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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 Victoria 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 Victoria 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 to April 2012, 37% (251,000) of children aged 5-14 years in Victoria 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 Victoria involved. By comparison, 15% were involved in dancing, 8% in organised art and craft, 6% in singing and 5% in drama.

When compared with the national participation rates, children in Victoria had slightly higher rates of participation for singing and organised art and craft, whilst playing a musical instrument was comparatively less popular. Participation rates for the remaining activities were similar.

PARTICIPATION IN SELECTED ORGANISED CULTURAL ACTIVITIES(a)(b), Vic. and Australia, 2012

The most popular activities for girls were dancing and playing a musical instrument with 92,500 (28%) and 56,500 (17%) participants respectively. Almost all girls (97%) who participated in dancing took lessons in the 12 months prior to interview. The proportion of boys who participated in dancing and received formal dance instruction was slightly lower at 85%.

For boys the most popular activity was playing a musical instrument attracting 53,300 (15%) participants with seven out of every ten participants (72%) receiving lessons. The proportion of girls who played a musical instrument and received formal lessons was slightly higher at 81%. There is not enough evidence to conclude that this difference is statistically significant.

Participation rates for children involved in playing a musical instrument were similar for those in the older two age groups whilst participation rates for children involved in dancing were similar for those in the younger age groups. Children aged 5-8 years were more likely to participate in organised art and craft than those aged 12-14 years with participation rates of 10% and 5% respectively. Conversely the rate of participation in drama activities generally increased with age.

PARTICIPATION IN SELECTED ORGANISED CULTURAL ACTIVITIES(a)(b), By age, Vic., 2012

Duration of participation

In Victoria children who participated in organised art and craft activities and those who played a musical instrument spent between four and five hours, on average, engaged in these pursuits in the last two weeks of school prior to interview. Most of the participants engaged in these activities reported durations of two hours or less although 17% of those undertaking organised art and craft activities and 12% of those playing musical instruments did so for ten hours or more.

Those involved in dancing and singing spent between three and four hours, on average, undertaking these activities whilst 69% of those participating in drama reported durations of two hours or less.

For activities other than dancing, children in Victoria spent more time, on average, engaged in these pursuits than the national average.

AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON SELECTED ORGANISED CULTURAL ACTIVITIES(a)(b)(c), Vic. and Australia, 2012

In the 12 months to April 2012, 61% (409,600) of children aged 5-14 years in Victoria 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 Victoria 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 96% of children in Victoria had watched TV, DVDs or videos outside of school hours; 86% had participated in other screen-based activities; 80% had done homework or other study; 73% read for pleasure; 64% had ridden a bike; and 54% had been skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter. Just under half (47%) of all children in Victoria 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 (62%) more than twice that of those in the 12-14 year age group (27%). Rates of participation by 12-14 year olds were also significantly lower than those for 9-11 year olds for the activities of bike riding and skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter.

PARTICIPATION IN SELECTED LEISURE ACTIVITIES(a)(b), By age, Vic., 2012

CHILDREN’S ATTENDANCE AT SELECTED CULTURAL VENUES AND EVENTS

In the 12 months to April 2012, three quarters (76%) of children in Victoria aged 5-14 years attended at least one of the selected cultural venues or events outside of school hours. More than half (54%) of the children visited a public library, whilst just under half (49%) visited a museum or art gallery. Only 44% of the children in Victoria attended a performing arts event.

Attendance rates at public libraries and museums or art galleries were generally lowest for those in the 12-14 year age group at 49% and 40% respectively. Rates of attendance at performing arts events were similar across all age groups.

CHILDREN'S ATTENDANCE AT SELECTED CULTURAL VENUES AND EVENTS(a)(b)(c), By age, Vic., 2012