To be considered eligible, the organisation must primarily be involved in the production of physical books. Commercial and not-for-profit organisations are eligible. The organisation must: 

• be majority Australian owned and controlled and be physically located in Australia
• have been in operation in Australia for at least three financial years prior to application
• have published in the last year at least six trade titles, by a minimum of four unique living Australian authors
• publish fiction, poetry and non-fiction, including children’s books, for the trade through bookshops
• publish books by individuals other than the organisation’s principals, board members or stakeholders
• be generating revenue from their publishing operations
• have a proven track record of paying advances and royalties to authors and illustrators
• be primarily engaged with and generate at least 51% of operating revenues from the publication of books
• demonstrate editorial independence, based on their publishing program.

University presses are eligible to apply. We accept different business units, departments, divisions or trading names (listed under the one parent entity ABN) as separate entities. 

Books published by eligible publishers must: 

• be at least 50 pages in length for a printed book, except for children’s books
• be a new title with more than 50% original content
• not be wholly or substantially created by generative AI technologies. Applicants must clearly identify where generative AI has been used to assist the creation or publication of the work. 

Books that are published in multiple formats are considered one title. 

Who can’t apply 

• Government departments, state entities or publishing operations which are part of a government funded cultural institution, for example a major art gallery or library
• Publishers which predominantly publish non-fiction that is how-to, self-help, education, craft, cookery and religious or spiritual books
• Publishers primarily involved in the production of eBooks
• Publishers which do not pay authors an advance or standard royalty rates
• Publishers which do not distribute books through trade outlets
• Publishers for which most operations are fee-based services
• Publishers producing verbatim audio book editions of Australian print titles
• Book distributors. 

You cannot apply if: 

• you have already applied to this program in this closing date
• you have already applied to an Arts Projects grant category for the same activity
• you have an overdue grant report to Creative Australia
• you owe money to Creative Australia. 

Publishers receiving Creative Australia Multi-Year funding are not eligible to apply for this fund.  

What can be applied for 

Eligible publishers may apply for funding to co-invest in the operations, administration and in specific business development activities to enhance the publisher’s ability to publish and promote Australian authors. You may choose which budget lines you are seeking to allocate Writing Australia investment in the budget to be included with support material. 

You should apply for funding proportionate to the expenses demonstrated in your budget. Writing Australia may vary the amount invested based on available funds and consideration of expenses proportionate to the publishing program.  

Eligible expenses for core funding include all normal operating expenses, including but not limited to: 

• administration and editorial fees
• salaries for new or existing employees
• fees for writers and illustrators or persons under contract
• printing, distribution and shipping costs
• marketing and promotional costs
• access costs and support for writers, illustrators or employees with disability.

Access costs are legitimate expenses and may be included in your application. We encourage applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Budgets may include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. presentation or delivery activities using Auslan, translation to other languages, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, and materials in other formats). 

If you are working with d/Deaf people or people with disability in your application, you may apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer or support worker assistance. Please contact Artists Services to discuss your specific needs. 

Your application must comply with the following protocols if relevant to your publishing program. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding. 

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts 

All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here. 

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework 

All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. 

Assessment Process 

Applications to this initiative will be assessed by industry advisors with relevant experience. Final decisions will be made by Writing Australia based on this advice.   

For more information on how we assess applications please visit our Assessment page.    

Assessment Criteria 

After eligibility has been met, applications will be assessed by a panel of industry advisors against the following three criteria. 

Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what industry advisors may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed. 

1. Viability 

Advisors will assess the viability of the proposed activities; with consideration to planning, track record, pathways to market and promotional plans. They may consider: 

• the calibre and track record of your organisation, partners, and collaborators
• realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including contingency and relevant plans for activities involving marketing, publicity and touring
• appropriate payments to writers, illustrators, contributors, freelance professionals, or cultural consultants.

2.  Impact 

Advisors will assess the expected impact or outcome of the proposed activities on the organisation, the literature sector, the publisher’s target audience and/or writers and readers more broadly. 

They may consider: 

• potential to discover and develop new markets, readers or meet existing market demand 
• proposed outcome/s of the books or program
• proposed outcome/s for the writers, illustrators and readers.

3.  Alignment 

Advisors will assess the extent to which the proposed activities align to stated priorities and/or aims of the fund.  

