Funding opportunities available to boost First Nations languages and arts

Rhiannon Clarke Published February 5, 2024 at 4.45pm (AWST)

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The Indigenous Languages and Arts latest competitive grant opportunity are open (Image: sourced from regional arts NWS)

Applications are currently being accepted for the most recent competitive grant opportunity offered through the Indigenous Languages and Arts (ILA) program, which is supported by the federal government.

The program allocates around $30 million annually to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups in expressing, preserving, and sustaining their cultures through language and artistic endeavours.

Funding is accessible to community-led organisations that meet the program's guidelines and eligibility criteria, which can be found on GrantConnect.

In the previous round, the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation in the Kimberley region of Western Australia was among the recipients.

They were awarded a grant to aid in the creation of a range of digital and physical learning resources, including dictionaries, language lessons, videos, and multimedia storybooks.

These resources are designed to preserve, revitalise, and inspire intergenerational learning of the cultural knowledge associated with local languages.

The ILA program is in line with the Australian Government's National Cultural Policy, Revive, which prioritises First Nations by acknowledging and respecting the significant role of First Nations stories in Australia's arts and culture.

The ILA program provides grant funding to community-led organisations for:

Open competitive grant opportunity: The open competitive grant opportunity is designed to support one-off Indigenous languages and arts projects. There is a cap on the amount of funding available and the duration of the project.

Targeted competitive grant opportunity: The targeted competitive grant opportunity is by invitation only from the ILA program and is designed to assist community-led organisations such as the network of 24 Indigenous Language Centres with annual multi-year operational funding.

To obtain further information and submit an application, please visit the Indigenous Languages and Arts program page on the Office for the Arts website.

The deadline for applications is March 12, 2024.