NSW backs eight First Nations-led cultural projects with $566,981 in Creative Nations funding

Eight First Nations-led arts and cultural projects across New South Wales will share in $566,981 in state funding, with Create NSW saying the program is designed to deliver long-lasting outcomes for artists, communities and cultural knowledge transmission.

In a departmental release, the NSW Government said the 2025/26 Creative Nations Project Funding round will support eight projects and “engag[e] more than 100 artists and arts workers” with a strong regional footprint. Six of the eight successful projects are from regional NSW, receiving more than 80 per cent of the total investment.

The funded activities span truth-telling exhibitions, digital cultural mapping, intergenerational artefact-making workshops and leadership programs intended to activate culturally safe spaces for learning, storytelling and connection.

Create NSW Executive Director Kerri Glasscock said: “The Creative Nations program is a clear testament to our Creative Communities policy commitment of First Nations First and putting culture at the heart of NSW. The First Nations artists and communities supported to deliver these powerful projects will celebrate the world’s oldest continuous storytellers and reveal the power of arts and cultural expression to strengthen communities.”

Dr Bronwyn Bancroft AM, Chair of the First Nations Arts and Culture Artform Board, emphasised the breadth of work across the state, saying: “The Creative Nations program delivered by Create NSW and the assessment panel of First Nations representatives for Arts and Culture highlights a flourishing series of projects by amazing Aboriginal creators across many regions in NSW. I am excited to witness the ripple effect for individuals and communities in NSW.”

One of the projects highlighted by both the NSW Government release and National Indigenous Times is NAISDA’s Creative Futures initiative, delivered in partnership with BlakDance and Carriageworks as part of NAISDA’s 50th anniversary. NAISDA CEO Kim Walker AM said: “Creative Futures reflects what NAISDA stands for at fifty; future-focused, collaborative, and guided by cultural authority and protocols.”

The funding announcement lands as cultural organisations continue to argue that stable investment is not just about events and exhibitions but about sustaining cultural authority, employment pathways and community wellbeing – especially in regional and remote contexts where arts infrastructure can be limited.

Create NSW says the next round of its broader Arts and Cultural Funding Program project funding will open in April 2026.