Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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Employment in cultural occupations

The five-yearly Census of Population and Housing provides information on the number and characteristics of people whose main job in the week prior to the census was in a cultural occupation. People who had unpaid involvement in cultural activities, or who worked part-time in cultural activities but who had another job that they regarded as their main job in the week prior to the census, would not be recorded in the census as being cultural employees. Table 12.18 shows the number and sex of people who were recorded as having a main job in selected cultural occupations in the 2001 Census of Population and Housing.

12.18 PERSONS IN SELECTED CULTURAL OCCUPATIONS - 2001
	Males	Females	Persons
Graphic designer	11,545	9,599	21,144
Architect	9,012	2,297	11,309
Librarian	1,748	8,565	10,313
Music teacher (private)	2,569	5,876	8,445
Library assistant	1,174	7,224	8,398
Photographer	4,453	2,392	6,845
Instrumental musician	5,070	1,555	6,625
Architectural associate	5,223	1,188	6,411
Media producer	3,686	2,554	6,240
Library technician	642	5,499	6,141
Print journalist	2,933	2,589	5,522
Source: ABS data available on request, 2001 Census of Population and Housing.

Involvement in culture and leisure activities

The most recent data about the involvement of persons aged 15 years and over in selected culture and leisure activities were collected in April 2001 as part of the ABS Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities Survey. During the 12 months prior to interview in April 2001, an estimated 2.5 million persons (16.8% of the Australian population aged 15 years and over) were involved in some form of paid or unpaid work relating to the culture and leisure activities covered in the survey. These figures exclude involvement solely for the respondent's own use or that of their family.

As table 12.19 shows, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest rate of involvement in this type of work, at 28.8% of residents aged 15 years and over. This was significantly higher than the Australian rate of 16.8%.

12.19 PERSONS INVOLVED IN CULTURE AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES - 2001
	Some paid involvement(a)	Unpaid involvement only	Total persons involved	Persons with no involvement	Total persons	Participation rate
	’000	’000	’000	’000	’000	%
New South Wales	291.2	465.6	756.8	4,311.5	5,068.4	14.9
Victoria	222.2	416.6	638.8	3,141.7	3,780.5	16.9
Queensland	163.1	334.8	497.9	2,272.8	2,770.7	18.0
South Australia	74.7	140.9	215.6	965.6	1,181.2	18.3
Western Australia	91.3	157.1	248.4	1,220.8	1,469.2	16.9
Tasmania	20.1	45.8	65.9	297.8	363.7	18.1
Northern Territory(b)	8.8	11.4	20.2	90.7	110.9	18.2
Australian Capital Territory	28.5	39.3	67.8	167.9	235.7	28.8
Australia	900.0	1,611.5	2,511.5	12,468.7	14,980.2	16.8
(a) Includes persons who only received payment in kind. Of the 900,000 people who received some payment, 53,700 (6.0%) only received payment in kind. (b) Refers to mainly urban areas only.
Source: Work In Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2001 (6281.0).

More persons had paid involvement in writing (214,800), design (210,700) and visual art activities (175,800) than in any other culture or leisure activity in the survey. Of those involved in writing, 40.0% received payment; for design, 60.2% received payment; while for visual art activities, 34.9% received payment. The activity with the highest percentage of people with paid involvement was television, with 64.6% of the 83,600 people involved receiving some payment.

How Australians spend their free time

Generally, Australians fit their leisure activities into their free time, that is, the time left over after personal, family, educational and employment responsibilities. The 1997 Time Use Survey showed that Australians aged 15 years or more spent on average about 5 hours (316 minutes) or 22% of their time per day on free time activity as their main activity (table 12.20). People frequently undertake more than one activity at the same time (e.g. housework and listening to the radio). If simultaneous activities are included, Australians spent just over nine hours (552 minutes) on free time activities. Time spent using audio and audiovisual media (e.g. listening to the radio and watching television) showed the largest increase when comparing all activities (including simultaneous activities) with main activities. As a main activity, an average of just over two hours (131 minutes) was spent on using audio and audiovisual media. However, when simultaneous activities were included, time spent on this activity nearly doubled to over four hours (257 minutes).

12.20 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON FREE TIME ACTIVITIES(a) - 1997
		Main activity	All activities
		minutes per day	minutes per day
Social and community interaction
	Socialising	11	12
	Visiting entertainment and cultural venues	5	5
	Religious activities and ritual ceremonies(b)	5	5
	Other	24	24
	Total	45	47
Recreation and leisure
	Sport and outdoor activity	27	28
	Games, hobbies, arts and crafts	16	20
	Reading	25	37
	Audio and audiovisual media	131	257
	Talking (including phone)	35	115
	Other	35	48
	Total	271	505
Total		316	552
(a) Free time is the amount of time left over after necessary time, committed time and contracted time have been taken out of a person's day. Necessary time includes time spent on activities such as sleeping, eating and personal care. Committed time includes time spent on activities such as housework, care of children and shopping. Contracted time includes time spent on paid work and regular education. (b) For more information on Australia's religious composition, see Population'.
Source: Time Use on Culture/Leisure Activities, 1997 (4173.0).