The Music Australia Export Development Fund is a bold partnership between the Australian Government and the Australian music industry - a matched funding initiative, designed to provide financial support to a diverse range of Australian artists.

The program supports emerging, breakthrough and established acts and is available for Australian citizens or permanent residents who are practising contemporary music artists. This includes solo artists, instrumentalists, bands, ensembles, electronic artists, producers, songwriters and composers.

The International Professional and Artistic Development fund (Category 2) supports international professional development activity with matched funding of $3,000 to $15,000.

Your activity must meet the following definition of contemporary music to be eligible:

"Australian contemporary music is any genre or subgenre of music currently composed, written, produced by Australians and licensed, recorded, presented, and distributed through commercial and non-commercial activity. For the purposes of Music Australia's initial investments, the focus will be on musical works that are new, original and relevant to contemporary Australia".

If you don't meet the definition above for contemporary music, you may be eligible to apply for our Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups, Arts Projects for Organisations, or International programs.

• Your export activity must start between 1 October 2026 and 31 December 2026 and be completed within 12 months of your start date. If your activity starts after these dates, please apply to a later round. Contact us if you are unsure if your dates are eligible.
• You can submit one application to each category of the Music Australia Export Development Fund per round. Each application must be specifically targeted to the category you are applying for.
• The budget in your application must show matched funding (see 'Budget & Matched Funding' for more information), and evidence of this matched funding must be attached in your support material.

Who can apply

• Australian music artists, composers and creators, individually or in groups
• organisations and music businesses on behalf of their artists
• if you have previously been successful in the Export Development Fund, you can apply again. However, priority may be given to first time recipients
• we encourage First Nations applicants to apply.

• Email: musicaustraliagrants@creative.gov.au
• Website: https://creative.gov.au/about-us/contact-us/