The new year is barely a week old and already the funding announcements are rolling in. If you’re an opera lover — or anyone who cares about live performance in this country — it’s worth paying attention to where the money’s going in 2026. Because these numbers shape what ends up on our stages.

Let me walk you through the big picture.

New South Wales: Steady, with caveats

The NSW Government has confirmed its arts and cultural funding envelope at $385 million for the 2025-26 financial year, a modest 2.3% increase on last year. Create NSW will continue to administer the bulk of project and organisational funding, and there’s a new $12 million pool earmarked for “contemporary relevance initiatives” — which, reading between the lines, means companies that can prove they’re reaching younger and more diverse audiences.

For Opera Australia, the state funding picture hasn’t changed dramatically. They’ll continue to receive their multi-year allocation, though the company has been vocal about costs rising faster than government support. Sound familiar? It should. This has been the refrain from major performing arts companies for at least a decade.

What’s more interesting is the small-to-medium sector. Companies like Pinchgut Opera, which has carved out a brilliant niche in baroque and early opera, will be watching closely. The emphasis on “contemporary relevance” can feel like a threat to organisations doing historically informed work, even when their audiences are loyal and growing.

Victoria: A surprising bump

Victoria has been the pleasant surprise this round. The Andrews — now Allan — government has announced a $28 million boost to its Creative State strategy, with performing arts getting a meaningful slice. The Melbourne arts ecosystem has been under pressure since COVID fundamentally rewired audience habits downtown, and this feels like an acknowledgment that recovery isn’t automatic.

Melbourne Opera and Victorian Opera both stand to benefit, though the details of individual allocations won’t be confirmed until March. There’s also a new regional touring fund worth $4.5 million, which is significant. Getting opera outside capital cities has always been expensive and logistically painful. This could help.

One area I’m watching is the intersection of arts funding and technology. Victoria’s creative industries department has been quietly consulting with AI consultants in Melbourne and data analytics firms about how arts organisations can better understand their audiences and make smarter programming decisions. It’s not glamorous, but honestly, if it keeps companies solvent, I’m all for it.

Queensland and Western Australia: Mixed signals

Queensland’s funding picture is more complicated. The state has maintained its baseline arts funding but hasn’t matched inflation, which is effectively a cut. Opera Queensland will need to be creative — pun intended — about how they stretch their dollars. Their community engagement programs have been a genuine bright spot, and I’d hate to see those squeezed.

Western Australia has signalled an increase, but the specifics won’t land until February. Given WASO’s ambitious new programming direction (more on that in a future piece), the timing matters.

South Australia: The Adelaide effect

South Australia continues to punch above its weight. The state government has committed an additional $6 million to the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, and the State Opera of South Australia has secured three-year funding certainty for the first time in five years. Three-year funding doesn’t sound exciting, but for a small company trying to plan repertoire and hire artists, it’s transformative.

The federal picture

Federally, the Australia Council for the Arts hasn’t announced any changes to its major performing arts framework yet. That review is expected mid-year, and it’ll be one of the most consequential conversations in Australian opera for a generation.

What does this actually mean?

Here’s my honest take: the overall funding landscape in 2026 is okay. Not great. Not catastrophic. The problem is that “okay” isn’t enough when production costs keep climbing, when audiences are still rebuilding post-pandemic habits, and when opera — by its nature — is one of the most expensive art forms to produce.

What I’d love to see is more courage. More willingness to fund risk. More recognition that a healthy opera ecosystem needs everything from grand-scale productions at the Sydney Opera House to a chamber opera in a warehouse in Footscray.

The announcements will keep coming through the first quarter. I’ll be tracking them here as they land.