2025-26 Arts Development Fund | Small Grants | Application Form

Submissions are now being accepted. Submissions close at midnight 16 March 2026 (AEST).

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

ARTS PROJECTS SMALL GRANTS

Welcome to the City of Gold Coast (City) online Arts Development Fund grant application service, powered by SmartyGrants.

IMPORTANT: Before you start, read this page thoroughly to assist you in completing your application online. A "Glossary of terms" can be found at the bottom of this page.

After you start your application, you can view this content by clicking “Important Information” in the form navigation. 

It is recommended that you contact a City of Gold Coast Senior Arts Officer to discuss your project before starting your application.

All Arts Development Fund related enquires can be directed to: artsdevfund@goldcoast.qld.gov.au

Additional reading that may assist you with your application:

Privacy

Council of the City of Gold Coast collects personal information directly from you in order to conduct business and meet its statutory and regulatory obligations.

For further information, please read the City's Information Management Policy and Information Privacy Policy.

THE ARTS DEVELOPMENT FUND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

PROGRAM PURPOSE

The Arts Development Fund is a competitive, peer-assessed* grants program supporting artists, cultural workers, arts groups, companies, and organisations. The purpose of the Arts Development Fund is to support the Gold Coasts creative community by fostering professional pathways, skills development outcomes and to provide community benefit that contributes to the city's vibrant lifestyle.

  • The City of Gold Coast provides grants to financially support operations and projects that deliver measurable outcomes aligned to the City Vision.
  • Funding supports a diverse local arts sector, grows community engagement and satisfaction with the arts and builds local employment in the sector.

*Excluding Professional Development.

APPLICANT GUIDE

Applications will be received under the Arts Development Fund for proposals that deliver a benefit to the community as outlined in the funding criteria and are consistent with the program principles and categories contained within the Program Guidelines.

PROGRAM CATEGORY - ARTS PROJECTS SMALL GRANTS

This grant provides funding to artists, cultural workers and arts organisations (including companies and groups) to financially support their projects needing smaller levels of funding for arts and culture-based activity.  

Funding up to $5,000 available. 

The Small Grants stream receives applications until funds are fully expended or by the closing date:   

Applications open: 19 September 2025 

Applications close: 16 March 2026. 

The funding supports one-off projects that deliver professional pathways and development outcomes for the city's creative sector. This grant supports applications that: 

  • Encourage creative risk taking and experimentation 
  • Are from emerging artists who may have limited experience with grant applications and are seeking entry level support to deliver high quality arts projects 
  • Develop ways to engage new participants in arts and culture 
  • Support our artists and creative industries to explore new platforms 
  • Provide opportunities for diverse communities to develop and promote their culture and connect to the wider Gold Coast community. 

We encourage applications from artists, cultural workers and arts organisations that identify as: 

  • First Nations Peoples
  • People with disability
  • Older People (55 years+)
  • Young people (18-24 years)
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

ASSESSMENT

It is important to note:

  • Assessment of Small Grants submissions are undertaken in batches. 
  • It is peer-assessed by an external independent Arts Development Fund Committee 
  • It is not a quick response grant.  

 

Applications accepted from  

Submission cutoff date 

Notification date  

Projects start date  

Project completion date 

Round 1 

19 September 2025 

16 November 2025 

22 December 2025 

13 February 2026 

13 February 2027  

Round 2  

only if funds are not exhausted in Round 1.  

17 November 2025 

16 March 2026 

25 May 2026 

20 June 2026 

20 June 2027 

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA  

You must consider and respond to the assessment criteria in your application and clearly articulate the artistic rationale, and objectives of the project and your capacity to deliver.  

All criteria have an equal weighting.  

All eligible applications will be assessed against the following assessment criteria: 

  • Capacity – demonstrate your capacity to achieve the activities of your program of activity  
  • Merit – demonstrate the need and quality of your artistic program of activity  
  • Reach – demonstrate the expected reach of your program of activity  
  • Benefit – demonstrate the impact of your program of activity to the applicant, the sector, or the community. 

