ATTENDANCE
According to the ABS Survey of Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, 44% of the population aged 15 years and over attended at least one type of performing arts performance in the 12 month period prior to interview in 2005-06. One quarter (25%) of the population had attended Popular music concerts, while under one-fifth had seen Musicals and operas (16%) and Theatre performances (17%).
12.1 Attendance rates for the performing arts(a) - 2005-06
![Graph: Attendance rates for the performing arts(a)—2005–06](/AUSSTATS/ABS@.NSF/a9ca4374ed453c6bca2570dd007ce0a4/1717e7837aa9759dca2572fa0021823c/Body/0.35C!OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif)
The attendance rates for females exceeded those of males for most events, apart from popular music concerts where there was no significant difference. For most events, attendance was correlated with age. The best example of this is Popular music concerts, where attendance peaked with the 18-24 year age group (40%) and dropped almost progressively with each older age group, to 6.5% for those aged 75 years and over.
12.2 ATTENDANCE AT PERFORMING ARTS VENUES AND EVENTS(a), By selected characteristics - 2005-06 |
|
![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | Classical music
concerts | Popular music
concerts | Theatre
performances | Dance
performances | Musicals
and operas | Other
performing arts |
NUMBER ('000) |
|
Males | 643.8 | 1 955.1 | 1 033.1 | 546.5 | 944.7 | 1 166.1 |
Females | 864.3 | 2 080.8 | 1 690.1 | 1 078.5 | 1 669.2 | 1 488.8 |
15-17 years | 52.0 | 255.1 | 200.3 | 154.2 | 148.1 | 163.4 |
18-24 years | 116.7 | 774.8 | 306.4 | 159.4 | 266.3 | 312.8 |
25-34 years | 193.4 | 860.2 | 428.1 | 262.1 | 378.1 | 529.3 |
35-44 years | 244.7 | 742.0 | 459.7 | 362.9 | 502.1 | 572.2 |
45-54 years | 345.3 | 737.8 | 565.3 | 355.8 | 527.1 | 482.2 |
55-64 years | 284.8 | 413.7 | 445.2 | 188.8 | 440.7 | 353.1 |
65-74 years | 163.1 | 179.4 | 232.7 | 93.4 | 221.7 | 162.1 |
75 years and over | 108.1 | 72.9 | 85.4 | 48.3 | 130.0 | 79.9 |
Six state capital cities | 1 067.9 | 2 591.5 | 1 797.4 | 1 031.4 | 1 845.9 | 1 724.9 |
Rest of Australia | 440.1 | 1 444.4 | 925.8 | 593.5 | 768.0 | 930.1 |
NSW | 518.8 | 1 280.2 | 904.3 | 584.9 | 890.3 | 822.4 |
Vic. | 373.1 | 949.3 | 721.7 | 400.0 | 740.7 | 670.8 |
Qld | 251.4 | 794.1 | 467.3 | 269.5 | 475.9 | 505.3 |
SA | 118.6 | 321.2 | 215.7 | 137.0 | 159.4 | 250.7 |
WA | 168.2 | 479.9 | 261.6 | 152.1 | 230.4 | 274.7 |
Tas. | 35.4 | 92.0 | 74.3 | 28.8 | 58.5 | 64.5 |
NT | 8.8 | 32.8 | 13.5 | 10.7 | 10.4 | 16.4 |
ACT | 33.7 | 86.3 | 64.8 | 42.1 | 48.4 | 50.0 |
Total | 1 508.1 | 4 035.9 | 2 723.2 | 1 625.0 | 2 613.9 | 2 655.0 |
ATTENDANCE RATE (%) |
|
Males | 8.2 | 24.8 | 13.1 | 6.9 | 12.0 | 14.8 |
Females | 10.6 | 25.6 | 20.8 | 13.3 | 20.6 | 18.3 |
15-17 years | 6.4 | 31.2 | 24.5 | 18.8 | 18.1 | 20.0 |
