The Victorian Government has reopened its Music Works grants for 2026, putting between $5,000 and $40,000 within reach of the state's musicians and music workers. With applications closing on 5 August, the window to apply is a short one.
The program runs two streams. Activation Grants offer a fixed $5,000 for current and emerging opportunities — the kind of money that pays for songwriting, recording, marketing, a tour or mentorship — while Project Grants of $10,000 to $40,000 back larger, more ambitious projects.
Music Works is delivered by Music Victoria, the state's peak body for contemporary music, working alongside the government's arts agency Creative Victoria, with further backing from the royalties body APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Industry Network. It is pitched at every genre of contemporary music and open to artists, music workers, businesses and organisations alike — from bedroom producers to established touring acts and the venues and labels that keep them working.
"As Victoria's peak body for contemporary music, we're proud to work alongside Creative Victoria to deliver funding directly to the music community and help ensure these programs are informed by the needs of the sector," Music Victoria said.
This year's round again includes a dedicated First Peoples application and assessment process, run by Creative Victoria's First Peoples program staff alongside Music Victoria and the Songlines Aboriginal Music Corporation, so that First Peoples artists are assessed by their own community.
Applications opened on 8 July and close at 2pm on 5 August. Successful applicants will be notified from October, with the funded work required to take place between November 2026 and October 2027 — a timeline built around the long lead times of writing, recording and touring. Music Victoria is also running an online information session for prospective applicants, with short one-on-one consultations available by booking.
For a state that leans hard on its live-music reputation — the pubs, bands and festivals that fill Melbourne's inner north and beyond — the grants are a bet that keeping money flowing to artists, and the crews and businesses around them, pays off in more gigs, more records and more jobs. For a few thousand hopefuls, the next three weeks will decide whether the next project gets made.
