The Creative Australia Australian World Heritage Residency Program offers three (3) artist-in-residencies for individual Australian artists or collectives to work on-site with a confirmed Field Partner at a World Heritage Site within Australia.

Each of the three (3) awarded recipients will receive a grant of $50,000, provided at the beginning of their residencies.

Residencies are self-directed and may vary in duration, up to a maximum of one (1) year. Each residency will culminate in a public reflection on their learnings, such as a seminar, workshop, or new creative work.

Successful applicants will undertake the residency between September 2026 to September 2027.

Aims of the Program

• Applicants are to consider the importance of partnerships, connection to communities and to sites, as well as the relevance of place.
• Applicants will demonstrate cooperation and collaboration with local communities to celebrate Australia's natural environment - specifically at Australian World Heritage Sites (see list of eligible sites below).
• Residency outcomes are artist-led and self-determined, shaped by the creative practice and priorities of the participating artist or creative collaborators. Final public reflections can be in the form of writing, seminar(s), workshop(s) and/or the creation of new work.

Artforms

Applications are welcomed from individuals and groups who work in First Nations arts and culture, community arts and cultural development, dance, emerging and experimental arts, literature, multi-art form, visual arts, theatre, and music, except screen (which includes short film, feature film, television or documentary or electronic games).

Who can apply

You can apply for the residency if you:

• are a practicing artist and an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident (living in or outside of Australia)
• are a group or collective
• are 18 years and older
• are at any phase of their career, e.g. emerging, mid-career or established
• have a confirmed Field Partner. (A Field Partner is the World Heritage Site's authority body.)

Who can't apply

You cannot apply for the residency if:

• you have an overdue grant report
• you owe money to Creative Australia
• you have already applied to this program, note one (1) application per round
• you do not have a confirmed Field Partner who is the World Heritage Site's authority body identified in your application
• You are not an Australian individual, group or collective
• Your residency starts before 01 September 2026

• Phone: 02 9215 9000
• Email: enquiries@creative.gov.au