Carer’s Costs Contribution now available on development funding applications
Screen Australia has today announced a one-off contribution of up to $3,000 for Carer’s Costs will be available as part of successful development funding applications.
After a successful pilot program in 2021/22, Carers Costs can now be included as a line item in development budgets on an ongoing basis.
Screen Australia's Head of Development Nerida Moore said, “In 2020, it was estimated that there were almost 2.8 million informal carers in Australia. These informal care responsibilities can limit and impede a person from entering or maintaining a career in the screen industry. To help address this, Screen Australia has launched this pilot program and are making available a contribution of up to $3,000 towards the costs of replacing informal care with paid care during a script development period.”
Funds will be available for development programs including Generate and Premium for Feature Film, Television and Online Development, Documentary Development, as well as First Nations Feature, TV Drama and Documentary Development funding. Contribution towards Carer’s Costs is to cover the costs to replace the care otherwise informally provided to the elderly (65 years and older), dependent or disabled persons or parenting and other forms of unpaid childcare.
The types of paid care that can be covered by Screen Australia’s contribution to cover out of pocket expenses of an informal carer may include:
- Short-term before and after school care
- Casual preschool attendance
- In-home, residential or day care respite for elders and/or people with a disability or chronic illness
- Short-term in-home childcare support.
Up to $3,000 per successful Screen Australia development application will be available. This can be shared if more than one person in the team is needing a contribution towards Carer’s costs. A total of $150,000 will be available for the 2021/2022 financial year. Screen Australia’s contribution towards Carer’s Costs is not to cover care that is already paid for by other government support mechanisms or existing care arrangements. It is to pay for short-term alternative care to free up the time of informal carers so they can concentrate on the development of their screen project.
Contribution to Carer’s Costs will be part of development funding applications and be added as a separate line item in the development budget. The contribution will be available whenever applications are open for a Development fund until 30 June 2022 unless funding is exhausted prior.
For more information on Development funding programs and to apply please visit:
If you have any further questions, please email us at Development.