm AED/ST.

Good luck with your application!