18-24 years | 6.0 | 40.0 | 15.8 | 8.2 | 13.7 | 16.1 |
25-34 years | 7.0 | 31.0 | 15.4 | 9.4 | 13.6 | 19.0 |
35-44 years | 8.3 | 25.1 | 15.5 | 12.3 | 17.0 | 19.3 |
45-54 years | 12.4 | 26.5 | 20.3 | 12.8 | 19.0 | 17.3 |
55-64 years | 12.8 | 18.7 | 20.1 | 8.5 | 19.9 | 15.9 |
65-74 years | 11.8 | 12.9 | 16.8 | 6.7 | 16.0 | 11.7 |
75 years and over | 9.6 | 6.5 | 7.6 | 4.3 | 11.5 | 7.1 |
Six state capital cities | 10.6 | 25.8 | 17.9 | 10.3 | 18.4 | 17.2 |
Rest of Australia | 7.4 | 24.2 | 15.5 | 10.0 | 12.9 | 15.6 |
NSW | 9.7 | 23.9 | 16.9 | 10.9 | 16.6 | 15.3 |
Vic. | 9.3 | 23.6 | 17.9 | 9.9 | 18.4 | 16.7 |
Qld | 8.2 | 25.8 | 15.2 | 8.7 | 15.4 | 16.4 |
SA | 9.7 | 26.2 | 17.6 | 11.2 | 13.0 | 20.5 |
WA | 10.8 | 30.8 | 16.8 | 9.7 | 14.8 | 17.6 |
Tas. | 9.3 | 24.1 | 19.4 | 7.5 | 15.3 | 16.9 |
NT | 7.9 | 29.5 | 12.2 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 14.8 |
ACT | 13.3 | 34.0 | 25.6 | 16.6 | 19.1 | 19.7 |
Total | 9.4 | 25.2 | 17.0 | 10.2 | 16.3 | 16.6 |
|
(a) In the 12 months before interview. |
ABS, Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, 2005-06 (cat. no. 4114.0). |
Popular music and classical music concerts were the events most likely to attract multiple visits, with around 60% of people attending more than once over a 12 month period. This fell to about 40% who attended more than twice and around 25% who attended more than three times.
12.3 FREQUENCY OF ATTENDANCE AT PERFORMING ARTS VENUES AND EVENTS(a) - 2005-06 |
|
![](/icons/ecblank.gif) | Classical music
concerts | Popular
music concerts | Theatre
performances | Dance
performances | Musicals
and operas | Other
performing arts |
NUMBER ('000) |
|
Once | 634.3 | 1 399.5 | 1 269.3 | 883.6 | 1 428.3 | 1 692.8 |
Twice | 357.5 | 1 051.7 | 730.0 | 401.4 | 647.5 | 524.0 |
3 times | 181.3 | 528.6 | 267.1 | 121.6 | 256.5 | 183.1 |
4 times | 95.4 | 308.6 | 143.8 | 78.5 | 115.5 | 73.3 |
5 times | 56.0 | 195.3 | 80.7 | 40.3 | 65.5 | 46.6 |
6-10 times | 119.4 | 338.5 | 171.2 | 57.2 | 80.2 | 93.7 |
11 times or more | **64.1 | 213.8 | *61.2 | **42.4 | **20.4 | *41.4 |
Total | 1 508.1 | 4 035.9 | 2 723.2 | 1 625.0 | 2 613.9 | 2 655.0 |
ATTENDANCE RATE (%) |
|
Once | 42.1 | 34.7 | 46.6 | 54.4 | 54.6 | 63.8 |
Twice | 23.7 | 26.1 | 26.8 | 24.7 | 24.8 | 19.7 |
3 times | 12.0 | 13.1 | 9.8 | 7.5 | 9.8 | 6.9 |
4 times | 6.3 | 7.6 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 2.8 |
5 times | 3.7 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
6-10 times | 7.9 | 8.4 | 6.3 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
11 times or more | **4.2 | 5.3 | *2.2 | **2.6 | **0.7 | *1.6 |
Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
|
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution |
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use |
(a) In the 12 months before interview. |
ABS, Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, 2005-06 (cat. no. 4114.0). |