The National Poet Laureate will receive an honorarium of $80,000 per annum for the three-year term, plus travel support. The National Library of Australia (NLA) will support the Laureate, providing workspace, access to archival resources, and collaboration on public programming.

Support includes:

• honorarium: $80,000 per annum (three years)
• travel support: Funding to cover essential travel costs associated with program participation, including transport, accommodation, and reasonable expenses to enable full engagement in activities
• workspace, and administrative and programming support coordinated by Creative Australia
• access to NLA archival resources where appropriate
• event management and technical support for launch and selected public programs
• media training and support with media engagements.

The Laureate’s time commitment will be shaped collaboratively and with flexibility, recognising that nominees may have ongoing employment, creative practice or caring responsibilities. 

Your nomination must comply with the following protocols where relevant. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of funding for the nominee. 

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

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

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

The successful nominee will be required to comply with Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. More information is available here. 

Compliance with Work Health and Safety and Anti-discrimination laws

The successful nominee will be required to comply with all relevant State, Territory and Commonwealth work health and safety and anti-discrimination legislation. Further information is available from Safe Work Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

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. 

Nominees must be:

• Australian citizens or permanent residents

• primarily resident in Australia for the period of the Laureateship

• aged 18 years and over

• published poets with no fewer than three professionally published poetry books.

Nominees are not eligible if they:

• are a group or organisation
• have an overdue report for another Creative Australia grant
• owe money to Creative Australia
• do not include the required support material in their nomination.

Please note:

• nominees must be put forward by someone outside their immediate family
• nominations by family members are not permitted
• self-nominations: by invitation only.

Nomination

Eligible poets may be nominated for the role of Inaugural Australian Poet Laureate. Each nomination must be seconded to be considered valid.

Panel Invited Nomination

During the collegial interview period, the industry advisor panel may invite eligible poets to submit a self-nomination.

Selection Process

Stage One: Nomination 

Nominate an eligible poet addressing eligibility, literary practice, contribution, evidence of published work, and supporting material. A panel of industry advisors will review all nominations using the stated assessment criteria and prepare a shortlist to invite to stage two.

Stage Two: Conversational Interviews 

Shortlisted nominees will be invited to a collegial interview with the industry advisor panel and asked to prepare a short Stage Two submission outlining their vision for the Laureateship. To support this work, each shortlisted nominee will receive a $1,500 fee. A core set of interview questions will be asked of all shortlisted nominees to ensure consistency. 

Following the interviews and review of the submitted material, the industry advisor panel will make recommendations to Creative Australia via the Writing Australia Council.

The same industry advisor panel will assess both Stage One and Stage Two to maintain consistency and fairness across the process.

Activities associated with the Laureateship will be shaped around the nominee’s strengths, availability and access needs, with flexibility to accommodate employment and caring responsibilities.

Quality:

• demonstrated excellence with a sustained record of high achievement, quality, and innovation
• literary merit with artistic and cultural significance, depth, craft, originality, and contribution to Australian literature
• innovation, ambition or experimentation demonstrated as a part of the nominee’s practice
• awareness of the diversity, history, and contemporary practice of poetry in Australia.

Impact:

• evidence of meaningful engagement with readers, communities, peers or the broader public, at a scale appropriate to the nominee’s practice
• demonstrated capacity to connect with audiences and support an inclusive and accessible poetry sector
• evidence of experience engaging with diverse communities as appropriate to the nominee’s practice.

Nominations will be assessed by a panel of industry advisors against the published criteria. The panel will provide recommendations based on merit and alignment with the program objectives and in reference to the assessment criteria.

The Writing Australia Director will, in consultation with industry advisors, make a recommendation for endorsement to the Writing Australia Council, with the Creative Australia Executive accountable for the final decision.

Nomination

Nominations must be submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System. If you are registering for the first time, please allow up to two business days for processing.

The Nomination form will ask you to provide the following:

• your full name
• contact details for the person you are nominating. These details will be used only in the event of this person being invited to interview for the position of Laureate
• confirmation that you have the nominee’s permission to provide these details, and that the nominee is willing and able to travel nationally (and internationally where appropriate) and participate in public programs, media, and community engagements
• about your nomination: provide your reasons for nominating this person. Keep in mind the criterion and information published in these guidelines
• support material: upload the nominee’s CV, examples of published work, statements of practice or contribution, and optional references or letters of support.

You must include the following support material for your application to be assessed by the Industry Advisor Panel. This will help the Advisors understand the nominee’s practice and the viability and impact of your nomination. You may upload files in accepted formats (Word, PDF).

• examples of published work – up to twenty pages
• statements of practice or contribution – up to two pages
• references or letters of support – up to ten pages
• CV or biography – up to two pages.

Accessible formats and alternative submission methods are available on request.

Creative Australia is committed to ensuring fair and equitable access. Nominators requiring support to prepare or submit a nomination may contact the program team for assistance.