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First Nations Crisis Relief Grants and support are available to First Nations musicians, managers, crew and music workers across all genres experiencing financial hardship as the result of illness, injury, mental health, older age or another current crisis that is impacting their ability to work in music.Â
Grants are assessed for a current issue impacting ability to work in music and, if approved, will be provided through direct payment of bills or other personal expenses related to the crisis, rather than cash grants. Evidence of a current crisis will be required.
Our social work team is here to help with general, practical advice and can put you in touch with other relevant services including housing, finance and care. Contact them here or check out information on other services and support here.
We know it can be hard asking for help. We treat every request for help confidentially and make no judgment about people’s circumstances.
Eligibility
- To be eligible for a Support Act Crisis Relief Grant you must:
- be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or have a valid working visa
- show that you have been working professionally in the Australian music industry for five years
- provide names and details of two professional referees
- have household expenses which are greater than your household income
- be experiencing a current crisis that is impacting your ability to work in the music industry
There is no deadline to apply, however we strongly encourage those experiencing hardship to submit your application as soon as possible. Our social workers will then contact you to discuss your application.
Social Worker, Tim Coutts-Smith, explains the criteria
Application prerequisites
What you will need to complete this application:
Contact Details
Our grant application will ask you for your contact details, your career bio and references, and an explanation of the crisis you are experiencing.
Income Details
You will need to provide your current annual income (salary, benefits, royalties, income from assets such as rent etc.) as well as the annual income for your household (if you live with a partner or have a family). We will ask you to break this down into fortnightly payments.
Expenses
You will also be asked to provide a break down of your fortnightly expenses. These include things like rent/mortgage, groceries, medical costs, utilities, clothing, car, council rates, phone/internet, credit card payments etc.
We will also ask you to list any outstanding debts or mortgage repayments.
We encourage you to review your budget prior to commencing the form as this will make it quicker to complete. Try using this spreadsheet calculator that we have developed. It will really help you!
Career details
- Years of experience and date you began working in the industry
- A description of the role(s) you perform
- Information or links to your social media pages, event pages or websites showcasing your work
- Evidence such as your ABN, invoices of payment for work you’ve done or evidence that you’ve declared your music-related earnings to the tax office
- Contact details of 2 referees
Evidence of current crisis/hardship
You will need to provide evidence of your current crisis from within the last two months e.g. a current mental health plan, hospital or doctors letter, police report, eviction notice. The social worker will ask you for copies at the time of assessment.
Things to know
- A couple of things to keep in mind when making your application:
- Our grants are not competitive. They are available to everyone who meets our criteria
- You can be receiving Federal Government benefits (including JobSeeker, Austudy, Disability Support, Disaster Relief) and still meet our criteria
- You can apply even if you are a registered small business. We won’t fund your business, but we will provide support for household expenses
- We may contact your referees if we need to verify that you work professionally in music. We will not disclose any information about your application
- If you applied for and received a grant over 12 months ago and are currently in crisis, you are welcome to apply again now. Please note that we can only provide one grant per year for a maximum of two consecutive years
- We do not provide grants for chronic conditions (e.g. a new application would need to show a new or different crisis situation)
- Please don’t be embarrassed to apply for crisis relief. If you need support, we are here to help
Application form
Need help?
If you need more help with your application please check our Frequently Asked Questions or if there is any part of this application form that you do not understand or need to discuss, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
If you need additional financial help, check out our Tax Help and Financial Wellbeing programs.
*Disclaimer: Any information or resources published or given to you by or on behalf of Support Act is general information and does not constitute financial advice. Support Act does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information and such information is given without reference to your particular circumstances. Support Act is not a financial adviser and you should consider seeking independent legal, financial or taxation advice to check how the information relates to your unique situation.
