Regional Arts Fund
The Regional Arts Fund (RAF) is an Australian Government program that supports sustainable cultural development in regional and remote communities in Australia.
The RAF provides A$3.4 million per year in funding for people living in regional, remote and very remote communities to undertake arts projects, professional development for artists and arts workers, and strategic projects. The RAF supports projects that target a range of disadvantaged demographics including people with disability, young people, women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and older Australians.
As an example, in 2017 the Australian Government committed A$153,810 to a project that provided strategic direction and vision for youth engagement in the arts across the state of South Australia. The aim of the project was to build the confidence and skill sets of young, regional South Australians, and to discover and support new participants and future leaders in the regional arts sector. It also provided professional opportunities for young people living in regional areas and delivered economic benefits to the small-to-medium arts sector in regional South Australia.
Increase participation in, and access to, Australia’s arts and culture in regional and remote Australia.
A$3.4 million annually
RAF runs on a four year funding cycle. The program was reviewed in 2015-16 with changes implemented for the 2016-2020 funding cycle.
The previous design of the program was administratively complex, needlessly bureaucratic and did not respond to the changing needs of the arts sector as the detailed prescriptive guidelines were set once every four years.
As a result, the program was streamlined and the new guidelines allow greater flexibility for each jurisdiction to customise delivery of the program to meet the needs of the regional arts sector in that jurisdiction.