Arts organisations - multi-year 2024-27

*National Performing Arts Partnership Framework tripartite agreement with Terrapin Puppet Theatre Ltd., Arts Tasmania, and the Australia Council for the Arts (representing the Australian Government).

The peers discussed the overall quality of the applications to this highly competitive round and made the following comments:

• All parts of an application, including the budget and attachments, should be reviewed, and approved by the organisation’s board or management committee before they are submitted for assessment.
• Applicants were reminded to use plain language for the peer assessors.

• In the context of a highly competitive funding round, the stronger applications included:
  • a refined and direct outline of the organisation’s purpose, vision, and mission
  • a demonstrated understanding of where the organisation sits in its area of practice or region, and the role that it plays as a leader in the Tasmanian arts ecology – including how its activities align with the Tasmanian Government’s Cultural and Creative Industries Recovery Strategy: 2020 and Beyond
  • a well-considered and appropriately ambitious strategic direction (supported by realistic and achievable KPIs)
  • evidence of a well-established and stable organisational structure, supported by dynamic, responsive and contemporary models of operation (that clearly spoke to the organisation’s capacity to service the requirements that come with multi-year funding)
  • evidence of engaged and active governance and leadership teams (supported by an up-to-date organisational chart that clarifies roles, responsibilities, and areas of expertise and timely succession plans for all key roles to demonstrate longer term planning
  • information around the activities to be delivered across the next four years including specific detail about the first two years (to show that they clearly aligned with the level of funding requested) as well as detail around how they were determined (e.g., an outline of the curatorial processes and policies in place for programming)
  • a clear outline of the possible benefits of the activities, and who would benefit (artists, audiences and/or the broader community)
  • a demonstrated understanding of how the organisation’s activities fit in to supporting broader creative and professional pathways for Tasmanian creatives (e.g., which parts of the development chain the organisation engages with or supports)
  • evidence of plans to regularly review and evaluate activities to ensure that they are responsive, relevant and deliver on identified objectives
  • confirmed partnerships and relationships that are strategic and sustainable in nature (supported by information around how and why key partners or collaborators were chosen, especially when working nationally or internationally)
  • evidence of strong, active, and relevant networks – local, national and/or international
  • realistic and achievable budgets (in line with the trajectories shown in supplied audited financials) which accurately represent all confirmed and unconfirmed cash income for the period of activity, as well all expected in-kind contributions
  • clear and proactive plans for securing income from a diverse range of sources (particularly philanthropic and corporate support), and contingency plans outlining other options if identified sources are not realised
  • detailed breakdowns of all wages and fees including proper payments for artists and employees in line with industry rates (including oncosts like superannuation)
  • artistic support material that showed a consistent capacity to identify, support and deliver quality works in the relevant area of practice.

Arts Tasmania carefully manages actual and perceived conflicts of interest for both staff members and peers involved in the assessment process.

For more information on the management of conflicts of interest, please visit how decisions are made.