Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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PERFORMING ARTS

The performing arts include music performances, acting, dance performances, opera and musicals, circuses and puppet shows.

ATTENDANCE AT THE PERFORMING ARTS

Attendance at the performing arts is a significant aspect of the cultural life of many Australians. Table 12.14 shows that, in the 12 months prior to interview in 2002, 26.4% of the Australian population aged 18 years and over (3.8 million people) attended at least one popular music concert, 18.7% (2.7 million people) attended at least one musical or opera, and 18.0% (2.6 million people) attended at least one theatre performance. Attendance rates at most of the performing arts were generally similar to or slightly higher than those recorded in a survey conducted in 1999.

12.14 ATTENDANCE AT THE PERFORMING ARTS(a) - 2002
		Attendance rate(b)
		Popular music concerts	Classical music concerts	Dance performances	Musicals and operas	Theatre performances	Other performing arts
		%	%	%	%	%	%
Males		26.6	7.7	8.4	15.1	15.3	19.2
Females		26.2	10.2	13.4	22.1	20.6	21.5
Persons		26.4	9.0	10.9	18.7	18.0	20.4
Age group (years)
	18-24	43.8	6.3	10.5	16.0	19.8	23.3
	25-34	33.2	6.6	10.3	17.9	17.7	24.0
	35-44	25.9	8.1	14.0	17.1	19.4	20.9
	45-54	24.9	10.9	12.1	21.6	19.9	20.6
	55-64	20.3	13.2	10.7	23.2	17.6	19.5
	65 and over	10.4	9.7	6.9	16.6	13.0	12.9
Birthplace
	Australia	27.8	8.1	10.5	19.8	18.9	20.5
	Main English-speaking countries	28.5	11.5	12.6	20.5	21.3	23.5
	Other countries	19.5	10.8	11.6	12.7	12.1	17.9
(a) Attendance at least once in the 12 months prior to interview in 2002. (b) The number of people who attended, expressed as a percentage of the number of people in that population group. Source: Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australia, 2002 (4114.0).

PERFORMING ARTS INDUSTRIES

At the end of June 2003 there were 865 businesses mainly involved in music and theatre production (table 12.15). This was an increase of 23% over the number recorded at the end of June 2000. During 2002-03 these businesses put on 53,241 paid performances which attracted 14.2 million paid attendances. The highest numbers of paid attendances were for popular music performances (4.0 million attendances) and musical theatre productions (3.2 million attendances). The total income generated from music and theatre production activities was $622.1m, with box office takings accounting for 53% ($331.6m) of this figure. Government funding provided 22% ($134.4m) of total income. Operating profit before tax for 2002-03 was $46.5m, which was $18.7m more than for 1999-2000. A total of 7,842 persons were employed by music and theatre production businesses at the end of June 2003 and a further 2,548 were volunteers. The number of volunteers was down 16% from the number recorded at the end of June 2000 (3,034).

There were 176 performing arts festivals (of greater than two days duration) conducted during the year ended June 2003. There were 29,707 performances at these festivals - 23,138 paid and 6,569 free - which altogether attracted 7.5 million attendances. Of these, 80% (6.0 million) were free of charge. Performing arts festivals generated $88.5m in income of which 31% ($27.2m) came from ticket sales. The total operating profit was $5.7m. The bulk of the workforce utilised by these festivals consisted of 15,728 volunteers.

12.15 PERFORMING ARTS - 2002-03
			Units	Music and theatre production	Performing arts festivals(a)
Organisations at the end of June			no.	865	. .
Number of festivals			no.	. .	176
Employment(b)			no.	7,842	1,272
Volunteers(b)			no.	2,548	15,728
Income
	Box office takings/ticket sales		$m	331.6	27.2
	Government funding		$m	134.4	27.0
	Other		$m	156.0	34.3
	Total		$m	622.1	88.5
Total expenses			$m	575.6	82.8
Operating profit before tax			$m	46.5	5.7
Operating profit margin			%	10.7	15.6
Productions with:
	Paid performances(c)		no.	53,241	23,138
	Paid attendances(d)		'000	14,230	1,508
(a) Of greater than 2 days duration. (b) Measured at the end of June for Music and theatre production, and during the conduct of performing arts festivals. (c) Productions relate to headline acts only, support acts are excluded. Includes overseas performances. Caution should be exercised in using this data - some music and theatre organisations did not keep records of the number of paid performances (because these were likely to be kept by the venues) and hence could only provide estimates. (d) Includes overseas attendances. Source: Performing Arts, Australia, 2002-03 (8697.0).

Information about many of the performing arts companies in Australia is available under the headings 'Music' and 'Performing Arts' in the Australian Government's Culture and Recreation Portal at <http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au>. The Australia Dancing portal, hosted by the NLA, provides an information and directory database relating to dance in Australia and can be accessed at <http://www.australiadancing.org>. Prominent Australian companies, such as Symphony Australia, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet and Musica Viva publish annual reports on their web sites (see Bibliography) which provide information about employment and attendances.

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