A strategic priority for the Council is to support, sustain and creatively develop artist careers, from emerging careers to established ones.
Over the past 30 years recognition of the cultural, social and economic contribution of artists to Australian society has grown. Sadly, this has not translated into higher incomes for Australia’s artists, relative to other occupations. This research found that artists’ incomes as a whole are not keeping pace with the rest of the workforce.
There is a high level of uncertainty associated with the work of artists. So most artists do a range of paid work in both arts and non arts related jobs in order to make a living. This research found that less than half of artists income comes from their creative work, with the rest earned through arts related or non arts work.
As in many countries, the majority of Australian professional artists do not get huge financial rewards for pursuing their art practice. Rarely do people become professional artists for the money. They are driven by their passion and commitment to art.
Two pieces of research commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts offer a comprehensive picture of the working lives of Australian artists.
- Do you really expect to get paid? An economic study of professional artists in Australia (‘the artist survey’). This study is the fifth in a series commissioned by the Australia Council and conducted independently by Professor David Throsby from Macquarie University. Anita Zednik was the co-author of this study.
- What’s your other job? A census analysis of arts employment in Australia (‘the census study’) analyses data from the past three Australian Population Censuses. This study was undertaken by Peter Higgs of the Centre for Creative Industries and Innovation at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) under the leadership of Professor Stuart Cunningham.
Both reports and the research project summary are available for download on this page.
This research is just the beginning. Read the summary and the full reports and join the conversation online.
View the reports
An economic study of professional artists in Australia
('the artist survey')
The careers of practicing professional artists across all major art forms (except film) are profiled in this report. It is based on interviews with professional artists and includes data on their numbers, incomes, achievements and challenges.
A census analysis of arts employment in Australia ('the census study')
This study analyses data from the past three Censuses. It includes a new measure of the size of total employment in the arts by including all relevant occupations and industries. It also gives a picture of artists working in non-arts industries. This analysis is based upon peoples ‘main job’ reported in lead up to the Census.
Click here to order a hard copy of the artist survey study
Click here to order a hard copy of the census study
This is a re-blog. Add your voice to the discussions on the Australia Council website
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