CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN CULTURAL AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES

This report uses data from the latest Survey of Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to present an overview of children in Western Australia and their interaction with the cultural sector.

Conducted in April 2012, the survey collected information about the out of school hours participation of children (aged 5-14 years) in five organised cultural activities, seven selected leisure activities, and attendance at selected cultural venues and events. The 2012 survey expanded the list of organised cultural activities (i.e. playing a musical instrument, singing, dancing and drama) to include organised art and craft. Recreational art and craft remains a leisure activity. In addition to these activities, information was also collected about children’s participation in organised sport.

The data contained in this report, including additional demographic data pertaining to the children participating in the cultural sector, is available in the data cube for Western Australia attached to Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, Apr 2012 (cat. no. 4901.0) on the ABS website.

PARTICIPATION IN ORGANISED CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

In the 12 months prior to April 2012, 34% (100,600) of children aged 5-14 years in Western Australia participated in at least one of five organised cultural activities outside of school hours.

Playing a musical instrument was the most popular organised activity with 16% of children in Western Australia involved. By comparison, 15% were involved in dancing, 6% in organised art and craft, and 4% were involved in singing and drama.

When compared with the national participation rates, children in Western Australia had a similar rate of participation for dancing whilst all other activities were comparatively less popular.

 
Participation by age, sex and family type

Almost half of all girls (46%) in Western Australia participated in at least one organised cultural activity compared with less than a quarter of boys (23%).

The most popular activities for girls were dancing and playing a musical instrument with 40,000 (28%) and 26,300 (18%) participants respectively. Almost all children (97%) who participated in dancing took lessons in the 12 months prior to interview.

For boys the most popular activity was playing a musical instrument attracting 22,400 (15%) participants with almost three quarters (73%) receiving lessons. A similar proportion (75%) of girls who played a musical instrument received lessons.

Interest in dancing generally declined as children grew older with those aged 5-8 years participating in this activity at twice the rate of those in the 12-14 year age group (21% and 10% respectively). By contrast, interest in playing a musical instrument generally increased with age. Children in the 12-14 year age group participated in this activity at almost three times the rate of those aged 5-8 years (22% and 8% respectively).



Results from the survey indicate that children from couple families (36%) were more likely to have participated in at least one of the organised cultural activities than those from single parent families (28%). There is not enough evidence to conclude that this difference is statistically significant.

Duration of participation

In Western Australia, children involved in dancing, organised art and craft and playing a musical instrument spent between four and five hours, on average, engaged in these activities in the last two weeks of school prior to interview. Most of the participants engaged in these activities reported durations of two or less hours although 16% of dancers participated for ten hours or more.

Children in Western Australia spent more time, on average, engaged in almost all organised cultural activities than the national average. Time spent playing a musical instrument was similar to the national average.

 

CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION IN OTHER LEISURE ACTIVITIES

In the 12 months to April 2012, 64% (189,000) of children aged 5-14 years in Western Australia had participated in at least one organised sport outside of school hours. More information about children's participation in organised sport is available in the data cube for Western Australia attached to Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, Apr 2012 (cat. no. 4901.0) on the ABS website.

In addition to participation in organised activities, the 2012 ABS survey also collected data on a range of other activities to provide an overall picture of what children did outside of school hours. Whilst mainly leisure activities, the list did include homework or other study. The results showed that in the two school weeks immediately prior to interview, 98% of children in Western Australia had watched TV, DVDs or videos outside of school hours; 84% had participated in other screen based activities; 84% had done homework or other study; 74% read for pleasure; 66% had ridden a bike; and 60% had been skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter. Just under half (46%) of all children in Western Australia participated in recreational art and craft activities.

The leisure activity with the greatest differences between age groups was recreational art and craft with participation by those aged 5-8 years (60%) more than twice that of those in the 12-14 year age group (29%). Children in the oldest age group were also less likely to have ridden a bike or been skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter than their younger counterparts. In contrast, children in the 5-8 years age group were less likely to have engaged in other screen-based activities than those in the older age groups.



CHILDREN’S ATTENDANCE AT SELECTED CULTURAL VENUES OR EVENTS

In the 12 months to April 2012, almost three quarters (74%) of all children in Western Australia aged 5-14 years attended at least one of the selected cultural venues or events outside school hours. More than half (59%) of the children had visited a public library, whilst 43% visited a museum or art gallery and 40% attended a performing arts event.

Reported estimates indicate children aged 9-11 years had higher rates of attendance for all of the cultural venues and events included in the survey. However, there is not enough evidence to conclude that these differences are statistically significant.