4183.0 - Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2010-11

Quality Declaration

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/11/2012

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Contents >> State and Territory Government >> Heritage

HERITAGE

Heritage categories accounted for the majority of state and territory government expenditure (75%) in 2010-11, although expenditure is down from 79% in 2009-10. Increases in estimates for Other museums and cultural heritage ($13.4m) and Art museums ($2.5m) were offset by falls in all other Heritage categories. In dollar terms, the largest fall was in the category of Environmental heritage where expenditure was $74.8m lower in 2010-11 than in 2009-10. (Tables 3 and 4)

In 2010-11 the category with the highest expenditure, funded by state and territory governments, was Environmental heritage (42%). These funds were provided to assist the operation of sites, collections and areas such as national parks, flora and fauna reserves, zoological parks, aquaria and botanic gardens. All state and territory governments directed more money to Environmental heritage than any other category with over half of Western Australia's cultural expenditure (54%) being directed to this activity.

STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT HERITAGE EXPENDITURE - 2009-10 and 2010-11
Graph: STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT HERITAGE EXPENDITURE—2009-10 and 2010-11

Graph: STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT HERITAGE EXPENDITURE—2009-10 and 2010-11

The category with the next highest expenditure was Other museums and cultural heritage ($482.9m), followed by Libraries ($331.1m) and Art museums ($180.8m). The New South Wales Government was the largest contributor to Other museums and cultural heritage accounting for 47% of total state and territory government expenditure on this category. Victoria (16%) was the next highest contributor with $78.3m.

In dollar terms, the Victorian Government spent the most on Libraries with an estimate of $79.2m, followed by New South Wales ($77.5m) and Queensland ($57.1m). Of all states and territories, the Tasmanian Government spent the largest proportion of its total expenditure (18%) on Libraries. This reflects the fact that libraries are mainly or solely funded by the Tasmanian Government whereas in the other states and the Northern Territory, local governments also contribute significantly to the funding of libraries.