The Australian Bureau of Statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released their publication Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, April 2007 (cat. no. 6281.0) on the ABS website. It can be downloaded free-of-charge from the ABS website .

Some highlights from the publication include:

• In total, just over one in five people (22% or 3.5 million) aged 15 or older were involved in culture and leisure activities; this is up from 17% in 2004.
• Overall more women (24%) than men (19%) worked in a culture and leisure field, but the rate of paid involvement was similar for both men and women (7%).
• One-third of all people involved (30% or 1.1 million people) received some payment. The majority (66%) of these people reported that their involvement was part of their main job. People with relevant qualifications were more likely to be paid for their involvement (53%) than those without (22%).
• Younger people (aged 15-24 years) were the most (25%) involved in culture and leisure activities while older people (aged 65 years and over) were the least (15%) involved.
• The number of Australians involved in visual art activities has nearly doubled since 2004, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.
• In 2004, there were around 790,000 people involved in visual art (painting, drawing, computer art, photography); by 2007 this had increased to over 1.4 million.
• Other culture and leisure activities with high levels of involvement were craft activities (such as furniture-making and wood crafts, jewellery making, pottery and ceramics, glass crafts and textile crafts) with 960,000 people; writing (606,500), performing arts (506,300) and design (459,200).

Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2006-07 (cat. no. 4183.0) shows that total government funding for cultural activities was $5.6 billion in 2006–07, a rise of 2.6% on last year. The federal government contributed one third ($1.9 billion) state and territory governments contributed $2.6 billion and local governments, $1.1 billion.

Culture and Recreation News from the ABS National Centre for Culture and Recreation Statistics (NCCRS)

Culture and Recreation News is the half-yearly newsletter of NCCRS. The newsletter highlights developments in arts and cultural heritage, and sports and recreation statistics, and provides relevant information for researchers, policy makers, service providers and others with an interest in this field. Included in this edition is statistical information on performing arts which earned $733.4 million during 2006-07. The release is available at 4147.4.55.001 Culture and Recreation News, Sep 2008

Arts and Cultural Heritage: An Information Development Plan Australia 2008, has been developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) National Centre for Culture and Recreation Statistics (NCCRS) in consultation with the Cultural Ministers Council Statistics Working Group (CMCSWG). The aim of the Information Development Plan (IDP) (PDF) is to guide future directions for statistical data development and research relevant to arts and cultural heritage. It is based on a shared understanding of the key policy imperatives and agreement on the areas of priority.

Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities publication - released in October 2009 and includes children's activities over time, organised cultural events, cultural venues and events and other topics

Results from the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) are available on the ABS website. Involvement in cultural activities is one of the topics included in the survey