GCAP 2025 Travel Support Program

All applicants need to fulfil the following criteria:

• Be able to attend the whole of Games Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) 6-8 October 2025 in Melbourne.
• Be a NSW- based company or individual:
  • If an individual, the applicant must be over 18 and be a NSW resident (i.e., lived and operated in NSW for at least six months immediately before the date of application).
  • If a company, the company must be incorporated and registered in Australia and have its principal place of business in NSW for at least six months immediately before the date of application. Company applicants must nominate one person (traveller) and the traveller must be over 18 and be a NSW resident.
• Have an Australian Business Number (ABN).
• Have at least one game project in development.
• Own or control the necessary rights to any games projects taken to the conference or have the written permission of the rights holder to represent them at business meetings. 

Ineligible game projects include but are not limited to: 

• Games involving gambling services, as defined in Clause 4 of the Commonwealth Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
• Games involving ‘gambling’ and ‘unlawful game’ as defined in the Unlawful Gambling Act 1998 (NSW) .
• Games developed for advertising or corporate marketing.
• Games made for internal training purposes.
• Curriculum material.
• Games that are likely to be Refused Classification under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995.
• Games that are not completely digital (board games or hybrid digital/physical games).

Applicants must not be full-time secondary or tertiary students. Other government departments and agencies are not eligible to apply. The applicant must not be in breach of any obligation under any funding agreement it has with the NSW Government.

Screen NSW is dedicated to promoting fairness and equality in its programs and interactions with the community. Our main priorities include supporting increased participation in the industry of people from underrepresented groups, including:

• First Nations people
• Regional NSW
• Western Sydney
• People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• People living with disability
• LGBTQIA+ people.

Game practitioners from these priority areas are encouraged to apply.

For the purpose of this program, Screen NSW defines an emerging or mid-career games practitioner as someone who has:

• Emerging: 1+ years of professional game experience
• Mid-Career: 2+ years of professional game experience.

Note: This initiative is not open to entry-level practitioners.

Available funding

Funding is limited for this program up to $1,000 per applicant. A total grant pool of $5,000 is available. 

Successful applicants will need to cover all travel costs up front and will be reimbursed by Screen NSW on the provision of relevant receipts and an acquittal report at the conclusion of travel up to the Grant amount. They will be reimbursed by Screen NSW for up to $1,000 of these expenses on the provision of an acquittal report at the conclusion of travel. 

Screen NSW will only fund one grant per company or individual applicant. Company applicants must nominate one person (traveller) to be funded by Screen NSW at GCAP. The nominated traveller must be a resident of NSW and be over 18 years of age. This is non-transferable to another company representative without prior approval from Screen NSW. Co-contributions from third parties are allowable for non-Screen NSW covered expenses. 

What you can get funding for

A set amount of $1,000 can be spent on reasonable airfare costs, event registration, ground transport, accommodation, travel insurance, and reasonable costs associated with attending the event (such as meals). 

Eligible applicants may receive market travel support from Screen NSW only once in a single financial year.   

The track record of the applicant including relevant experience in the games industry. The Assessment panel will review details provided in the application including:

• CV of applicant, or attendee if applicant is an organisation
• Evidence of relevant game work experience and previous game credits (if applicable)

The strength of your application, taking into account the opportunities provided by attendance. The Assessment panel will review details including:

• Indicative schedule of workshops or events that the applicant will attend
• Any additional activities e.g. meetings that will be undertaken during GCAP
• The status of any game projects in development: include proof-of-concept in the form of either a playable prototype of the game or a gameplay trailer

The potential of the market travel opportunity to contribute to the NSW digital games industry including:

• A description of how attendance will benefit the work being undertaken by the applicant

Diversity of games projects and/or applicants, and whether it increases participation from Screen NSW priority areas.

You must submit all core materials listed on the application form, including:

• Profile of the company or individual applicant demonstrating their relevant track record  
• CV/resume of the person proposed to attend
• Statement of intended outcomes and objectives for attending GCAP 
• List and summary of any game project(s) in development and a short statement of how attending GCAP will benefit the project(s)
• Intended plan for the conference including planned activities, networking opportunities and proposed meeting list.

Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email confirmation from our secure online grants system, SmartyGrants.

Eligibility

Applications will be initially reviewed by Screen NSW program delivery team to ensure they meet eligibility requirements, and all required application information and materials have been submitted and meet our eligibility criteria. If the application is not eligible, you will be advised by email within 7 business days of the program round closing date. 

Assessment

If your application is considered eligible, it will then be assessed by a minimum of one Screen NSW staff member or an external assessor with industry experience. The assessor will assess and score applications individually against the published Assessment Criteria. 

The individual evaluations will then be reviewed at an assessment panel meeting and the panel will finalise a shortlist of recommended applicants, based on merit and available budget.  

Please note that funding allocation follows a competitive process. Evaluations will consider the published Assessment Criteria, the availability of funds at Screen NSW and the applicant's need for Screen NSW funds.  

Recommendation and Decision

Based on outcome of the assessment panel meeting, final recommendations will be made in writing to the designated decision maker Senior Manager, Content Investment, Screen NSW for consideration and approval. 

Additional Considerations

Additional considerations Screen NSW may, at its sole discretion, and at any stage of the application process, do all or any of the following:

• Require additional information from an applicant
• Change the scope or the requirements of these guidelines
• Vary, amend (including by replacement) or terminate the application process, and
• Re-open an application after the closing date, provided it doesn’t give the applicant an advantage over other applicants.

Screen NSW aims to turnaround applications approximately 3 weeks from the application close date. Applicants will be advised of the application outcome by email. 

Successful funding recipients will enter into a standard non-negotiable agreement with Screen NSW, setting out the terms and conditions of the funding including deliverables, acquittal requirements and treatment of unspent funds.  

Recipients are required to provide a written report detailing the outcomes of attending the event as part of the acquittal process.  Receipts proving travel and accommodation expenses and attendance will also be required at the time of acquittal. 

The Grants Administration Guide (Guide) requires that certain information is published in relation to grants awarded no later than 45 calendar days after the funding agreement takes effect (see section 6.5 of the Guide and Appendix A to the Guide).   

This information is also open access information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (GIPA Act), which must be made publicly available unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information. 

In accordance with these requirements, relevant information about the funding awarded will be made available on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder as soon as possible after the funding agreement is executed. 

All records in relation to this decision will be managed in accordance with the requirements of the State Records Act 1998 (NSW). 

Any conflicts of interest will be managed in accordance with NSW Government Grants Administration Guide.

A conflict of interest, or perceived conflict of interest, may be identified if staff, any member of a committee or advisor and/or you or any of your personnel:

• Has a professional, commercial, or personal relationship with a party who can influence the application selection process, or
• Has a relationship with or interest in, an organisation, which is likely to interfere with or restrict the applicants from carrying out the proposed activities fairly and independently, or
• Has a relationship with, or interest in, an organisation from which they will receive personal gain because the organisation received funding under the program.

If you identify an actual, apparent, or perceived conflict of interest at any time, you must inform Screen NSW immediately. Screen staff can be contacted by email: [email protected].

NSW Government staff, committee members and other officials including the decision maker must declare any conflicts of interest and ensure they are managed as per the Department’s Code of Ethics and Conduct and the Grants Administration Guide. 

Details on how Screen NSW handles complaints, access to information and your private information is available at:

https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/about-us/feedback-complaints-privacy-and-governmentinformation 

GCAP 2024 Travel Support Guidelines – August 2024