| Grantee | Project Title | Project Description | Grant amount | Priority area | Application ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Sydney | A New Course on doing Business in Korea and Australia | This project will develop and launch an innovative short course on doing business in Korea and Australia, in partnership with Yonsei University. The course will offer a vital platform for deepening practical understanding of the government policies, business environments and socio-cultural dynamics essential for future business leaders in both countries. The project seeks to strengthen Australia–Korea economic ties through education, professional exchange, and a shared commitment to preparing the next generation of global business leaders. | $23,480 | Trade, agricultural, and business collaborations | AKF2025-009 |
| James Cook University | Peer Mentoring and Community Building for Australian–Korean Working Holidaymakers | This project will establish a reciprocal peer mentoring program that links Australian working holidaymakers in Korea with Korean working holidaymakers in Australia. Through facilitated mentoring, participants will have the opportunity to share lived experiences, navigate cross-cultural challenges, explore career pathways, and form long-lasting connections. The initiative recognises the growing movement of young people between the two countries and seeks to provide meaningful intercultural engagement beyond the working holiday period. | $40,500 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-019 |
| Ebenezer Mission Limited | Musical Exchange Project for Australian and Korean Artists with Disabilities | The "Bridging Sounds: Korea–Australia Neurodiverse Music Exchange" initiative aims to foster long-term cultural engagement and disability inclusion between Australia and Korea by connecting neurodiverse musicians and vocational trainees through collaborative music programs, employment-focused activities, and structured cross-cultural exchange. The program includes joint rehearsals, professional exchange workshops, and collaborative performances, culminating in a commemorative concert for the International Day of People with Disability. | $45,150 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-041 |
| Adelaide Festival Corporation | The Cherry Orchard | The Cherry Orchard, directed by Simon Stone, produced by LG Arts, and co-commissioned by Adelaide Festival, is a retelling of Chekhov's classic tale. Performed in Korean, with English surtitles, this production is influenced by Korean culture and the cultural landscape, and will be the first time Australian audiences have the opportunity to see these world famous Korean actors perform in Australia. The Cherry Orchard has already premiered in Korea, and is now preparing for its Australian premiere performances at the 2026 Adelaide Festival. | $50,000 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-044 |
| Melbourne Jazz Limited | Australia-Korea Jazz Exchange | In 2026, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) will commence a two-year cultural exchange with the Jarasum Jazz Festival (JJF). This exchange focuses on reciprocal programming, whereby MIJF and JJF will collaborate to present Korean artists at MIJF, and Australian artists at JJF in 2026 and 2027. | Year 1: $36,000 Year 2: $26,000 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-058 |
| University of Newcastle | Advancing Cooperation between Australia and Korea on the Space Economy | This project aims to strengthen strategic, societal, and economic collaboration between Australia and Korea through the emerging Space economy. By bringing together academics, policymakers, and industry leaders from both countries, it will foster dialogue and cooperation through workshops, roundtables, and joint research initiatives. The project will focus on key themes including Space security, societal impacts, and sustainable development. | $40,000 | Strategic international relations | AKF2025-074 |
| Spacecubed Ventures | Korea-Australia Landing Pad Program, powered by Spacecubed | Five Korean startup founders will take part in a five-day immersive residency hosted by Spacecubed, coinciding with Landing Pad Week and West Tech Fest in Perth in December 2025. This includes mentoring, ecosystem tours, and participation in West Tech Fest's Innovation Showcase. In 2026, five Australian startup founders will join a reciprocal visit to Korea, attending startup events and building strategic partnerships. | $45,975 | Trade, agricultural, and business collaborations | AKF2025-110 |
| Living Eyes Pty Ltd | The Most Australian Band Ever - Korean Tour and Screenings | The Most Australian Band Ever!' is a feature documentary about Australian punk band, the Hard-ons which started in 1984 with three immigrant kids at school, a Korean, Sri Lankan and Croatian. The focus of the film is Ray Ahn, who struggled to fit in until he discovered punk rock. He provides humorous insight into being Korean-Australian and the struggles and successes as the band brought their music around the world. The project will conduct film screenings and band performances in Seoul and Busan. | $27,815 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-116 |
| Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea | 2026 Australia Korea Business Awards | This project will deliver the 2026 Australia-Korea Business Awards where 12 Awards of Excellence will be presented to Korean and Australian companies excelling in key industry sectors. The project will also deliver G'Day R.O.K, a large-scale open networking and showcase event promoting premium Australian food, wine, tourism, culture and services. The program will feature public nominations, judging, senior government participation, cultural performances, bilingual media engagement and digital storytelling. It will connect business leaders, government officials, alumni, students, creatives, and the public across both nations. | $35,000 | Trade, agricultural, and business collaborations | AKF2025-118 |
| Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources | Australia–Korea Innovation in Rare Earths Processing and Supply Resilience | This project aims to strengthen Australia–Korea collaboration on rare earth elements (REEs) by co-developing innovative and sustainable technologies for REE recovery from both primary and secondary sources. Led by KIGAM in partnership with CSIRO Mineral Resources, through workshops the project will explore environmentally responsible and cost-effective approaches, such as deep eutectic solvent-based extraction, to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste, and diversify supply chains. | $33,000 | Technological, Scientific and Education Innovation | AKF2025-151 |
