Currently 2 active paid grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in Australia, across AI, arts, film, journalism, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
Subscribe: RSS feed · Calendar (.ics)
Believers funds the people, projects and programs creating the conditions for young people's creativity to flourish at scale. Creativity is meant in the broadest sense: artists are creative, but so are scientists, debaters, community builders and dancers, and a project can be anything from a summer camp to a robotics competition to a co-working holiday house for artists. Blackbird looks for inventive, dynamic experiments that encourage young people to be curious, to explore, to be lifelong learners, and to build community and become high-agency people, backing projects that are 0-1 (just starting) or 1-10 (scaling or iterating) rather than established groups. Examples: a neighbourhood community science lab, a hacker house, a hardware garage makerspace, a travelling STEM roadshow, or an after-school arts or coding club. ELIGIBILITY (no flexibility): individuals, groups or organisations established in Australia and/or New Zealand; projects taking place in AU/NZ; projects completed within 12 months; projects whose core focus is primarily creative outcomes; and organisations with less than AUD 1.5M in revenue. WHEN TO APPLY: Believers is open year-round, with EOIs and applications reviewed and progressed on a rolling basis; the program closes when all funds are disbursed or at the end of the FY27 period (30 June 2027), whichever comes first. Expressions of interest for Believers Fund III open on 30 June 2026.
Queer Screen's Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney is one of the largest queer film festivals in the world. Submissions reopened in July 2026 via FilmFreeway; the final deadline is historically mid-October (around 15 October 2026, unconfirmed). Audience awards; modest submission fees.