Artist Opportunities

See all current Fringe Fund opportunities below. Sign up to our Fringemakers enews, follow us on social media and check back here to know when new opportunities become active.

Deadly Fringe Commissions

The Deadly Fringe Commissions will support new projects selected for development and presentation in the 2025 Festival, with each selected participant receiving $3,000 – $15,000 in project funds to make it all happen! This year Melbourne Fringe is offering FIVE opportunities of Deadly Fringe funding, with three available for application now, and three opportunities to open in April. The commissions currently accepting applications are:

ONE $15,000 commission

TWO $10,000 commissions.

These opportunities are for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people only. Successful applicants must self-produce the work however, Melbourne Fringe will share skills and resources to help you present your work / event in the 2025 Melbourne Fringe Festival. We welcome creative projects across all forms, or style including visual, dance, theatre, storytelling, 2D/3D artwork, text-based theatre, devised performance, cabaret, physical theatre, circus, live art, and anything else you can think of – if it has a performance or exhibition outcome, we want to hear about it!

About Deadly Fringe

The Deadly Fringe program invites both emerging and established First Nations Artists to create, develop and showcase new work in the 2025 iteration of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Debuting in 2017, Deadly Fringe is an annual performance and development program for First Nations artists and creatives to explore and showcase their stories, knowledge, and culture. Sitting within the sphere of Melbourne Fringe, Deadly Fringe aims to unearth and develop conceptual artwork from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, enabling them to create works that channel strength and connection to culture and history, shifting the creative landscape of Australia’s identity. With eight successful years of operation, Deadly Fringe is an artist development program that continues to expand and support innovative new works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. By being part of the program, successful applicants receive financial support, as well as broader production and artistic support where needed. They will also access industry mentorship opportunities, community engagement initiatives, and dedicated assistance from the Deadly Fringe Program Coordinator. Read more about Deadly Fringe here.

Read more detailed information in the Info Pack:

Deadly Fringe 2025 Commissions Info Pack PDF

Deadly Fringe 2025 Commissions Info Pack Word Doc

Application link: https://airtable.com/appjhuM19IeA9MD0z/pag0RFZ9UoDbBqGSX/form

For any questions you can email us, give us a call during office hours, or make a time to chat with us over Zoom:

• Email Peta and Danny by sending to peta@melbournefringe.com.au and cc’ing in danny@melbournefringe.com.au (Peta works part time, so make sure you include Danny in the email!)

• Call the office on (03) 9660 9600 and ask for Peta or Danny.

• Make a time to have a yarn: email, call or we’ll sort out a Zoom time for you.

Applications close 11:59pm Sunday 2 March 2025.

Radical Access Commission

Melbourne Fringe is thrilled to be offering a $40,000 commission to an experienced Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent artist to create a new work for the 2025 Melbourne Fringe Festival. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced artist to develop and present a fully realised work during this year’s festival (30 September until 19 October 2025). The proposed work can be in any form or genre but must be ambitious and innovative in the way it engages with accessibility, inclusivity and cultural equity.

The successful artist will receive:
• $40,000 in commissioning funds;
• Support from Melbourne Fringe staff to consult and guide your team – this includes staff who can provide expert advice relating to production management, marketing, administration, and creative producing as well as a bespoke mentorship opportunity;
• Up to $3,000 to assist you with your own access costs relating to the project; and
• Dedicated marketing and publicity support from our staff that will sit alongside your own marketing and publicity activities to help get the word out about your show.

About Radical Access:

Radical Access launched in full in 2022, beginning a ten-year social change project in partnership with Arts Access Victoria. This program imagines a radical version of best practice accessibility for the independent arts sector and moves the conversation beyond the provision of access services and into cultural equity. Radical Access is a provocation for change and a call for accelerated action. We commission bold new work by d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists, provide creative development opportunities, run workshops, masterclasses, and mentorships, and provide employment opportunities for d/Deaf and Disabled arts workers. All of this is with the aim to significantly increase access and inclusion for d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists across the independent arts sector. Read more about Radical Access here.

Read more detailed information in the Info Pack:

Radical Access 2025 Commission Info Pack PDF

Radical Access 2025 Commission Info Pack Word Document

Application link: https://airtable.com/app4kI2dwKr2Wg8zg/pagzCg4yD5m36Mq8b/form

If you want to discuss other ways to submit your application or have questions about this info pack, please contact us. Send your email to Milly Cooper at milly@melbournefringe.com.au and cc Danny Delahunty at danny@melbournefringe.com.au. Alternatively, you may phone our office: Melbourne Fringe on (03) 9660 9600 and ask to speak to Milly or Danny. You may contact us through the National Relay Service, and the link is available if you click on this sentence.

Applications close 11:59pm Sunday 2 March 2025.

How it Works

Cash to Create

Cash to Create opportunities all have one thing in common: they financially support artists so artists can get creating.

Throughout the year applications will be opened for commissioning opportunities including our Club Fringe Commissions, Fringe of the Hub Commissions, ShowSupport and Melbourne Civic Commission. Check back regularly to see how the Fringe Fund can support you to make great art.

Cash for Equity

Cash for Equity is our way of levelling the playing field and making sure that anyone with an amazing idea can have their voice heard at Melbourne Fringe.

Melbourne Fringe acknowledges that people facing financial hardship or structural disadvantage are met with barriers that prevent engagement with the arts and the amplification of their artistic voice. This includes First Nations peoples, Deaf and Disabled people and people who identify as people of colour or Culturally and Linguistically Diverse.

Cash for Equity aims to remove barriers to access. We provide concessions on registration fees, support for audience accessibility services, and bespoke support through Microgrants of $100-$500 that are allocated to alleviate pressures on artists from our communities of focus.

Supporting Artists

Joining us as a Fringe Fund donor will make an incredible impact on the lives and work of independent artists. You’ll be backing big bold ideas, supporting bright emerging talents and helping elevate vital voices as they make exciting and meaningful contributions to the cultural life of our city.

You can add your name to the family of supporters already generously donating directly to the Fringe Fund here – or if you’ve got your own big, bold idea about how to support the Fund, reach out! We’d love to chat.