Donate to the SRB

We love what we do. We want to keep the SRB open-access to all readers and to maintain a vigorous, relevant program. Reader donations are a vital supplement to the funding we receive from government and private agencies. You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the SRB here.

The SRB was launched in 2013 as a new space for critics and essayists to shape a public discourse about Australian literature. We’ve now been online for ten years, and we’ve published over a thousand reviews, essays, and interviews by hundreds of Australia’s best critics and writers.

There are now fewer platforms for serious critical engagement with Australian and international literature in this country – and the resources available to fund critical writing have diminished too. Even though the SRB has never been more important, the scarcity and unpredictability of public funding restrict the scope of our program and forward planning.

We love what we do and we’re proud of the reputation we’ve built.  We want to maintain a vigorous, relevant program in the years to come – and we are committed to keeping the SRB open-access.

We ask readers to consider making a tax-deductible donation to the SRB. All reader donations will be directed to our contributor budget, not production or administration costs. Donations will allow us to keep the SRB free for all readers and to pay our writers what they deserve.

Make a donation here.


Why now?

The SRB first reached out to readers for support in 2020. Like many other cultural organisations, the SRB was forced rapidly to adapt to rolling COVID-19 crises, as well as to adapt to funding cuts. The arts funding environment then was precipitous, and it remains so for the moment. Like many in the sector, we were encouraged by the Government’s announcement of the ‘Revive’ policy and the creation of Writing Australia in 2025, but know that the effects may take years to trickle down to small arts organisations like the SRB.

Let’s be transparent here. A bedrock of financial support for the SRB is provided by Western Sydney University, which pays the SRB’s staff salaries. That institutional backing has put the SRB in a much more secure position than many of our peers in the sector and means that we remain competitive in our applications for grant funding. As our production overheads are very low, most of our grant funding is paid directly to writers.


How will your donation help? 

Reader donations allow us to commission more critics to write original, informed, challenging criticism of new works of Australian and international literature. 

Everything the SRB publishes is open-access – and everyone who writes for us gets paid. These are core values for the SRB.


How can I donate? 

Make a donation here.

Donations to the journal made through Western Sydney University are tax deductible – and all donations will go directly to our contributor budget for 2024. If you have any questions about the campaign, please email us at editor@sydneyreviewofbooks.com.