Cultural and creative activities

Latest release

Statistics about participation in and attendance at selected cultural and creative activities, for adults and children (aged 5-14 years)

Reference period
2021-22 financial year
Released
21/04/2023
Next release Unknown
First release

Key statistics

In 2021-22,

  • women (39%) were more likely to participate in cultural activities than men (25%)
  • 90% of children participated in screen based activities, with 24% of those children spending 20 hours or more per week
  • 44% of people attended the cinema, the most popular cultural venue or event
  • children's attendance at cultural venues or events fell from 94% to 80% between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

This publication presents data from the Cultural participation and attendance survey 2021-22. Outputs from previous survey collections were presented in two publications:

Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, 2017-18 

Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australia, 2017-18 

Refer to these publications for previous data.

Impact of COVID-19 in this publication

Statistics in this release may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the enumeration of the Cultural participation and attendance survey 2021-22, respondents were asked if they had attended or participated in cultural activities in the previous 12 months. As a result, this collection spans July 2020 – June 2022.

For more information about the impacts of COVID-19, see Methodology

Adults' participation

In 2021-22, one third (32%) of adults participated in at least one cultural activity, compared with 31% in 2017-18.

Of all adults:

  • women were more likely to participate (39%) than men (25%)
  • people aged 15-24 years were more likely to participate (41%) than any other age group
  • 19% only participated in one activity type.

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 4

The most popular activities for women and men were:

  • craft activities (23% and 7% respectively)
  • visual art activities, such as painting, drawing and sculpting (17% and 8% respectively).

Overall, participation rates in some cultural activities increased from 2017-18 to 2021-22, including:

  • visual art activities such as painting, drawing and sculpting (10% to 13%)
  • craft activities (14% to 15%).

Participation by region

Participation rates remained similar for most states or territories between 2017-18 and 2021-22. The highest participation rates were:

  • Australian Capital Territory (45%)
  • Tasmania (42%).

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 1 and Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, 2017-18, Table 1

Tasmanians aged 15 to 24 were most likely to participate in cultural activities (51%), followed by Victorian residents of the same age (45%).

Volunteer or paid work

Around one in seven (15%) participants volunteered in at least one cultural activity, while one in ten participants (10%) received an income for their involvement in cultural activities.

Of people who participated in a selected cultural activity:

  • 31% volunteered to perform in a drama, comedy, musical or variety act
  • 26% volunteered to sing or play a musical instrument
  • 35% received an income for fashion, interior or graphic design activities
  • 26% received an income for film-making or editing (excluding recording personal events).

Children's participation

In 2021-22, most Australian children aged 5 to 14 years participated in a cultural activity outside of school hours (94%), a decrease from 96% in 2017-18:

  • 90% of children participated in screen based activities
  • 72% participated in reading for pleasure
  • 59% participated in a creative activity.

The highest participation rates for creative activities were:

  • arts and crafts (39%)
  • singing or playing a musical instrument (19%)
  • creative writing (19%).

Children’s participation rates in most creative activities decreased between 2017-18 and 2021-22: 

  • creative writing (23% to 19%)
  • dancing (17% to 13%)
  • singing or playing a musical instrument (23% to 19%)
  • drama activities (8% to 5%).

Participation in reading for pleasure also decreased from 79% to 72%.

Participation in screen based activities was similar between 2017-18 and 2021-22 (90%).

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 9 and Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, 2017-18, Table 12

Time spent participating

Most children (90%) participated in screen based activities. Of those children:

  • 24% spent 20 hours or more per week undertaking screen based activities, compared with 16% in 2017-18
  • 40% spent 10 to 19 hours per week on screen based activities.

Most children (72%) also read for pleasure. Of those children:

  • 32% read for 2 hours or less per week
  • Only 2% read for 20 hours or more per week.

Children participating in creative activities generally spent two hours or less per week on their selected activity.

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 10

Participation by age and sex

Overall, participation was the same for boys and girls (94%). However, girls were more likely than boys to participate in the following activities:

  • creative activities (67% compared with 52%)
  • reading for pleasure (77% compared with 68%).

Undertaking arts and crafts was the most popular creative activity for children of all age groups, with the highest participation rate being for children aged 5 to 8 (46%).

Children aged 5 to 8 years (60%) and 9 to 11 years (62%) were more likely to participate in creative activities than those aged 12 to 14 years (55%).

