Playing Australia Audience Development is the Multi-Year Investment program for 2026-2028. It will focus on audience development in regional and remote communities aligned with national touring activity.

This program responds directly to an identified need from the touring sector to pilot new ways of collaborating. It will support targeted sector-led strategies for audience development and engagement which could include consortia models, which has been identified as a key opportunity.

This is a competitive program supporting a minimum of three projects. Applicants may apply for up to $300,000 per year, to support two or three years of activity. The program will facilitate audience development and engagement activities, which may be driven by producers, tour coordinators, presenters, community or other relevant sector organisations.

Applicants may apply for delivery costs associated with the proposed audience development strategy and activities.

This may include:

• staffing costs
• specialist advice
• community engagement activity
• delivery of bespoke marketing strategies
• seed funding for new work focused on regional and remote audiences
• other costs relevant to your activity

Where your application proposes an audience development strategy as part of a multi-year program of touring activity, applicants may include:

• payment of fees and salaries for artists and touring party
• costs associated with remounting or rehearsing awork
• production costs associated with touring the work or delivering the activity
• touring costs including freight, transport, accommodation and travel allowances
• tour co-ordination
• costs associated with reducing the environmental impact of your tour
• costs associated with supporting the wellbeing of the touring company.

Legally constituted organisations only may apply. A consortium of organisations may apply, but the application must be submitted and contracted through one lead member of the consortium.

If applying as a local government authority, please contact us to discuss support material requirements pertaining to audits. For example, where possible, audits will relate specifically to the organisation applying rather than a full audit of the Council

You can't apply to this fund if:

• you have an overdue report for another Creative Australia grant
• you owe money to Creative Australia
• you are an individual or a group
• your organisation is in receipt of investment through the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework.

• Phone: 02 9215 9000
• Email: enquiries@creative.gov.au
• Website: https://creative.gov.au/about-us/contact-us