Eighty-two arts and cultural organisations in New South Wales have been awarded Four-Year Multi-Year Funding program, an investment of $17m by Create NSW.

Of those, 36 are regional organisations (sharing $7.15m), six are First Nations organisations ($1.165m) and 16 are based in Western Sydney ($3.9m).

The multi-year investment, part of Create NSW’s Arts and Cultural Funding Program, will provide much needed stability to organisations that collectively employ thousands of artists and cultural workers and allow them to plan and execute medium-to-long term projects.

Among the recipients in the music and performing arts sectors are Ensemble Offspring ($150,000), National Theatre of Parramatta ($280,000), Dance Makers Collective ($150,000), Gondwana Choirs ($280,000), Legs on the Wall ($230,000), Marrugeku ($300,000), Sydney Youth Orchestras ($300,000) and Urban Theatre Projects ($330,000).

Ensemble Offspring’s Claire Edwardes. Photo © Connor Malanos

Several flagship festivals are set to benefit, including Sydney Fringe Festival, Byron Writers’ Festival, Cementa and Newcastle Writers’ Festival. Regional galleries in Lismore, Albury and Southern Highlands will receive funding, as will FLING Physical Theatre, Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Outback Theatre for Young People, and Spaghetti Circus.

Service organisations receiving the funding include NSW Aboriginal Culture Heritage and Arts Association Inc,...