ELIGIBILITY

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible to apply, your application must:

  • Be complete and filled out in full including compulsory support material (the application form will step you through what is required - incomplete applications will not be assessed)
  • Provide all support materials at the time of submission
  • Have a balanced budget
  • Have a minimum of 3 letters of support
  • Not be for a project that has started - this is the date when you officially commit to spending money on the items listed in your project budget, not when you plan to begin project activities
  • Not be for a project that has finished
  • Not have had a City of Gold Coast grant for the same project
  • Not be for a project that may negatively affect the City of Gold Coast's reputation
  • Not be seeking funds for reimbursement.

APPLICANTS - WHO CAN APPLY?

To be eligible to apply, you as the applicant must:

  • Be a Gold Coast - you must have a Gold Coast residential address (Applicants who are not residents on the Gold Coast must provide evidence of local community benefit in the application and outline significant outcomes to the Gold Coast)
  • Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
  • Be 18 years or older
  • Have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN) in the name of the applicant
  • Have public liability insurance
  • Be a practicing arts professional or engage practicing artists or arts professionals
  • Hold appropriate qualifications, certification, and training if seeking funds to deliver arts and cultural projects involving vulnerable communities including First Nations peoples, people with disability, young people (12-24 years), children (0-11 years), or other vulnerable groups
  • Hold appropriate qualifications/ certification to undertake specialised arts and cultural projects, such as those involving therapeutic arts practices, in a safe, inclusive, and culturally competent manner.

APPLICANTS - WHO CAN NOT APPLY?

To be eligible to apply, you as the applicant must:

  • Not have received an Arts Development Fund Arts Projects* grant the previous year (applicants cannot receive consecutive year funding) - *Excluding Professional Development grants
  • Not have an outstanding City of Gold Coast project or funding acquittal
  • Not be an employee of City of Gold Coast
  • Not be a City of Gold Coast contractor seeking funds for activities that are directly related to your contract with the City of Gold Coast
  • Not be a City of Gold Coast volunteer seeking funds for activities that are directly related to your volunteer role with the City of Gold Coast
  • Not be a current City of Gold Coast Arts Development Program participant seeking funds for activities that are related to your participation
  • Not be a government or semi-government entity including City of Gold Coast, council-controlled entities
  • Not be an employee of a government or semi-government entity including City of Gold Coast and council-controlled entities seeking funding relating to your employment
  • Not be a private or public educational institution (including Parent and Citizen Associations or similar).

If you, the applicant do not meet the above submission requirements your application will not progress to Committee assessment.

PROJECTS - ACTIVITIES THAT CAN BE APPLIED FOR

To be eligible to apply, the activities in your project must:

  • Deliver clearly defined arts and cultural outcomes
  • Be seeking funding for projects that demonstrate significant outcomes on the Gold Coast and/or benefits for the Gold Coast community
  • Be seeking funds for equipment hire directly related to the delivery of the project
  • Be seeking funds for consumable materials directly related to the delivery of the project
  • Pay artists and arts workers industry rates (see meaa.org, artslaw.com.au, visualarts.net.au, asauthors.org)
  • If seeking funds for urban art (murals) on private property, follow the City's Public Art Policy, comply with the City's Graffiti Management Policy and provide confirmation of consent from the property owner as required support material when you submit your application. BEFORE starting your application for urban art (murals), it is highly recommended that you contact the City's public art team.

