EMPLOYMENT
Census of Population and Housing
Data on the number of people involved in design can be obtained from several sources.
The 2006 Census of Population and Housing found that there were 30,086 people whose main job in August 2006 was in the Architectural services industry. The Census also found that over half of those in the industry worked as either Architects (10,854 people) or Architectural draftspersons (5,142 people).
Advertising services employed 27,647 people, with the majority (71%) in non-cultural occupations. Graphic designers were less than 7% of employees.
Nearly half (48%) of those employed in Other specialised design services were Graphic designers (6,919 people) or Signwriters (2,012 people). The remaining employees were distributed amongst a large number of both cultural and non-cultural occupations.
Work Survey
The 2007 survey of Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, which collected data on the design activities of architecture, graphic, fashion, advertising and other design activities, found that there were 459,200 people who had worked in design activities in the 12 months to April 2007. Of these, about two-thirds (61%) received some payment for their involvement.
The most common design activities undertaken were Advertising (192,000 people) and Graphic design (184,700 people). Both Fashion design and Advertising design activities involved more females than males.
15.4 PERSONS INVOLVED IN DESIGN, By selected characteristics - 12 months ending April 2007 |
| |
| | Male | Female | Persons | |
| | '000 | '000 | '000 | |
| |
Involvement part of main job held last week(a) | 157.3 | 123.8 | 281.1 | |
Involvement not part of main job held last week(b) | 84.9 | 93.2 | 178.1 | |
Annual income from design activity(c) | | | | |
| Goods and services only | **4.2 | **3.9 | *8.0 | |
| Less than $5,000 | 37.5 | 49.6 | 87.1 | |
| $5,000 to $39, 999 | 44.5 | 45.0 | 89.5 | |
| $40,000 or more | 79.6 | 41.9 | 121.5 | |
Type of design activity undertaken | | | | |
| Graphic design | 99.6 | 85.1 | 184.7 | |
| Fashion design | *5.3 | 32.2 | 37.5 | |
| Architecture | 47.2 | 18.8 | 66.0 | |
| Advertising | 93.8 | 98.2 | 192.0 | |
| Other design activities | 73.8 | 53.6 | 127.3 | |
Total(d) | 242.3 | 217.0 | 459.2 | |
| |
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution |
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use |
(a) Main job held in the week prior to interview. If the person held multiple jobs during this week, main job refers to the job in which the most hours were worked. |
(b) Excludes persons who were unemployed or not in the labour force. |
(c) Excludes persons who did not state the amount of payment they received. |
(d) Components may not add up to the total number of people undertaing design activities as some may have undertaken more than one design activity. |
Source: ABS, Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, 2007, data available on request. |