Freelance Rates

The Community Liaison and Cultural Advisor fees detailed in the below table, refer specifically to roles working in regional and remote First Nations communities.  

The Community Liaison and Cultural Advisor roles extend to both one-off, and ongoing consultations across the duration of a project or collaboration, where the advisor or liaison will exercise their intellectual property and existing connections within the community to assist in collaborations and projects. The roles are community-based. 

The Community Liaison role may include liaising with artists, Art Centres, community members, local service organisations and project collaborators; coordinating community visits; on Country painting camps; and project documentation.

The Cultural Advisor role may include seeking/giving permissions or consent; providing cultural knowledge, advice and guidance on community protocols; language translations; communicating and championing the project with Elders and the broader community. 

While the Community Liaison role could extend to both First Nations and non-First Nations consultants, the Cultural Advisor role is for a First Nations person only. Where a major commission, exhibition, project or collaboration calls for community liaison and cultural advice, these roles should be accounted for within project budgets from the beginning.  

It is commonplace for the Community Liaison and Cultural Advisor roles to be assumed by Art Centre staff or staff from supporting non-profit service organisations in the community. Where this occurs, the knowledge, connections and expertise they bring, should be recognised and remunerated as additional work, outside of their core business delivery.

Artist Meetings/Art Centre Administration 

It is good practice for artists, Art Centres, commissioners and collaborators to plan for and establish a reasonable number of meetings for the scope of the project as outlined in the agreement. If additional meetings are required outside of this, artists should be remunerated in recognition of their time. 

Budgets should also account for Art Centre staff and their time providing advice, consultation, seeking permissions, producing and approving project documentation and travel.

Indicative fees are outlined below, however it is noted that no two Art Centres are the same, and this Code does not replace the need to consult and negotiate directly with the Art Centre to establish an appropriate rate. 

For more information, see Working with First Nations Art Centres.

Note: the first annual increase to the Payment Standards took effect on 1 July 2024. We appreciate it may take some organisations time to adjust.

^ All fees exclude travel 

* Depending on project and level of translation work required 

The below rates vary depending on the scale and length of the consultancy as well as the specialist knowledge of the consultant.

Please also draw on the arts worker salary rates under Wages to inform negotiations for consultancy work, noting the value of intellectual property and Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP).

The below rates are reproduced from the Australian Society of Authors which recognise some commissioning editors may be able to offer more than this and some may offer significantly less.

NAVA research has also indicated the below rate as a minimum standard for freelance writing per word:
Rate per word 50c

When negotiating or deciding on a fee, things to consider may include:

• the word length of a commission

• the investment of time in a commission, and the cost to the writer of other work that may have to be postponed or turned down

• potential research and interviews involved

The below rates are reproduced from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance which recognises some commissioning editors may be able to offer more than this and some may offer significantly less.

The below rates are reproduced from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance which recognises some commissioning editors may be able to offer more than this and some may offer significantly less.

The below rates are reproduced from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance which recognises some commissioning editors may be able to offer more than this and some may offer significantly less.

The below rates are reproduced from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance which recognises some commissioning editors may be able to offer more than this and some may offer significantly less.