Currently 4 active writing and translation grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in Australia. 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.
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Stories Matter is a new NSW literary fellowship program from Create NSW, administered by Writing NSW, awarding ten fellowships of AUD 50,000 each to support NSW-based writers to focus on a major new work over a 12-month period. The 2026 round funds four emerging, three mid-career, and three established writers working across prose fiction, poetry, illustration, graphic novels, and playwriting. ELIGIBILITY: writers must be based in New South Wales; open to writers at any career stage within the three tiers (not open to applicants outside NSW). No application fee. DEADLINE: 27 July 2026, 2:00pm AEST. Apply via the Create NSW grants portal.
The Next Chapter is The Wheeler Centre's flagship writing program, designed to elevate Australian stories that are underrepresented and to nurture a new wave of writers to tell them. Each fellow receives a AUD $15,000 stipend and is paired with a handpicked mentor for a twelve-month period to progress a major writing project. Fellows also receive a residency at Varuna, The National Writers' House; an end-of-year publishing intensive at The Wheeler Centre; and meaningful opportunities to connect with peers, agents, publishers, and readers. One fellowship place is dedicated specifically to a poet: The Malcolm Robertson Fellowship. 2027 judges: Melissa Lucashenko, Micaela Sahhar, Cher Tan, and Melanie Saward. ELIGIBILITY: Australian writers. No specific genre restrictions stated; the program focuses on stories that are not currently being told and voices that are underrepresented. TIMELINE: submissions open 2 June 2026; submissions close 31 July 2026 (5pm); 2027 Next Chapter Fellows announced 10 November 2026. Questions: thenextchapter@wheelercentre.com. Apply at https://www.wheelercentre.com/the-next-chapter.
The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund's Fellowship for Non-Fiction Writing awards AUD 80,000 to one mid-career or established Australian author to research and write a substantial new work of literary non-fiction. Eligible forms include memoir, biography, history, criticism, arts and science writing, and environmental and political writing. ELIGIBILITY: mid-career or established Australian authors with a demonstrated publication record and publisher interest in the proposed work; Australian residents only. APPLICATIONS open 20 April 2026 and close 17 August 2026, 1:00pm AEST. Apply via the Cultural Fund fellowship page.
The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund's Author Fellowship awards AUD 80,000 to one established Australian author to create a significant new work for publication. ELIGIBILITY: established Australian authors with critical acclaim and confirmed publisher interest in the proposed work; Australian residents only. This is a separate fellowship from the Cultural Fund's Fellowship for Non-Fiction Writing, though administered on the same cycle. APPLICATIONS close 17 August 2026, 1:00pm AEST. Apply via the Cultural Fund fellowship page.