Petition seeks to restore Writers Victoria funding

Writers Victoria has launched a petition to restore its funding after it was refused multi-year support in the latest Creative Victoria funding round.

The Creative Enterprises Program had funded Writers Victoria and other organisations (Australian Poetry, Overland magazine and Creative Clunes) in the previous 2022 to 2025 funding period. But all 5 organisations failed to receive multi-year funding in the latest round, announced in December.

The petition’s organisers said, “Victoria will now be the only mainland state without funding to a writer’s organisation to support writers. The move to completely cut funding threatens jobs, programs, access to opportunities, and the very survival of Writers Victoria that has long played a vital role in supporting the ongoing development of Victorian writers.

“The cuts are also inconsistent with Melbourne’s position as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) city of literature.”

The petition needs 10,000 signatures by 20 April 2026. At the time of writing, the number sits at 1357 signatures.

To be presented in Parliament, all petitions must be sponsored by an MP. In this case, the sponsor is Liberal MP David Davis.

Writers Victoria CEO Jill Brown said Creative Victoria has provided emergency funding for the next 6 months. She said the funding announcement “came as a nasty shock to us all as the funding is a major contributor to our revenue.”

More information is available on the Parliament of Victoria website.

Category: Local news