Reading for pleasure was higher among children aged 5 to 8 (76%) and 9 to 11 years (78%) than those aged 12 to 14 years (63%).

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 9

Participation by region

Australian Capital Territory children had the highest participation rate in reading (83%), while children in Queensland had the lowest (67%).

South Australian and Tasmanian children had the highest participation rate in screen based activities (94%), while children in Queensland had the lowest (85%).

Children’s participation in reading for pleasure declined from 2017-18 in:

  • Western Australia (79% to 71%)
  • Tasmania (86% to 75%).

Adults' attendance

In 2021-22, 64% of adults attended at least one cultural venue or event, down from 82% in 2017-18.

Attendance rates at all cultural venues or events declined between 2017-18 and 2021-22:

  • cinemas (67% to 44%)
  • live music concerts or performances (38% to 18%)
  • other performing arts (20% to 9%)
  • libraries or archives (31% to 20%)
  • museums (28% to 17%)
  • art galleries (28% to 18%).

Attendance by region

People living in greater capital cities were more likely to attend a cultural venue or event (65%) when compared with people living in other regions of Australia (61%). 

The Australian Capital Territory had the highest adult attendance rate across Australia (72%), followed by Western Australia with 69%. Victoria had the lowest with 61%.

Attendance rates at cultural venues or events fell in all states and territories from 2017-18, with the largest declines in:

  • Victoria (84% to 61%)
  • Australian Capital Territory (93% to 72%)
  • New South Wales (81% to 62%).

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 14 and Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, 2017-18, Table 1

Attendance by age and sex

Men (80%) and women (83%) aged 15-17 years were most likely of all age groups to attend a cultural venue or event.

Table 1. Attendance (%) at cultural venues or events, by age and sex
Age group (years)MalesFemalesPersons
15-17808381
18-24768078
25-34707371
35-44667370
45-54596763
55-64516056
65-74495653
75 and over404040
Total616664

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 16

Cinemas were the most visited venue or event for all age groups, except those aged 75 and over, where it was libraries or archives.

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 16

Overall, women (66%) were more likely than men (61%) to have attended a cultural venue or event. This was the case for each type of venue or event:

  • 25% of women attended a library or archive, compared with 16% of men
  • 21% of women attended an art gallery, compared with 16% of men
  • 9% of women attended a musical or opera, compared with 5% of men.

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 16

Frequency of attendance

Of adults who attended a selected venue or event:

  • 25% went to a library or archive 11 times or more
  • 27% went to an art gallery twice
  • 72% went to a musical or opera once.

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 21

Children's attendance

During 2021-22, eight in ten children (80%) aged 5 to 14 years attended at least one cultural venue or event outside of school hours.

Of all children:

  • 67% attended a cinema
  • 33% attended a library or archive
  • 31% attended a museum
  • 7% attended a musical or opera.

Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, children's attendance at cultural venues or events fell from 94% to 80%.

Venues or events where attendance fell from 2017-18 include:

  • at least one performing arts event (57% to 31%)
  • cinema (88% to 67%)
  • libraries or archives (53% to 33%)
  • live music concerts and performances (29% to 12%).

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 22 and Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, 2017-18, Table 9

Attendance by region

Western Australia had the highest children’s attendance rate across Australia (88%), followed by Tasmania with 87%. Victoria had the lowest with 74%.

In 2021-22, all states and territories experienced a decline in attendance rates for children compared with 2017-18:

  • Victoria with the largest decline (96% to 74%)
  • Western Australia with the smallest decline (96% to 88%).

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 22 and Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, 2017-18, Table 9

Attendance by age

A visit to the cinema was the most popular cultural venue or event for children of all age groups, with the highest attendance rate being for children aged 12 to 14 (72%).

The second most popular (also across all age groups) was visiting a library or archive with the highest attendance rate being for children aged 5 to 8 (37%).

For art galleries, the highest attendance rate was for children aged 9 to 11 (22%).

Frequency of attendance

One quarter (25%) of children who visited a library or archive attended 11 or more times, with:

  • 28% of children who visited the cinema attending twice
  • 79% of children attending a musical or opera once.

Source: Cultural and creative activities, 2021-22, Table 24

Data downloads

Cultural participation and attendance

Data files
Back to top of the page