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CULTURAL FUNDING BY GOVERNMENT

The latest edition of Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2005-06 (cat. no. 4183.0) was released in August 2007. The publication contains estimates of the three levels of public government funding for arts and cultural activities, facilities and services across three years from 2003-04 to 2005-06.

Some key points from the publication include:

• Total government funding for cultural activities in Australia totalled $5.4 billion in 2005-06. This was 9% higher than the level recorded in the previous year.
• State and territory governments contributed the majority (48%) of funding ($2.6 billion), followed by the Australian Government ($1.9 billion) and local government ($973.2m).
• Broadcasting and film was the largest recipient of government funds in 2005-06, with total funding of $1.2 billion (22.3% of total funding).
• The total capital expenditure by all levels of government was $636.7m in 2005-06, an increase of 32% on the level reported in 2004-05. The majority of this funding came from state and territory governments (76%) for creation and acquisition of land, buildings and intangible assets.
• The largest recipient of state and territory government funding was the Nature parks and reserves category, receiving over $1 billion or 39% of the total cultural funding.
• Cultural funding per person increased across all three levels of government in 2005-06 to $275.90. This represents an increase of $25.79 from 2004-05.
• Local government funding in 2005-06 increased 8% from the previous year to $973.2m. Over a third of local government funding was from the New South Wales local government.