Following the Australia Council’s announcement on March 26 of a Response Package to support artists and arts organisations affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OzCo has announced a new Resilience Fund.

The new fund is worth around $5 million, which comes from within the Council’s existing budget. CEO Adrian Collette said this new measure is essential during this critical period when the cultural and creative sectors are experiencing immediate and enormous challenges due to the impact of the virus.

Australia Council CEO, Adrian Collette

The Resilience Fund will operate across three new streams: Survive, Adapt and Create, each of which are available to individuals, groups and organisations.

Survive offers small grants to offset or recoup financial losses due to cancelled activity. Adapt offers grants to adapt artistic practice and explore new operating models. Create offers grants to continue to create and develop new creative responses in a time of disruption.

The initiation of the Response Package last week saw the suspension of the Australia Council’s investment programs, with Career Development Grants, Fellowships and Arts Projects funding among the programs put on hold in order to free up funds to deal with the...