1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/01/2005   
   Page tools: Print Print Page  
Contents >> Culture and recreation >> 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 12.11 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 opera or musical, 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.


12.11 ATTENDANCE(a) AT THE PERFORMING ARTS - 2002
Popular music concerts
Classical music concerts
Dance
performances
Musicals and
operas
Theatre
performances
Other performing
arts
Attendance rate(b)
%
%
%
%
%
%
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

An ABS survey of performing arts industries in 1999-2000 identified 1,437 employing businesses mainly engaged in the performing arts. Of these, 705 provided live music and theatre productions; 125 operated venues for performing arts such as concert halls and entertainment centres; and 606 provided services to the arts industry such as festival management, casting agency operation, costume design and set designing. These businesses employed 16,429 persons at the end of June 2000 and a further 20,752 persons worked as volunteers. In 1999-2000 they received a total income of $1,633.8m, divided almost equally between government funding ($470.0m) and receipts from the box office ($460.5m).

An ABS survey of businesses mainly involved in music and theatre production in 2002-03 indicated that compared with 1999-2000 there had been a 23% increase in the number of such businesses (from 705 to 865), a 12% increase in their employment (from 7,060 to 7,842) and a 16% decrease in volunteers (from 3,034 to 2,548). More information is available in Chapter 20 Service industries, which also includes information about performing arts festivals of more than two days duration held in 2002-03.

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 web portal at <http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au>. Prominent Australian companies, such as the Symphony Australia Orchestral Network, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet and Musica Viva publish annual reports on their web sites (see Bibliography) which provide information about employment and attendances.



Previous PageNext Page