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The First Nations Screen Fellowship provides one mid-career First Nations screen practitioner a dynamic range of funding and support across a 12-month period.

The objectives of the First Nations Screen Fellowship are to:

• Increase professional development opportunities for mid-career First Nations screen practitioners
• Assist early-stage project development from local First Nations screen talent
• Support First Nations screen practitioners to connect with national and global screen industries and reinvest back into the NSW content landscape
• Strengthen the NSW First Nations screen community through increased industry connections
• Raise the national and global profile of local First Nations talent
• Increase accessibility to opportunities that foster the global advancement of the NSW screen industry and First Nations practitioners
• Facilitate mentorship opportunities between First Nations practitioners and screen industry leaders.

To be eligible for the First Nations Screen Fellowship, applicants must:

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander*
• Be over 18 years of age
• Be an NSW resident (i.e., lived in NSW for at least 6 months immediately before the date of application)
• Be an Australian citizen
• Be a mid-career writer, director and/or producer with experience in producing or creating screen content
• Have at least one (1) and no more than four (4) key creative credits (writer, director, producer) on professionally produced screen content
• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• Adhere to general eligibility requirements under the Screen NSW Terms of Trade.

*An Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which they live. 

The Industry Development Program provides support for organisations to deliver one-off or annual professional development and upskilling initiatives to NSW screen and digital games practitioners. These initiatives may include workshops, masterclasses, forums, labs and targeted professional development activities.

The purpose of the Industry Development Program is to fund skilled organisations to deliver viable and innovative training opportunities to emerging and mid-year screen and digital games professionals, meet industry needs and promote sustainable sector practices in NSW.

The Industry Development Program will open 2 funding rounds during 2026/27. Applications may be submitted at any time during the relevant funding round dates and must address all assessment criteria. Applications will be assessed within the periods outlined in these guidelines and published on the Screen NSW website.

Round 1 

Round 1 is open to applicants seeking Multi-Year or Single Year funding.

Initiatives funded through successful Round 1 applications must commence between 15 September 2026 and 30 June 2027.

Round 2

Round 2 is open only to applicants seeking Single Year funding.

Initiatives funded through successful Round 2 applications must commence between 15 April 2027 and 13 September 2027.

The Screen NSW Production Fund invests in NSW production companies, NSW screen projects and NSW creatives to produce or post produce in NSW – feature films, longform adult and children’s drama series; factual and documentary television or online, animation and interactive online screen entertainment. 

Screen NSW supports a diverse slate of culturally relevant, distinctive, high quality, original screen storytelling that resonates with local and global audiences and delivers exceptional cultural impact.

The purpose of funding is to maximise cultural and economic benefits to the state by supporting NSW screen practitioners to create new intellectual property that assists them to realise commercially sustainable businesses and grow the NSW screen sector.

The objectives of the Program are to fund exceptional quality, diverse and engaging fiction and non-fiction screen content that will:

• Generate employment and economic activity for NSW
• Make a contribution to Australian culture and storytelling, nationally and internationally
• Grow the number and size of NSW production companies and provide increased opportunities for NSW key creatives
• Meet the objectives of Screen NSW‘s diversity commitment.

The NSW Government is offering a 10 per cent rebate for eligible digital games. Games must have a Qualifying NSW Expenditure of at least $500,000 to be eligible.

An eligible project must commit at the time of application to qualifying expenditure of at least AU$500,000 on the project in NSW. The spend may occur over several years. Multiple projects cannot be bundled to achieve the AU$500,000 threshold. A major update of an existing game is eligible if it meets the $500,000 threshold.

Qualifying NSW games expenditure must be on activities carried out in NSW related to production of the launch version of the game. The pre-development stage, being activities that are usually undertaken with the aim of determining whether a digital game is commercially feasible, is excluded.

Eligible games for the Rebate include:

• Games for entertainment and serious games
• Games for any platform including console, desktop, tablet, mobile, VR/AR
• Multi-player and single-player games.

Games must generally be intended for public release.

An applicant must submit an application with Screen NSW prior to the commencement of any eligible work for which the Rebate is sought. If production has already commenced on the project, only work carried out on or after the date of application will be eligible for the Rebate.