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ARTS AND CULTURE IN AUSTRALIA: A STATISTICAL OVERVIEW, 2007

In June 2007, an updated issue of Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2007 (cat. no. 4172.0) was released, replacing the issue released in September 2006. The 2007 issue includes updated data for various statistical collections and this data will continue to be updated on an annual basis. An additional release is planned for May 2008, which will incorporate 2006 Census data, and further updates will be released in October each year.

The report looks at a range of statistics on Arts and Culture in Australia using a range of ABS and non-ABS sources. Topics covered include participation and attendance, tourism, household expenditure, funding by government and business, employment and other work, output of cultural industries, cultural trade and profiles of the various cultural sectors (e.g. museums, libraries, performing arts, etc).

Some key findings from ABS sources include:

• The 2005-06 survey on attendance patterns of Australians at cultural venues and events found the most popular venue to be the cinema for people aged 15 years and over. Some 65% of adult Australians attended the Cinema at least once in the 12 months before their survey interview. Other popular venues included Zoological parks and aquariums (an attendance rate of 36%), Local, state and national libraries (34%) and Botanic gardens (34%).
• In 2004, the 'Work in Culture Survey' found that there were about 2.9 million people (18% of the population aged 15 years and over) in Australia who had worked in a culture or leisure activity in the 12 months before interview.
• In 2004-05, the 'Cultural Funding Survey' found government funding for cultural activities totalled $5,014.9m, with state and territory governments providing almost half (47% or $2,356.3m), the Australian Government contributing 35% ($1,760.9m), and local government making up the balance of 18% ($897.7m).
• In 2003-04, the 'Household Expenditure Survey' found that Australian households spent 4.1% of their total expenditure on cultural goods and services. Households spent the largest amounts on Books ($1,589m), Televisions ($1,375m), Pay TV fees ($1,085m) and Newspapers ($1,033m).
• In 2005-06, International Trade figures indicate Australia earned $965m through the provision of cultural goods and cultural and recreational services to the rest of the world, around a quarter of the value of cultural goods and services it received from overseas ($5,048m).