New investment for Playing Australia

The Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts has announced an additional $5 million will be provided to the Australia Council for the Playing Australia Regional Recovery Investment 2021.

Updated closing dates and guidelines

Playing Australia is open to applications for funding with some adjustments to the guidelines accounting for COVID-19 conditions.

The closing dates for the rest of 2021 are:

+ Tuesday 1 June 2021, 3pm AEST – for projects starting after 1 September 2021
+ Tuesday 12 October 2021, 3pm AEST – for projects starting after 1 January 2022.

The adjustments to the guidelines (for the closing dates above) account for COVID-19 conditions including:

+ current extenuating circumstances for producers and presenters, allowing for flexibility within tours including potential for state border closures and varying conditions between states and regions
+ additional costs which may be associated with COVIDSafe delivery of touring. These may be costs of the presenter or costs of the touring party and may include: additional cleaning or staffing costs within venues; touring costs for understudies or additional crew in the touring party; or costs for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or other safety equipment.
+ ongoing financial implications of COVID-19.

The changes also allow for the following which are not normally eligible costs under Playing Australia:

+ inter-state and/or intra-state touring costs, including freight, transport, accommodation and travel allowances
+ a contribution towards tour coordination expenses
+ costs associated with re-mounting a work, to be used to demonstrably reduce the performance fee for a presenter or venue.