Pat Rix, the founder of disability arts organisation Tutti Inc, is among eight artists recognised at the 2022 Australia Council Awards.
"For all those years you do the work because you love it... when somebody recognises it, it's really lovely," she told AAP.
Rix started Tutti in South Australia 25 years ago, and the organisation now runs programs involving 200 artists each week.
Its disability-led collectives include Company AT autistic theatre, all-female pop group The Sisters of Invention, and the Sit Down Shutup and Watch film festival.
Rix retired in late 2021 with many Tutti participants now working as professional artists, and similar organisations springing up across Australia.
"I think this last 25 years has been spectacular in terms of empowering disabled artists, giving them the skills they need and an understanding of the industry," Rix said.
Freelance director Susie Dee has won the award for theatre and said the recognition has given her a spring in her step.
"It's always nice to get a pat on the back and a few extra bucks in your pocket. It's a tough industry," she told AAP.
During her 30-year career in theatre, Dee was the artistic director of Melbourne Workers Theatre, Union House Theatre, and the Institute Of Complex Entertainment.
She is currently touring a solo show about a female convict, titled This is Eden, while her cabaret show, Queen Kong and the HomoSapiens, has just opened at the Darwin festival.
Dee believes large institutions are still dominating government theatre funding and not enough money is going to independent theatre.
"We're really missing funding for small-to-medium companies. We all fall through the cracks. I just feel like the sector always misses out," she said.
Meanwhile, eminent author Robert Dessaix has been recognised with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature.
"To have what I've done over a lifetime recognised is exciting, it's lifted my spirits enormously at a time when it's very difficult for your spirits to soar," he told AAP.
The awards recognise the contribution of outstanding artists to their disciplines and to Australia's cultural life.
2022 Australia Council Award Recipients:
* Robert Dessaix (TAS) Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature
* Judy Bailey (NSW) Don Banks Music Award
* Judith Pungkarta Inkamala (NT) Visual Arts Award
* Jenny Fraser (QLD) Award for Emerging & Experimental Arts
* Helen Herbertson (VIC) Award for Dance
* Susie Dee (VIC) Award for Theatre
* Pat Rix (SA) Ros Bower Award for Community Arts and Cultural Development
* Leah Jing McIntosh (VIC) Kirk Robson Award for Community Arts and Cultural Development
