ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE

ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND BOTANIC GARDENS

Zoological parks (which includes aquaria) are primarily engaged in the breeding, preservation, study and display of native and/or exotic fauna in captivity and are accessible to the general public. Similarly, Botanic gardens have been established to collect, study, exchange and display plants for research and for the education and enjoyment of the public.

The 2009-10 survey of Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events found that around 6.4 million Australians aged 15 years and over visited a Zoological park and almost 6.2 million visited a Botanic garden in the twelve months prior to being interviewed.

Residents of the Northern Territory had the highest attendance rates for Zoological parks and Botanic gardens, 53% and 43% respectively.

		ZOOLOGICAL PARKS			BOTANIC GARDENS
	Number ('000)	Attendance rate (%)		Number ('000)	Attendance rate (%)
New South Wales	2 012.9	35.2		1 801.8	31.5
Victoria	1 700.9	38.5		1 768.1	40.0
Queensland	1 134.0	32.7		1 248.0	36.0
South Australia	532.6	40.9		477.5	36.6
Western Australia	732.4	41.6		552.7	31.4
Tasmania	121.9	30.6		140.3	35.2
Northern Territory	67.8	53.1		55.0	43.1
Australian Capital Territory	121.7	43.6		110.6	39.6
Australia	6 424.2	36.8		6 153.8	35.2

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(a) Zoological parks includes other wildlife parks, aquaria and marine parks.

(b) In the twelve months prior to interview. Source: Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4114.0)

Persons aged 25-44 years of age were more likely to attend Zoological parks and Botanic gardens than any other age group. The presence of children in the household was also an important factor for attendance at Zoological parks, although it had little bearing on rates of attendance at Botanic gardens.



EXPENDITURE ON ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE

In 2012-13 the estimate of the total expenditure funded by government on Environmental heritage was $1,368.9m. The majority of government expenditure on Environmental heritage was funded by state and territory governments ($1281.8m or 94%).

While some expenditure is funded by local government, details are not available for 2012-13.

		$m
Australian Government(a)		87.1
State and territory government
	New South Wales	252.3
	Victoria	198.8
	Queensland	248.5
	South Australia	87.4
	Western Australia	291.1
	Tasmania	59.9
	Northern Territory	57.0
	Australian Capital Territory	86.8
	Total	1 281.8
Total expenditure		1 368.9

(a) The Australian Government refers to the federal government. It does not refer to the aggregate of state and territory governments, nor does it include local government.
Source: Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2012-13 (cat. no. 4183.0)

EMPLOYMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE

The Census of Population of Housing (Census) collects information about a person's main job in the week before Census night and the ABS publication Employment in Culture, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 6273.0) uses data from the 2011 Census to present a picture of employment in cultural industries and occupations. The tables below relate to selected environmental heritage industries and occupations and are a subset of data available in Table 3 of the datacube attached to the publication.

Within the industry of Zoological parks and botanical gardens operation, Zookeeper (701 people) was the most common cultural occupation, however, the majority of persons (72%) working in this industry were employed in non-cultural occupations.

		Number	%
Cultural occupations
	Zookeeper	701	22.0
	Park ranger	22	0.7
	Landscape architect	4	0.1
	Other cultural occupations	116	3.6
	Total cultural occupations	843	26.4
Other occupations		2 308	72.4
Total occupations(c)		3 190	100.0

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(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.
(b) In their main job in the week prior to Census night.
(c) Includes not stated and inadequately described.
Source: Employment in Culture, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 6273.0)


Data from the 2011 Census does not separately identify those working in organisations responsible for nature parks and reserves from those working in recreational parks and gardens. The broad Nature reserves and conservation parks operation industry employed 7,383 people, of which 1,438 were Park rangers, 132 were Zookeepers and 44 were Urban and regional planners. The majority of persons (75%) employed in this industry were in non-cultural occupations.

		Number	%
Cultural occupations
	Park ranger	1 438	19.5
	Zookeeper	132	1.8
	Urban and regional planner	44	0.6
	Environmental manager	37	0.5
	Landscape architect	14	0.2
	Other cultural occupations	89	1.2
	Total cultural occupations	1 754	23.8
Other occupations		5 515	74.7
Total occupations(c)		7 383	100.0

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(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.
(b) In their main job in the week prior to Census night.
(c) Includes not stated and inadequately described.
Source: Employment in Culture, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 6273.0)



USEFUL LINKS

Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4114.0)
Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2012-13 (cat. no. 4183.0)
Employment in Culture, Australia, 2011 (cat. no. 6273.0)