They may consider: 

• evidence of publishing track record including innovation and success in acquisition, promotion, rights sales and editorial support for Australian authors,
• the relevance of the publishing program to contemporary Australia, or
• how this investment will lead to greater stability for the publisher and creators. 

Support material 

Support material will assist advisors in assessing applications against the criteria. This information will also contribute to future improvements to the investment program. All application and support material is confidential and will not be identified in reports or evaluations, unless specific permission is sought and granted. 

Support material should include: 

• annual publishing program or catalogue of upcoming new titles for the funding period (1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027)
• publishing catalogue from the previous year
• two years of past audited financial statements from any years beginning 2021 to now, or financial years 2020/21 to now, listing total revenue and payments to authors.
• a projected budget using the template provided in the application form, which lists the expenses for activities in the funding period. Please break this down into categories, for example: business as usual operating costs; printing, shipping and distribution, marketing and publicity, or engaging freelance professionals
• a proposed marketing plan for new titles for the funding period
• nominated authors to receive the bonus author payment
• a minimum of two and up to three letters of support. These can be from authors published prior to the funding period; industry peers including literary agents, international publishers and partners. 

Applications must be submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System.  

If you are registering to use the System for the first time, make sure you register well before the closing date. It can take up to two business days to process your registration. 

Please note to apply you must be registered in our application management system a minimum of two business days prior to the closing date. 

Example application questions: 

• a brief description of the publisher
• information about your organisation’s publishing track record and future program
• an outline of your publishing program and what you want to do
• a timeline for your program
• a description of the anticipated outcome/s your publishing program delivers
• supporting material as relevant to your application, including examples of your publishing history, a publishing catalogue or program for the funding period, a proposed budget for activities in the funding period, audited financial statements showing revenue and evidence of payments to authors, nominated authors to receive the bonus author payment, and letters of support. 

Additional material must be submitted to support your application. We will review support material to understand your organisation and viability/impact/alignment of your proposal. Do not assume that those who are reading your submission, know your publishing program and consider this when deciding what should be included. 

We strongly recommend you curate your support material to be relevant, targeted and easily accessible.  

You can submit URLs, PDFs, Word or Excel documents that is relevant to your submission.  

Creative Australia will not view any URLs that require log in or to sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to applications or documents that require users to log in or pay for access.  

If you are linking to sites or files that are private or password protected, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.  

You can provide up to 3 URLs and 3 file uploads.  

You can include a maximum of:  

• 10 images, and/or 
• 15 pages of written material (for example, letters of support, financial statements, and marketing plans).  

If you provide material that exceeds these limits it may not be reviewed as a part of the assessment process.  

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:  

• images (JPEG, PowerPoint) 
• written material (Word, PDF).  

We do not accept support material submitted via post. Support material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact writing@creative.gov.au.  

Learn more about support material via the Creative Australia website. 

1. Information about your organisation and/or authors and illustrators 

This could include background information on your organisation or authors and illustrators on a website, publishing catalogues, rights catalogues, or media clippings. You may include evidence of the confirmed acquisitions or scheduled titles. Publishing catalogues should demonstrate evidence of publishing at least six trade titles, by a minimum of four unique living Australian authors, in the last year. 

Please include the authors to be published within the funding period that you nominate to receive the 10% bonus author payment.  

2. Letters of Support  

Authors, illustrators or contributors can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the publisher has worked with authors, illustrators or contributors in past activity, the editorial support the publisher offers, the promotional support the publisher offers, or how the publishing program will benefit the letter writer, other writers, literature sector professionals, booksellers or the broader literary community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key partners, or evidence of consultation. 

You can include no less than two letters of support and up to three letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page. 

3. Projected budget 

A budget of proposed activities and expenses. We will ask you to describe how you will spend the Writing Australia investment. Please break this down into categories, for example: business as usual operating costs; printing, shipping and distribution, marketing and publicity, or engaging freelance professionals. Please upload to your application as an Excel spreadsheet using the template provided in the application form. 

4. Audited accounts 

Please upload your audited accounts from two years before the funding period or equivalent. These accounts should demonstrate revenue generated by book sales and evidence of payment to authors including advances and royalties. 

If you cannot supply these documents via URLs, you may upload to your application as an Excel spreadsheet, Word document or PDF. 

5. Marketing Plan  

Please provide a high-level Marketing Plan outlining the key selling points for your program and the strategies for marketing and publicity. The purpose of this document is to explain how you will effectively promote authors and titles published in the funding period. The document should not exceed one-two pages.