SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS
PURPOSE
To collect information about people’s attendance at, subscription to and monetary support of cultural activities.
DESCRIPTION
This information was collected in November 1995 as part of the Population Survey Monitor (PSM), a quarterly household survey of approximately 3,000 households conducted throughout Australia. The PSM covered all usual residents aged 18 years and over in private dwellings in both urban and rural areas of all States and Territories of Australia. However, persons living in remote and sparsely settled areas were excluded from the collection. All persons living in non-private dwellings were also excluded. Questions about Support for the Arts were asked of one randomly selected person aged 18 years or over in each selected household.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Irregular
DATA ITEMS
Cultural activities or venues attended
Records up to nine types of cultural activities or venues which the respondent attended in the last 12 months. The categories are:
Musical theatre
Dance performances
Popular music concerts
Classical music concerts
Theatre (other than musical)
Art galleries
Museums
Libraries
Arts festivals
None of these
Reasons preventing attendance at a cultural activity or venue
Specifies which (all that applied) of the following reasons prevented attendance at any of the cultural activities or venues in the last 12 months:
Not interested in the arts
Admission costs too high
No time/too busy
Prefer to attend sport events
Unaware of activities being held
Health
Other
No reasons
Don’t know
Membership of or subscription to cultural organisations
Records, for each category of cultural activity or venue, whether, in the last 12 months, the respondent had taken up membership of, or subscribed to, any cultural organisation involved.
Reasons preventing membership or subscription
Records the reasons (all that applied) for an attendee not taking out any membership or subscription in the last 12 months.
Not a regular attendant
Membership/subscription costs too high
Unaware that membership or subscription is available
Too busy
Other
No reasons
Don’t know
Donations to cultural organisations
Records, for each category of cultural activity or venue, whether, in the last 12 months, the respondent had made a donation to any cultural organisation involved.
Reasons preventing donation
Records the reasons (all that applied) for an attendee not making a donation in the last 12 months.
Prefer to donate to a charity
Didn’t know that donations were tax deductible
Not interested
Never asked to donate
Already receive enough funding
Other
None of those reasons
Don’t know
Type of donation to art gallery, museum or library
Records the type of donation made to art galleries, museums and/or libraries in the last 12 months. Categories are:
Money
A cultural item (such as artwork, books or costumes)
Both
Use of Taxation Incentives scheme
Specifies whether cultural items donated to art galleries, museums and/or libraries in the last 12 months were donated under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts scheme.
Amount of money donated to cultural organisations
Total amount of money donated to cultural organisations, specified within a range. The ranges are:
$1-$20
$21-$50
$51-$100
$101 and over
Don’t know/can’t remember
Frequency of donation
Records the frequency of donations to the arts (from those who donated in the last 12 months). The categories are:
More often than once a year
Once a year
Once every two years
Less often than once every two years
Geographic area
As the sample size is very small, data are only available at the Australian level.
Demographic characteristics
Demographic characteristics for which information is available include:
Age
Sex
Marital status
Country of birth
Household type (person living alone, married couple living alone, etc.)
Socioeconomic characteristics
Socioeconomic characteristics for which information is available include:
Labour force status (employed, unemployed or not in the labour force)
Main activity for those not employed
Educational attainment
Occupation (1-digit ASCO)
Industry (ANZSIC Division)
Personal income
Other topics of interest
In the quarters in which data on support for the arts were collected, data were also collected on the following topics:
Attendance at arts festivals (November 1995)
Children’s participation in sport and physical activities (August and November 1995)
Participation in gambling (August and November 1995)
Participation in sport and physical activities (August and November 1995)
Physical activity of people aged 60 years and over (November 1995)
Spectator sports (August and November 1995)
HISTORICAL DATA
Data were collected in the surveys undertaken in August and November 1995.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996, Population Survey Monitor, Australia, November 1995, Cat. no. 4103.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $13.00. Also available for August 1995.
CONTACT
In the first instance, refer to To obtain data or further information in the Introduction to this directory.
National Centre for Culture and Recreation Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
GPO Box 2272
ADELAIDE SA 5001
Telephone: Adelaide 08 8237 7326
Facsimile: Adelaide 08 8237 7366
Email: nccrs@abs.gov.au