PROJECTS - ACTIVITIES THAT CAN NOT BE APPLIED FOR

To be eligible to apply, the activities in your project must:

  • Not be seeking funds for activities that are part of a certificate, degree or other study/training at university, government, or private institutions (including online or fee-for-service programs)
  • Not be seeking funds for exclusive school-based arts activities (excludes external venue hire)
  • Not be seeking funds for amateur arts activities
  • Not be seeking funds for fundraising activities or donations
  • Not be seeking funds for the purchase of capital items including, but not limited to, equipment, musical instruments, computers, buildings or vehicles
  • Not be seeking funds towards business start-up costs
  • Not be seeking funds for agents’ fees or management fees for artists
  • Not be seeking funds for administrative and other organisational costs not directly associated with the project
  • Not be seeking funds for the repayment of debt or loans
  • Not be seeking funds towards online or fee-for-service opportunities including those delivered by private and government institutions
  • Not be seeking funds for the delivery of competitions, awards, prizes or eisteddfods
  • Not be a political participant seeking funds for activities that are directly related to your current political participation
  • Not be a political advocate seeking funds for activities that are directly related to your current advocacy
  • Not include the of public art including urban art (murals) on Council assets and infrastructure (see the City's Public Art Policy).

SMARTYGRANTS INFORMATION

NAVIGATING (MOVING THROUGH) THE APPLICATION FORM

You may begin anywhere in this application form. Please ensure you save as you go.

If you need more help using this form, download the Help Guide for Applicants or check out Applicant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

On every screen (page of the form) you will find a Form Navigation contents box, this links directly to every page of the application. Click the link to jump directly to the page you want.

You can also click 'next page' or 'previous page' on the top or bottom of each page to move forward or backward through the application.

SAVING YOUR DRAFT APPLICATION

If you wish to leave a partially completed application, press 'save and close' and log out. When you log back in and click on the 'My Submissions' link at the top of the screen, you will find a list of any applications you have started or submitted. You can reopen your draft application and start where you left off.

You can also download any application, whether draft or completed, as a PDF. Click on the 'Download PDF' button located at the bottom of the last page of the application form.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

You will find a Review and Submit button at the bottom of the Navigation Panel. You need to review your application before you can submit it.

Once you have reviewed your application you can submit it by clicking on 'Submit' at the top or bottom of the screen or on the navigation panel. You will not be able to submit your application until all the compulsory questions are completed and there are no validation errors.

Once you have submitted your application, no further editing or uploading of support materials is possible.

When you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your submitted application attached. This will be sent to the email you used to register.

If you do not receive a confirmation of submission email, then you should presume that your submission has NOT been submitted.

Hint: also check the email hasn't landed in your spam or junk email folder.

ATTACHMENTS AND SUPPORT DOCUMENTS

You may need to upload/submit attachments to support your application. This is very simple but requires you to have the documents saved on your computer, or on a storage device.

You need to allow enough time for each file to upload before trying to attach another file. Files can be up to 25MB each; however, we do recommend trying to keep files to a maximum of 5MB the larger the file, the longer the upload time.

COMPLETING AN APPLICATION IN A GROUP/TEAM

Several people can work on an application using the same log in detail as long as only one person is working at a time. Ensure you save as you go.

SPELL CHECK

Most internet browsers (including Firefox v2.0 and above; Safari; and Google Chrome) have spell checking facilities built in you can switch this function on or off by adjusting your browser settings.

YOUR APPLICATION IS NOT SAVED UNTIL YOU CLICK ON THE SAVE BUTTON. MAKE SURE YOU SAVE YOUR WORK REGULARLY. 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ABN (Australian Business Number) 

A unique identifier issued to businesses by the Australian Taxation Office. Required for applicants. 

Aboriginal Peoples 

The many distinct nations and language groups across mainland Australia. 

Acquittal 

A formal process required after project completion detailing how funds were used and outcomes achieved. 

Acquittal Report 

A mandatory post-project report detailing how grant funds were used and the outcomes achieved. 

Applicant 

The individual or organisation submitting the grant application. 

Arts and Cultural Experts  

An individual with demonstrated expertise, experience, and leadership in the arts or cultural sector, whose contributions are acknowledged by peers, institutions, or government through roles such as advisory positions, academic appointments, awards, or inclusion in sector-wide initiatives. 

Arts and Cultural Peak Body 

A recognised representative organisation that advocates for, supports, and advances the interests of a specific arts or cultural sector at a national or regional level.

