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Employment in cultural occupations
The five-yearly Census of Population and Housing provides information on the number and characteristics of people aged 15 years and over whose main job in the week prior to the census was in a cultural occupation. People who had unpaid involvement in cultural activities, or who worked part-time in cultural activities but had another job they regarded as their main job in the week prior to the census, would not be recorded in the census as being in cultural occupations.
The 2001 census found that 3.1% (259,909 persons) of employed persons in Australia worked in a cultural occupation, slightly higher than the 3.0% (229,330 persons) of employed persons at the time of the 1996 census. In 2001, 56.1% of all persons employed in cultural occupations as their main job were males and 43.9% were females. In 1996, the percentage of females employed in cultural occupations (42.8%) was slightly lower.
Table 12.21 shows the number and sex of people who were recorded as having a main job in selected cultural occupations in the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. The ten occupations shown are those in which the highest numbers of people were employed.
12.21 CULTURAL OCCUPATIONS WITH HIGHEST NUMBERS OF EMPLOYED PERSONS - 2001
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| Occupation | Males | Females | Persons |
|
| Printing tradesperson(a) | 22,943 | 4,736 | 27,679 |
| Graphic designer | 11,545 | 9,599 | 21,144 |
| Minister of religion | 11,415 | 2,823 | 14,238 |
| Architects and landscape architects(b) | 10,064 | 3,037 | 13,101 |
| Librarian | 1,748 | 8,565 | 10,313 |
| Music teacher (private) | 2,569 | 5,876 | 8,445 |
| Library assistant | 1,174 | 7,224 | 8,398 |
| Photographer | 4,453 | 2,392 | 6,845 |
| Instrumental musician | 5,070 | 1,555 | 6,625 |
| Architectural associate | 5,223 | 1,188 | 6,411 |
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(a) Comprises Printing tradespersons n.f.d., Graphic pre-press tradespersons, Printing machinists and small offset printers, Binders and finishers and Screen printers.
(b) Comprises Architects and landscape architects n.f.d., Architect and Landscape architect. |
 |
| Source: Employment in Culture, Australia, 2001 (6273.0). |
Indigenous Australians made up 1.0% (2,573) of all persons employed in cultural occupations at the time of the 2001 census. Table 12.22 shows the ten cultural occupations in which the highest numbers of Indigenous Australians were employed. Relatively high numbers of Indigenous Australians were employed in arts and crafts occupations, in particular as Painters (visual arts).
12.22 CULTURAL OCCUPATIONS IN WHICH HIGHEST NUMBERS OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS EMPLOYED - 2001
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| Occupation | Indigenous Australian persons |
|
| Visual arts and crafts professionals n.e.c. | 342 |
| Painter (visual arts) | 221 |
| Printing tradesperson(a) | 211 |
| Park ranger | 154 |
| Minister of religion | 107 |
| Artists and related professionals n.f.d. | 106 |
| Graphic designer | 93 |
| Library assistant | 85 |
| Dancer or choreographer | 73 |
| Radio presenter | 71 |
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| (a) Comprises Printing tradespersons n.f.d., Graphic pre-press tradespersons, Printing machinists and small offset printers, Binders and finishers and Screen printers. |
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| Source: Employment in Culture, Australia, 2001 (6273.0). |
Involvement in culture and leisure activities
The most recent data about the involvement of persons aged 15 years and over in selected culture and leisure activities were collected in April 2001 as part of the ABS Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities Survey. During the 12 months prior to interview in April 2001, an estimated 2.5 million persons (16.8% of the Australian population aged 15 years and over) were involved in some form of paid or unpaid work relating to the culture and leisure activities covered in the survey. These figures exclude involvement solely for the respondent's own use or that of their family.
As table 12.23 shows, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest participation rate in culture and leisure activities (28.8%) for residents aged 15 years and over, and this was significantly higher than the Australian participation rate of 16.8%.
12.23 PERSONS INVOLVED IN CULTURE AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES - 2001
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| Some paid involvement(a) | Unpaid
involvement only | Total persons involved | Persons with no involvement | Total
persons | Participation
rate |
| ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | ’000 | % |
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| New South Wales | 291.2 | 465.6 | 756.8 | 4,311.5 | 5,068.4 | 14.9 |
| Victoria | 222.2 | 416.6 | 638.8 | 3,141.7 | 3,780.5 | 16.9 |
| Queensland | 163.1 | 334.8 | 497.9 | 2,272.8 | 2,770.7 | 18.0 |
| South Australia | 74.7 | 140.9 | 215.6 | 965.6 | 1,181.2 | 18.3 |
| Western Australia | 91.3 | 157.1 | 248.4 | 1,220.8 | 1,469.2 | 16.9 |
| Tasmania | 20.1 | 45.8 | 65.9 | 297.8 | 363.7 | 18.1 |
| Northern Territory(b) | 8.8 | 11.4 | 20.2 | 90.7 | 110.9 | 18.2 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 28.5 | 39.3 | 67.8 | 167.9 | 235.7 | 28.8 |
| Australia | 900.0 | 1,611.5 | 2,511.5 | 12,468.7 | 14,980.2 | 16.8 |
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(a) Includes persons who only received payment in kind. Of the 900,000 people who received some payment, 53,700 (6.0%) only received payment in kind.