| Melbourne Aces Baseball Club Pty Ltd | International Baseball Showdown - Ulsan, Melbourne, Geelong | Building on a relationship with the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), Melbourne Aces Baseball Club's "International Baseball Showdown - Ulsan, Melbourne, Geelong" project will again host KBO teams Hanwha Eagles and KT Wiz at training camps and exhibition games in 2026. The project will also include the Melbourne Aces competing in the Ulsan - KBO Fall League in October 2025. | $30,000 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-156 |
| Circa Contemporary Circus | Circa in Korea | Circa Contemporary Circus, a non-verbal, physical artform, aims to strengthen artistic and cultural ties between Australia and Korea through innovative contemporary circus that transcends language and cultural barriers. This project will tour and present the show, Duck Pond in Korea, involving local Korean presenters. Duck Pond has broad audience appeal while remaining attractive to younger viewers. The tour aims to introduce older audiences to contemporary circus while maintaining engagement with existing ones. | $50,000 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-192 |
| Mr Luke Bowden | Exhibition: Identity/신원 | Identity/신원 is a stand-alone photographic and multimedia exhibition which aims to share the personal stories of Australian Korean adoptees. The exhibition will include portraits, interviews and short films, documenting the experiences of adoptees and their families—both in Australia and South Korea. It aims to raise awareness, encourage healing, and foster understanding between the two countries. | $40,000 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-242 |
| University of Melbourne | Creating Cross-Cultural Connections: Australian Children's Korean Stories | This project invites Australian children from diverse backgrounds to create stories about Korean language and culture through their own eyes. These multilingual, arts-rich stories will highlight children's creative connections between Australian and Korean cultural elements. The project lead, an experienced teacher educator specialising in multilingual pedagogies, will mentor these young storytellers, drawing on experience producing community language books through the Kids Own Languages series and authoring "Kimchi is for Everyone". Upon completion, the project lead will present the anthology at children's book festivals across South Korea. | $36,620 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-254 |
| Back to Back Theatre Inc | Residency: South Korean Artists Noah Kae Choi & sOo-jung kae | The project will host a 2-week residency in Geelong in September 2025 for South Korean artists Noah Kae Choi & sOo-jung kae. Noah is a calligrapher, live writer, and logo designer who identifies as living with autism. sOo is Noah's mother, carer and accomplished musician who accompanies Noah in the creation of his art. The residency has two components. Noah and sOo will work with Back to Back (B2B)'s artists who identify as having an intellectual disability and/or neurodivergence, along with B2B's wider artistic team, exploring how their art intersects with B2B's and discovering where this project will lead to further collaborations. Noah and sOo will publicly present their work in the B2B studio on the final weekend. | $15,846 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-263 |
| Citrus Australia Ltd | Harvesting New Opportunities: Australia-Korea Citrus Trade Development | This initiative will deliver industry workshops and site visits in Australia and Korea to foster institutional relationships and boost confidence and growth in the export of Australian citrus into the Korean market. This includes: a grower, packer and exporter workshop to ensure that industry is cognisant of the specific technical requirements for exporting citrus to Korea; an outbound site visit to Korea including a masterclass to showcase Australian citrus quality, production standards, and export readiness; and an inbound site visit for Korean industry representatives to gain insights into Australia's citrus supply chain, including production methods, food safety standards, pest and disease management, and export capabilities. | $50,000 | Trade, agricultural, and business collaborations | AKF2025-265 |
| Monash University | Responding to Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Australia-Korea Partnership | This project will bring together researchers and policymakers through workshops and by forming a practitioner's network to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence using evidence-based, practical and collaborative strategies. The project aims to increase understanding, raise awareness and identify how AI is involved in gender-based violence and its effects on women and girls; develop evidence-based, co-designed strategies to prevent and address this harm, sharing practical and policy strategies to enhance digital safety; identify pathways to support victim-survivors in information-seeking and uphold the rights and freedoms of women and girls; and promote enduring partnerships in the realm of gender-focused digital safety policies and practices. | $48,950 | Strategic international relations | AKF2025-271 |
| Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) | Bilateral Cooperation in Countering the Trafficking of North Korean Escapees | This project brings key stakeholders in Australia and South Korea together to discuss the human rights issue of transnational trafficking of North Korean women. NKDB will conduct trauma informed interviews with survivors and distil the findings into a bilingual brief. Leveraging these insights, NKDB and Deakin University will convene a public forum in Australia, inviting students, practitioners, and policymakers from metropolitan and rural regions to discuss survivor-centred solutions spanning prevention, psychosocial care, and reintegration. | $35,407 | Strategic international relations | AKF2025-275 |
| Sydney Opera House Trust | Bilingual Creative Development of the Pansori production The Longest Night | Korean modern musical ensemble, Ipkoasan and the Sydney Opera House children's programming team, will partner to adapt Korean Pansori performance, The Longest Night, into a bilingual Korean-English version for Australian and international children's audiences. Pansori is a Korean traditional genre of musical storytelling performed by a solo singer (sorikkun) and a drummer (gosu). Blending the traditional storytelling of Pansori with elements of literature, theatre, music, and movement, this new production is an adaptation of the award winning Korean children's book, Long Long Night by Rury, and is developed by director Sangsuk Lee and musician Hyangha Lee. The Australian creative team will travel to Seoul to work with the Korean creative team to develop a cultural context and an English-speaking framework for Australian and English-speaking family audiences that showcases Korean Pansori storytelling. | $14,515 | Cross cultural collaborations | AKF2025-301 |
