Quick response grants

• One-off support for individuals and teams experiencing financial hardship that are selected to participate in events in the sporting, academic, cultural or environmental fields.
• Essential emergency support for community, cultural or sustainability projects, strictly for situations that couldn’t be foreseen.

Initiatives and projects can contribute to one or more of these outcomes:

• Increased engagement of individuals and teams in sporting, academic, cultural and environmental fields
• Improved inclusion, liveability, connectedness and engagement in our diverse communities
• Enhanced positive social, cultural, sustainability outcomes for local communities related to our strategic priorities.

Applications will be assessed against the quick response grant priorities and desired outcomes. The assessment panel will also consider these criteria where relevant:

• evidence of a coordinated approach to service delivery and the development of responses to emerging social issues
• contribution to strengthened formal and informal support networks; reduced isolation and increased community participation and opportunities especially for people with the greatest need
• allows state or national selection in the fields of the arts, sports, sustainability or academia at a significant event which is considered critical to career development
• be a team or individual from a disadvantaged background in pursuit of a unique sporting, cultural, sustainably or academic experience and produce considerable social capital for those involved
• unforeseen circumstance or urgent need that will have a detrimental effect on the individual or an organisation and its services if not dealt with immediately. This is strictly for situations that could not be foreseen and applicants need to show evidence of how this situation arose and their financial status.

To be eligible for event representation funding an applicant must operate within the City of Sydney local government area or be able to demonstrate benefits for the area’s residents, workers and/or visitors.

The applicant must be a not-for-profit organisation, unincorporated community group or individual.

Funding is not available for:

• projects that directly contravene the eligibility and ethics framework or existing city policies
• projects that duplicate existing services
• projects or programs that will rely on recurrent future funding from the City of Sydney
• projects that supplement, increase or continue ongoing service delivery or for funding the 'core' business of the organisation
• projects that occur on a regular basis, such as annually, and for which applicants could have planned and sought sponsorship from other sources
• professional development opportunities when an organisation associated with the activity has established professional development processes
• contributions to a project where the organising body has already received a grant or sponsorship from the City of Sydney
• projects that have received a quick response grant in the last 12 months.

General information about grants available and how to apply is published in our grants and sponsorship program guidelines.

To see what projects have been awarded our grants and sponsorships in the past, please search for grants in our statutory returns annual reports.

Priorities are drawn from our creative policies and action plans and are updated annually. The priorities this year are:

Creative initiatives: the quick response program can provide matched funding (up to $2,000) for small-scale creative initiatives in need of emergency funding or that are seeking funding to test experimental, unique or new creative ideas. This may involve innovative partnerships and collaborative / cross-disciplinary processes as the project may investigate broader cultural issues, for example exploring ecology, sustainability, or urban renewal.

Expert advice: the quick response program can provide matched funding (up to $2,000) towards unforeseen, time-critical costs of expert advice, certifiers or consultants to assist cultural venues and premises associated with cultural activity and live entertainment to meet their compliance obligations.

Initiatives and projects can contribute to one or more of these outcomes:

• Increased engagement of individuals and teams in sporting, academic, cultural and environmental fields
• Improved inclusion, liveability, connectedness and engagement in our diverse communities
• Enhanced positive social, cultural, sustainability outcomes for local communities related to our strategic priorities.

Assessment criteria – strategic priorities

Applications will be assessed against these criteria:

• evidence of innovation, experimentation or creative imagination and an explanation of why it is experimental/innovative in the context of the local arts sector
• evidence of necessary experience, technical skills and qualifications
• record of achievement relative to opportunity
• evidence of matched support (where required) including from community platforms such as Pozible, sponsorship or other sources
• provision of required supporting documentation 

For creative initiatives, the following assessment criteria will also apply:

• evidence of innovation or creative imagination inherent in the project idea
• if the grant will help trial or test an idea that may be further developed in future
• information on the approach taken by the applicant to test the project idea
• intended outcomes and project plan
• mechanisms to gather data and evaluate the project
• evidence that the artist’s innovative or experimental work aligns with city policies
• demonstrated connection to the City of Sydney local area

To be eligible for funding an applicant must operate within the local government area or be able to demonstrate benefits for the area’s residents, workers and/or visitors.

The applicant can be a not-for-profit or for-profit organisation, unincorporated community group, sole trader or individual.

For-profit applicants must match their request with cash. Value-in-kind will not be accepted.

Funding is not available for:

• projects that directly contravene the eligibility and ethics framework or existing city policies
• existing cultural and creative programs or projects that require additional funding and have already been provided with support from the City of Sydney
• projects that align with our matching grant, cultural and creative grants and sponsorship and business support grant (live music and performance) program criteria and that could have applied through these programs and their timeframes
• repeat editions of earlier projects or events including artists fees where the creative work has already been produced
• projects that could have planned and sought sponsorship from other sources
• projects without matched support (cash or in-kind)
• funding used primarily for professional development, travel or training
• projects or programs that rely on recurrent future funding from the City of Sydney
• projects that supplement, increase or continue ongoing service delivery or for funding the 'core' business of the organisation
• fees and charges associated with compliance or development applications payable to the City
• projects and/or artists that have no connection to the local government area.

General information about grants available and how to apply is published in our grants and sponsorship program guidelines.

To see what projects have been awarded our grants and sponsorships in the past, please search for grants in our statutory returns annual reports.