Apply Now: Arts and Culture Living Wage Fund (New Zealand)

Deadline: 01-Oct-2026

Wellington City Council’s Arts and Culture Living Wage Fund supports arts and culture projects that need targeted funding to ensure artists and arts workers are paid a living wage. The fund has $150,000 available annually across the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years and prioritises early-career practitioners, underpaid founders and managers, underfunded events, and innovative projects that create sustainable living wage pathways. Arts and Culture Living Wage Fund – Overview The Arts and Culture Living Wage Fund was established by Wellington City Council to address underpayment within the arts and culture sector. The fund provides targeted financial support to projects where additional funding is needed to ensure artists and arts workers receive a living wage for their contributions. It operates alongside the Arts and Culture Project Fund and forms part of Wellington City Council’s wider commitment to supporting creative practitioners and building sustainable arts practices. All funded activities must align with at least one strand of the Aho Tini – Arts, Culture and Creativity Strategy. Key Details

- Fund: Arts and Culture Living Wage Fund

- Funder: Wellington City Council

- Location: Wellington, New Zealand

- Annual Funding: $150,000

- Funding Period: 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years

- Purpose: Supporting living wage payments for artists and arts workers

- Application Requirement: Applicants must also be applying for an Arts and Culture Project Grant

- Priority: Early development practitioners, underpaid founders/managers, underfunded events, and innovative living wage initiatives

- Strategy Alignment: Aho Tini – Arts, Culture and Creativity Strategy

- Decision-Making Body: Te Mataaho o te Hapori | Grants sub-committee

- Decision Timeframe: 4–6 weeks after the closing date

What Is the Fund Designed to Achieve? The fund aims to address the persistent challenge of underpayment in the arts and culture sector.

It seeks to:

- Help artists and arts workers receive a living wage. - Support fairer payment practices in the arts. - Provide targeted funding where standard project funding is insufficient. - Encourage sustainable employment pathways for creative practitioners. - Support emerging practitioners during early stages of development. - Assist underpaid founders and managers. - Strengthen underfunded arts and cultural events. - Encourage innovative approaches to sustainable living wage employment. Who Is the Funding Prioritised For? The fund identifies four key priority areas. Practitioners in Early Development Funding may prioritise practitioners who are in the early stages of developing their creative careers and need additional support to receive fair payment. Underpaid Founders or Managers Founders and managers who contribute significantly to a funded activity but are not receiving adequate payment may be prioritised. Underfunded Events Arts and cultural events that have insufficient resources to pay participating artists and arts workers a living wage may receive priority. Innovative Living Wage Pathways Organisations with innovative ideas for creating sustainable pathways toward living wage payments for artists may also be prioritised. What Does Living Wage Funding Support? The fund is specifically designed to help applicants demonstrate that artists or arts practitioners involved in a funded activity can be paid a living wage.

Applicants must clearly show:

- Who will receive the living wage. - What contribution they will make to the funded activity. - Why additional Living Wage funding is required. - How the funding will enable fair payment. - How many people will have their payment increased to the Living Wage. Applicants are also required to commit to increasing a specified number of people to the Living Wage for their contribution to the funded activity. Funding Available The Arts and Culture Living Wage Fund has $150,000 available annually.

The funding covers two financial years:

- 2025/26 - 2026/27 The fund is intended to provide targeted support alongside the Arts and Culture Project Fund. Applicants should clearly explain the amount of additional Living Wage funding required and how it will affect payments to artists and arts workers. Who Is Eligible? Applicants must meet several conditions.

They must:

- Be applying for an Arts and Culture Project Grant. - Meet at least one of the fund’s four priority areas. - Demonstrate a genuine need for Living Wage funding. - Clearly show how the funding will enable artists or practitioners to be paid a living wage. - Commit to increasing a specified number of people to the Living Wage for their contribution to the funded activity. - Ensure the proposed activity aligns with at least one strand of the Aho Tini – Arts, Culture and Creativity Strategy. Who Is Not Eligible? The following organisations are generally ineligible: - Organisations already receiving Multi-year funding for their normal operations. - Organisations receiving Annual Stability funding for normal operations. - Projects funded through Multi-year curation funding. An organisation receiving Multi-year or Annual Stability funding may be considered only where it is seeking support for a genuinely separate project and has received the required pre-approval. Aho Tini Strategy Alignment All activities supported through the fund must align with at least one strand of the Aho Tini – Arts, Culture and Creativity Strategy. Applicants should therefore explain how their proposed project contributes to the strategy rather than treating the Living Wage component as a standalone funding request. How the Fund Works Step 1 – Apply for an Arts and Culture Project Grant Applicants must also be applying for an eligible Arts and Culture Project Grant. The Living Wage Fund operates alongside this project funding rather than as a completely separate project grant. Step 2 – Check the Four Priorities Confirm that the project meets at least one of the fund’s priority area