(b) Refers to mainly urban areas only. |
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| Source: Work In Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2001 (6281.0). |
More persons had paid involvement in writing (214,800), design (210,700) and visual art activities (175,800) than in any other culture or leisure activity in the survey. Of those involved in writing, 40.0% received payment; for design, 60.2% received payment; while for visual art activities, 34.9% received payment. The activity with the highest percentage of people with paid involvement was television, with 64.6% of the 83,600 people involved receiving some payment.
The Voluntary Work Survey conducted by the ABS in 2000 found that organisations categorised as 'sports and physical recreation', 'education, training and youth development' and 'community and welfare' each received help from about one million people aged 18 years and over. By comparison, 280,200 people (2% of the population) in Australia undertook voluntary work for cultural organisations. Of these, 58% were female and 42% were male. Some of these people provided voluntary work to more than one cultural organisation, so that there was a total of 306,400 voluntary involvements in cultural organisations. The most common type of cultural involvement was with organisations involved in the performing arts (102,600 or 34% of all cultural involvements).
How Australians spend their free time
Generally, Australians fit their leisure activities into their free time, that is, the time left over after personal, family, educational and employment responsibilities. The 1997 Time Use Survey showed that Australians aged 15 years or more spent on average about 5 hours (316 minutes) or 22% of their time per day on free time activity as their main activity (table 12.24). People frequently undertake more than one activity at the same time (e.g. housework and listening to the radio). If simultaneous activities are included, Australians spent just over nine hours (552 minutes) on free time activities. Time spent using audio and audiovisual media (e.g. listening to the radio and watching television) showed the largest increase when comparing all activities (including simultaneous activities) with main activities. As a main activity, an average of just over two hours (131 minutes) was spent on using audio and audiovisual media. However, when simultaneous activities were included, time spent on this activity nearly doubled to over four hours (257 minutes).
12.24 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON FREE TIME ACTIVITIES(a) - 1997
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| Main activity | All activities |
| minutes per day | minutes per day |
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| Social and community interaction | | |
| Socialising | 11 | 12 |
| Visiting entertainment and cultural venues | 5 | 5 |
| Religious activities and ritual ceremonies | 5 | 5 |
| Other | 24 | 24 |
| Total | 45 | 47 |
| Recreation and leisure | | |
| Sport and outdoor activity | 27 | 28 |
| Games, hobbies, arts and crafts | 16 | 20 |
| Reading | 25 | 37 |
| Audio and audiovisual media | 131 | 257 |
| Talking (including phone) | 35 | 115 |
| Other | 35 | 48 |
| Total | 271 | 505 |
| Total | 316 | 552 |
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| (a) Free time is the amount of time left over after necessary time, committed time and contracted time have been taken out of a person's day. Necessary time includes time spent on activities such as sleeping, eating and personal care. Committed time includes time spent on activities such as housework, care of children and shopping. Contracted time includes time spent on paid work and regular education. |
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| Source: Time Use on Culture/Leisure Activities, 1997 (4173.0). |
Household expenditure on culture
Regular surveys on household expenditure are conducted by the ABS, with the most recent conducted in respect of 1998-99. Findings from this survey showed that Australian households spent, on average, $27.19 per week on selected cultural goods and services in 1998-99 (table 12.25), which was 3.9% of their average weekly expenditure on all goods and services. From 1984 to 1998-99, total household expenditure on culture increased by 45.7% after adjusting for price changes. The 1998-99 survey found that cultural items for which average household expenditure was relatively large included books ($3.11 per week), televisions ($2.62 per week), newspapers ($2.54 per week) and pre-recorded compact discs and records ($1.91 per week).
12.25 EXPENDITURE ON CULTURE BY AUSTRALIAN HOUSEHOLDS - 1998-99
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| Average weekly household expenditure | Total annual household expenditure |
| $ | $m |
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| Literature | 7.55 | 2,804.0 |
| Music | 2.06 | 765.1 |
| Performing arts | 1.48 | 549.6 |
| Visual arts and crafts | 1.54 | 571.9 |
| Broadcasting, electronic media and film | 4.13 | 1,533.8 |
| Other arts | 1.35 | 501.4 |
| Heritage | 0.17 | 63.1 |
| Other culture | 8.90 | 3,305.3 |
| Total expenditure on culture | 27.19 | 10,097.9 |
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| Source: Cultural Ministers Council Statistics Working Group, 'Household Expenditure on Culture, May 2002'. |
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