Situated on Ngunnawal-Ngambri country in the heart of the nation’s capital, and on the campus of Australia’s foremost research university, the School of Music at ANU has a proud and rich history. For nearly 50 years the school has played a leading role in the cultural life of Canberra and the surrounding region.

ANU is home to the Yil Lull First Nations Recording Studio, which offers free recording and music assistance to First Nations musicians from across Australia. The studio is named after the song Yil Lull (‘To Sing’) by legendary First Nations musician Joe Geia, to honour his standing in the industry, and is used with his permission.

The Yil Lull First Nations Recording Studio was established in 2021, the studio is led by Senior Technical Officer, Torres Strait Islander musician Will Kepa. Will’s vision for the studio is to be “a place for us, our mob, to come and meet; to create and to share; to expand on our stories; to keep our culture alive and our music alive; and to just keep that fire burning”.

This new initiative is part of Creative Australia’s First Nations First industry development programs. The programs have been developed in response to extensive community consultation on priorities and needs of the sector in response to Pillar 1, First Nations First – Revive, the Australian Government’s shared vision for Australia: a place for every story and a story for every place.  These new initiatives aim to elevate existing programs and deliver new funding that build on a 50-year legacy of First Nations leadership and investment at Creative Australia.

To apply log in here to our Application Management System (AMS) if you have an account. You can create an account if you do not already have one.

Once you have logged in, follow the next steps:

1. select ‘Apply for a Grant’ from the left panel menu
2. from the list of opportunities select ‘Space to Create’
3. complete the fields and select answers with dropdown menus
4. upload any necessary support material
5. select ‘Save’ once complete
6. if you are not ready to submit your application, you can return to it through ‘Your Draft Applications’ in the left panel menu at a later date
7. otherwise select ‘Submit’.

Who can apply?

This program is open to:

• First Nations artists, musicians, composers, producers, audio engineers, and music industry workers.
• Applicants over 18 years of age.
• Australian citizens or permanent residents.

Please note:

• You can only submit one application per year for Space to Create: Music Residency round.

Who cannot apply?

You cannot apply for this grant if:

• You are not an Australian First Nations practising artists or arts professional.
• You are a group or organisation.
• You are based outside Australia.
• You have an overdue grant report.
• You owe money to Creative Australia.
• You are an artist manager or agent.

Residency time and support can be used for many types of projects, including:

• Developing an album or EP.
• Working with a producer.
• Cross-disciplinary projects (music with film, theatre, dance, etc.).
• Writing music for film, television, or theatre.
• Recording, mixing, mastering, or production work.
• Expanding your vocal or instrumental practice.
• Exploring cross-genre or experimental projects.
• Strengthening industry knowledge and career planning.

The application form is your chance to tell us about yourself and your ideas.

We’ll ask you to:

• Provide a brief description of your artistic and/or professional practice.
• Describe how Space to Create will enhance your artistic practice.
• Describe how Space to Create will contribute to your professional development.
• Supporting material as relevant to your project, (see support material section).

Your application must comply with the following protocols. 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

  If your application involves working with other First Nations artists, arts and culture workers, communities, or subject matter you must adhere to these Protocols, and provide evidence of this in your application and support material.  More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

How applications will be assessed

A First Nations Industry Advisory Panel will review applications against three key areas:

1. Quality
   • Strength of your vision and ideas.
   • Creative thinking and skills.
   • Cultural expression in your work.
   • Quality of past work.
2. Impact
   • How the residency will support your artistic growth.
   • The importance of the project to your practice.
   • Effective use of residency resources.
   • Potential to develop new skills and networks.
3. Viability
   • Why this is the right time for you to participate.
   • Evidence of cultural protocols, where relevant.

You should submit support material with your application. The Industry Advisory Panel may review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your activity and arts practice.

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related 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 Joseph Clarke, Project Manager, First Nations Arts and Culture.

There are three types of support material you may submit:

• artistic support material
• biographies and CVs
• letters of support

Artistic support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work.

Types of support material we accept

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).

You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your project activity. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.

These URLs can include a total of:

• 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
• 10 images
• 10 pages of written material.

Please note: The Advisory Panel will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access. If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

Other accepted file formats:

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

• video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
• audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
• images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
• written material (Word and PDF).

Biographies, Headshots and CVs

You can include your current brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) that is relevant to your application. You will be required to supply a photograph – headshot, you can include this in your application.

Please note: Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.

Letters of support

Individuals, groups or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

2024 recipients

• Nidala Barker
• Lilly Gogos
• Normey Jay
• Georgia Llewellyn
• Russell Smith
• Cloe Terare