Have your say on the development of the new Arts and Screen Employment Pathways Pilot Program to support d/Deaf and disabled artists and arts workers. 

Why we want your input

Your input will help ensure the program supports d/Deaf and disabled artists and workers in the Australian arts, cultural, screen and digital games sectors to advance their careers. It will help shape the program design to meet the needs of individual participants and arts, cultural, screen and digital games organisations which may host temporary job placements.  

How you can voice your opinion

Complete the short survey or provide feedback via email, mail, video or audio file. 

What will be the outcome of this consultation?

Your feedback will be provided to the Implementation Advisory Group for Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan, to inform the design and rollout of the program.  

The issue

As part of Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan (the plan), the Australian Government committed $2.25 million to deliver the Arts and Screen Employment Pathways Pilot Program. The program will increase job opportunities for d/Deaf and disabled artists and arts workers. It will also support greater disability confidence and cultural safety within the arts, cultural, digital games and screen sectors.

The program will match early to mid-career d/Deaf and disabled artists and arts workers with arts and cultural organisations, including in the screen and digital games sectors, for temporary job placements of up to 12 months, for any art form and any position level across Australia. Participants will be employed under applicable award or agreement wages and conditions. Organisations which host placements will benefit by gaining access to a broader pool of skilled talent whose salaries will be paid through the program.

We will administer the overall program through a competitive grants process to engage an external organisation or multiple organisations, who will be responsible for managing the job placements. Funding for this program will start in 2025-26, and placements are expected to start in 2026-27.

The program will include a capped pool of funding for any accessibility adjustments required by participants and which are not available through existing Government programs such as the NDIS and Employment Assistance Fund. There is also funding to develop an evaluation framework to assess the impact of the program to inform future policy development.

There are a number of ways you can have your say on the design of the program, including by completing a short survey, or providing feedback via email, mail, video or audio file. More information about these options is available below under the ‘Participate’ section.

We would like to hear from arts, cultural, digital games and screen organisations; d/Deaf and disabled artists and workers in the arts, cultural, digital games and screen sectors; arts and disability organisations; and disability organisations. We want to hear your views on:

  • Your career goals in the arts, cultural, digital games and screen sectors (for individuals).
  • Goals or outcomes you would like from hosting a placement (for organisations).
  • The best length of time for a temporary job placement for you or your organisation.
  • The key elements, accessibility requirements and other supports or opportunities you would like included in temporary job placements.
  • How to make sure organisations which host temporary job placements are accessible and culturally safe.
  • What workplace supports for people with disability you already have (for organisations).

Relevant documentation

Participate

Consultation opening date and time: 26/06/2025 13.00
Consultation closing date and time: 20/08/2025 17.00

We invite you to provide feedback by:

  • completing the survey
  • sending a written response to Arts.Disability@arts.gov.au or by mail addressed to: 
    Access, Participation and Inclusion Section
    Office for the Arts
    GPO Box 2154
    Canberra   ACT   2601
  • submitting an audio or video response. If you would like to do this, please contact us by:

If you need help, please reach out using the contact details above.

Privacy Collection Notice

Arts and Screen Employment Pathways Pilot Program

Your submission, including any personal information supplied, is being collected by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (“the Department”) in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.

Use

The Department may use your submission to inform consideration of issues associated with the Arts and Screen Employment Pathways Pilot Program (“the program”).

Disclosure

The Department may disclose your submission to the Implementation Advisory Group for Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan to inform their advice on the design and implementation of the program. The Department may publish your submission as explained below. Otherwise your submission will not be disclosed unless authorised or required by law.

Contacting You

The Department may use your contact information to make further contact with you about your submission and the consultation process.

Publication

Unless marked confidential (see below), submissions (including the author’s name) may be published in part or full on the Department’s website or in any public response by the Department. When publishing, the Department will redact any personal contact details of the author.

Confidentiality

Confidential submissions will not be published and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:

  • in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister;
  • where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia;
  • where necessary in the public interest; or
  • where authorised or required by law.

Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you must indicate this by ensuring your submission is clearly marked confidential. Even if a submission is not marked confidential, the Department may choose not to publish it, or any part of it, in the Department’s discretion (for example where it includes personal information or opinions about a third party).

Access

The Department will securely store your personal information and the Department’s privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the Department. Further information is available at infrastructure.gov.au/privacy.