In an initiative that other countries might well envy, Australia’s Copyright Agency Creative Industries Career Fund has just announced its latest series of career development grants to “Australian writers, artists and publishers.” According to the official release, “fourteen recipients will share in over AUD$38,000 [$35,400] to build their skills through opportunities ranging from mentorships to experience at leading institutions.”

 

Publishing industry recipients include publisher Tony Duke, who “will be undertaking mentorships whilst attending the UK Publishers Association Digital Publishing Forum seminar in the UK,” and New South Wales publisher Jeanmarie Morosin, who “will undertake a workshop at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts on Visual Thinking Strategies.” Writer recipients include South Australia writer Rebekah Clarkson, who “will attend workshops as part of the 13th International Conference of the Short Story in English in Vienna,” and New South Wales poet Philip Hammial who “will attend the 10th Granada International Poetry Festival in Nicaragua.”

Australia’s Copyright Agency “is a not-for-profit rights management organisation whose members include writers, artists and publishers. It is appointed by the Australian Government to manage licensing arrangements that allow educational use of content in a variety of ways, in return for fair payment to the creators of the content.” The Agency collects royalties for use of text and images, similarly to the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society in the UK, and also supports digital publishing initiatives such as the Digital Publishing Australia website.

The Copyright Agency’s board “is authorised by Copyright Agency’s Constitution to allocate 1.5% of its income to development projects that will support the Australian publishing and visual arts industries.” It also works for inclusion, with five Aboriginal recipients for this year’s grants.

It’s good to see the rights-holding community giving back.

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