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 Tasmania 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 Tasmania 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, 33% (20,900) of children aged 5-14 years in Tasmania 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 Tasmania involved. By comparison, 15% were involved in dancing, 8% in organised art and craft, and 4% were involved in singing and drama.

When compared with the national participation rates, children in Tasmania had a slightly higher rate of participation for organised art and craft whilst the majority of other activities were comparatively less popular. The participation rate for dancing was similar to the national rate.

 
Participation by age, sex and family type

Almost half (45%) of all girls in Tasmania participated in at least one organised cultural activity compared with less than a quarter of boys (21%).

The most popular activity for both girls and boys was playing a musical instrument with 5,500 (18%) and 4,700 (14%) participants respectively. Of the children who played a musical instrument, 74% had taken lessons in the 12 months prior to interview.

Children in the 5-8 years age group were less likely to play a musical instrument (10%) than those aged 9-11 years and 12-14 years (23% and 18% respectively). Survey results show varying rates of participation across the age groups for all other activities, however, there is not enough evidence to conclude that these differences are statistically significant.

Children from couple families (35%) were more likely to have participated in at least one of the organised cultural activities than those from single parent families (25%).

Duration of participation

In Tasmania, children who played a musical instrument spent between four and five hours, on average, engaged in this pursuit in the last two weeks of school prior to interview. Most of the participants engaged in this activity reported durations of two hours or less.

Those involved in dancing spent between two and three hours, on average, undertaking this activity which was more than an hour below the national average.



CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION IN OTHER LEISURE ACTIVITIES

In the 12 months to April 2012, 58% (37,200) of children aged 5-14 years in Tasmania 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 Tasmania 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 97% of children in Tasmania had watched TV, DVDs or videos outside of school hours; 84% had participated in other screen based activities; 76% read for pleasure; 68% had done homework or other study; 65% had ridden a bike and 55% had been skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter. Just over half (52%) of children in Tasmania 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 (66%), more than twice that of those aged 12-14 years (29%). Rates of participation by 12-14 year olds were also significantly lower than those of the other age groups for the activities of bike riding and skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter. Participation rates for other screen-based activities and homework or other study for school were highest in the 12-14 year age group.




CHILDREN’S ATTENDANCE AT SELECTED CULTURAL VENUES AND EVENTS

In the 12 months to April 2012, almost three quarters (74%) of all children in Tasmania aged 5-14 years attended at least one of the selected cultural venues or events outside school hours. Over half (52%) of all children visited a museum or art gallery, whilst half had visited a public library and attended a performing arts event.

Survey results show variations in rates of attendance across all age groups for each of the selected venues or events. However, there is not enough evidence to conclude that these differences are statistically significant.