Arts Development Program  

Initiatives delivered by the City of Gold Coast’s Arts and Culture Unit. 

Assessment Criteria 

The four key areas used to evaluate applications: Capacity, Merit, Reach, and Benefit. 

Batch Assessment 

Applications are reviewed in groups (batches) with set submission and notification dates. 

Capital Items 

Assets such as equipment, musical instruments, computers, buildings, or vehicles that have long-term value. Purchase of capital items is ineligible for grant funding. 

City of Gold Coast 

The local government authority responsible for administering the Arts Development Fund and overseeing cultural initiatives in the Gold Coast region. 

City Vision 

Strategic goals and values outlined by the City of Gold Coast to guide community development. 

Contractor 

A person or business contracted by the City of Gold Coast to provide services. 

Council-Controlled Entities 

Organisations that are owned or operated by the City of Gold Coast. These entities are not eligible to apply for funding under this grant program. 

Creative Conversations 

Monthly events hosted by the City to support and connect local creatives. 

Eligible Activities 

Project components that can be funded, such as artist fees, equipment hire, and materials. 

Employee 

An individual employed by the City of Gold Coast or related government entities.   

Fee-for-service 

Refers to training or professional development opportunities that are commercially provided by private or government institutions, where participants pay a fee to access the service and the application process does not have a criteria or selection beyond payment.  

First Nations Peoples 

People who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander — the original people of Australia with deep cultural and spiritual connections to the land. This term acknowledges their unique cultures, histories, and ongoing connection to Country, as well as their rights to self-determination. 

Government Entity 

A department or agency that is part of the federal, state, or local government. These entities are excluded from applying for Small Grants. 

Graffiti Management Policy 

City policy regulating urban art to prevent vandalism and ensure community standards. 

Industry Rates 

Standard payment rates for artists and arts workers, as defined by professional bodies like MEAA or Arts Law. 

Ineligible Activities 

Project components that cannot be funded, such as capital purchases, fundraising, or political advocacy. 

Installation 

The process of placing or setting up artworks, especially public or urban art. Installations on Council assets or infrastructure are not eligible under this grant. 

Letters of Support 

Written endorsements from individuals or organisations that validate the project’s value and feasibility. 

LGBTQIA+  

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, along with the '+' representing all other gender, sexuality, and bodily diverse identities. 

Major Round grants 

A funding stream within the Arts Development Fund offering up to $15,000 for arts and culture-based activity. 

Peer-assessed 

Evaluated by an independent committee of arts professionals, not City staff. 

People with Disability 

Individuals who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory conditions which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. (As per United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities). 

Professional Development grants 

A funding stream within the Arts Development Fund offering up to $2,000 for professional development opportunities. 

Professional Pathways 

Opportunities that help artists advance their careers or professional development. 

Public Art Policy 

Guidelines governing the creation and installation of public art in the City of Gold Coast. 

Public Liability Insurance 

Insurance that covers legal costs and compensation if someone is injured or property is damaged during your project. 

Semi-Government Entity 

Organisations partially funded or operated by government bodies, including the City of Gold Coast. These are not eligible for grant funding. 

Small Grants 

A funding stream within the Arts Development Fund offering up to $5,000 for smaller-scale arts and culture projects. 

SmartyGrants 

The online platform used to submit and manage grant applications. 

Support Material 

Documents required to accompany the application, such as letters of support, budgets, and project plans. 

Therapeutic arts practices  

The use of creative activities—such as visual arts, music, dance, drama, or writing—to support emotional wellbeing, personal growth, and healing. These practices are guided by trained professionals and can be used in community, health, or social care settings to help individuals express themselves, build confidence, and process experiences. 

Torres Strait Islander Peoples  

The Indigenous peoples of the Torres Strait Islands, located between northern Queensland and Papua New Guinea. 

Urban Art 

Public-facing visual art projects like murals, which must comply with specific City policies.  

Vulnerable Community Members 

People who might need extra support because of things like low income, poor health, being alone, or facing discrimination.