4172.0 - Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2008 (First Edition)

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/05/2008

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Contents >> Employment

EMPLOYMENT

Service Industry Surveys

The 2002-03 Television, Film and Video Production Survey found that businesses involved in commercial free-to-air television services in Australia employed a total of 6,577 people in June 2003. A further 2,517 people were employed by subscription television broadcasters.

Public broadcasters also employed a large number of people in radio and television. The ABC and SBS Annual Reports for 2006-07 indicated that in June 2007 the networks employed just under 4,500 people and 842 people respectively.

Census of Population and Housing

Neither the Television, Film and Video Production Survey nor the ABC and SBS Annual Reports provide detailed breakdowns of the type of occupations in which people are involved in the radio and television industries. The 2006 Census of Population and Housing is the most detailed source of occupation information, although the data it collects relates only to a person’s main job (the job in which they worked the most hours in the week before Census Night). In August 2006, there were 12,646 people whose main job was in the Free-to-air television broadcasting industry and 2,928 people in the Cable and other subscription broadcasting industry. This includes people working in community television.

Over half the people employed in the Free-to-air television broadcasting industry (62%) worked in cultural occupations as defined by the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications. This is quite different to Cable and other subscription broadcasting industry where just 19% were employed in cultural occupations.

17.2 PERSONS EMPLOYED IN TELEVISION BROADCASTING INDUSTRIES(a)(b), By occupation - August 2006

			Number	%


	Free-to-air television broadcasting
		Media producers (excluding video)	1 236	9.8
		Television journalists	928	7.3
		Camera operators (film, TV and radio)	628	5.0
		Film and video editors	592	4.7
		Program directors (TV or radio)	388	3.1
		Production assistants (film, TV, radio or stage)	361	2.9
		Other cultural occupations	3 680	29.1
		Total cultural occupations	7 813	61.8
		Other occupations	4 833	38.2
		Total occupations	12 646	100.0
	Cable and other subscription broadcasting
		Media producers (excluding video)	123	4.2
		Film and video editors	51	1.7
		Broadcast transmitter operators	43	1.5
		Program directors (TV or radio)	38	1.3
		Television journalists	32	1.1
		Directors (film, TV, radio or stage)	31	1.1
		Other cultural occupations	238	8.1
		Total cultural occupations	556	19.0
		Other occupations	2 372	81.0
		Total occupations	2 928	100.0

(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.
(b) In their main job in the week before Census Night.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006, data available on request.

The 2006 Census of Population and Housing found that there were 5,226 people whose main job was in the Radio broadcasting industry. Unlike the Free-to-air television broadcasting industry, just over half (52%) of people working in the Radio broadcasting industry in their main job worked in a non-cultural occupation.

17.3 PERSONS EMPLOYED IN RADIO BROADCASTING(a)(b), By occupations - August 2006

		Number	%


	Radio presenters	974	18.6
	Program directors (TV or radio)	439	8.4
	Radio journalists	365	7.0
	Advertising specialists	81	1.5
	Sound technicians	69	1.3
	Copywriters	58	1.1
	Other cultural occupations	509	9.7
	Total cultural occupations	2 495	47.7
	Other occupations	2 731	52.3
	Total occupations	5 226	100.0

(a) Cells in this table have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data.
(b) In their main job in the week before Census Night.
Source: ABS, Census of Population and Housing, 2006, data available on request.

Work Survey

As data from the Census of Population and Housing relates only to a person's main job during a one week period in August, it may not capture those people who are involved in a less regular or voluntary capacity. The 2007 survey of Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities provides some indication of total involvement over a 12 month period. The survey found that 77,000 people were involved in television broadcasting and 105,500 were involved in radio broadcasting over a 12 month period to April 2007. The majority of those involved in radio (76.4%) were unpaid while fewer were unpaid in television (43.6%).

17.4 PERSONS INVOLVED IN BROADCASTING, By payment status - 12 months ending April 2007

	Television	Radio	Total(a)
NUMBER ('000)

Some paid involvement	43.4	24.8	63.4
Unpaid involvement only	33.6	80.6	101.2
Total(b)	77.0	105.5	162.9
PER CENT (%)

Some paid involvement	56.4	23.5	38.9
Unpaid involvement	43.6	76.4	62.1
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0

(a) Components may not add up to totals as some persons were involved in more than one activity.
(b) Excludes some people whose payment details are not known.
Source: ABS, Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, April 2007, data available on request.