ASPIRING arts leaders living in regional and rural Australia are invited to apply for a new scholarship to further develop their leadership skills.The Australia Council Scholarship will provide $150,000 over the next three years for three high-performing regional arts leaders to participate in the Australian Rural Leadership Program.This scholarship will allow a high-performing arts administrator or manager working in regional Australia to participate in a program to further develop their management skills and build networks with other regional leaders. I encourage any arts leaders to apply.The scholarships have been developed to address additional barriers regional arts leaders face including fewer opportunities than their metropolitan counterparts to participate in arts sector initiatives.“It runs over 15 months, consists of five residential programs and covers topics such as leadership, advocacy, media, international relations and community programs. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend a two-week study tour.Applications for the Australia Council Scholarship close on 31 August 2015. Scholarship recipients will be announced in February 2016 and the program will commence in August 2016.More information is available on the Australia Council’s website.