GOVERNMENT FUNDING

According to the ABS (2011d) publication Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0), government funding for cultural activities totalled $6,658.1m, with state and territory government providing almost half (45% or $3,003.3m), the Australian Government contributing 37% ($2,457.0m) and local government making up the balance of 18% ($1,197.7m).

Recurrent funding accounted for 87% ($5,769.2m) of cultural funding by all levels of government in 2009-10, while funding of a capital nature accounted for the remaining 13% ($888.9m).

Total funding for cultural activities by all levels of government in Australia increased by $133.0m (2%), from $6,525.1m in 2008-09 to $6,658.1m in 2009-10. This resulted in an increase in the value of funding per person from $300.27 in 2008-09 to $300.56 in 2009-10.

4.1 CULTURAL FUNDING, By level of government - 2008-09 and 2009-10
		2008-09		2009-10
		Value of funding	Value of funding per person(a)	Value of funding	Value of funding per person(a)
		$m	$	$m	$
Australian Government (b)
	Total Heritage	752.60	34.63	693.0	31.29
	Total Arts	1 643.5	75.63	1 764.0	79.63
	Total cultural funding	2 396.2	110.27	2 457.0	110.92
State and territory government
	Total Heritage	2 261.4	104.06	2 314.4	104.48
	Total Arts	718.9	33.08	689.0	31.10
	Total cultural funding	2 980.3	137.15	3 003.3	135.58
Local government
	Total Heritage(c)	na	na	na	na
	Total Arts(c)	na	na	na	na
	Total cultural funding	1 148.6	52.86	1 197.7	54.07
Total government funding		6 525.1	300.27	6 658.1	300.56
na not available
(a) Although the Australian Capital Territory does not have a local government, its population has been included in calculations of per person funding. For more information see the Explanatory notes in Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0).
(b) The Australian Government refers to the federal government. It does not refer to the aggregate of state and territory governments, nor does it include local government.
(c) Funding of arts and cultural activities by local government are classified according to the Local Government Purpose Classification (LGPC) and cannot be compared directly to total heritage and total arts funding by the Australian and state and territory governments which are classified according to the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (ACLC).
Source: ABS data available on request, Cultural Funding by Government Survey, 2009-10

Australian Government Funding

In 2009-10, the majority (72% or $1,764.0m) of Australian Government cultural funding supported arts activities. The category of Radio and television services was the main beneficiary, receiving almost three quarters of the total Arts funding provided by the Australian Government (73% or $1,295.0m).

Funding provided for cultural activities by the Australian Government in 2009-10 increased by $60.9m (3%) from 2008-09. This comprised an increase to Arts of $120.5m (7%) and a decrease to Heritage of $59.7m (8%). As a result, the value of funding per person for arts activities increased by 5%, while the value of total cultural funding per person increased slightly by 1%.

4.2 CULTURAL FUNDING, By Australian Government - 2009-10
			Value of funding	Percentage of total funding
			$m	%
Australian Government(a)
	Heritage
		Art museums	90.1	1.4
		Other museums and cultural heritage	295.7	4.4
		Environmental heritage	151.0	2.3
		Libraries	66.6	1.0
		Archives	89.6	1.3
		Total heritage	693.0	10.4
	Arts
		Literature and print media	34.8	0.5
		Music performance	64.6	1.0
		Drama	29.2	0.4
		Dance	17.3	0.3
		Music theatre and opera	21.7	0.3
		Other performing arts	17.2	0.3
		Performing arts venues	-	-
		Music composition and publishing	2.0	-
		Visual arts and crafts	30.6	0.5
		Design	0.7	-
		Radio and television services	1 295.0	19.5
		Film and video production and distribution	108.0	1.6
		Multimedia	3.3	-
		Other arts	139.7	2.1
		Total arts	1 764.0	26.5
	Total Australian Government		2 457.0	36.9
Total funding by all levels of government			6 658.1	100.0
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) The Australian Government refers to the federal government. It does not refer to the aggregate of state and territory governments, nor does it include local government.
Source: Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0).

Apart from direct funding, the Australian Government also provides assistance through tax concessions such as the Cultural Gifts Program, which offers tax deductions to encourage the donation of items of cultural significance to public art galleries, museums, libraries and archives. According to the 2009-10 Annual Report of the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), 516 donations were made to the program in that year with a total value of $34.8m.


State and Territory Government Funding

In 2009-10, funding for cultural activities provided by state and territory governments was $3,003.3m, which was 45% of total cultural funding provided by all levels of government in Australia. This was an increase of $23.0m, or 1%, on 2008-09 when state and territory government funding for cultural activities was $2,980.3m.

The majority of cultural funding provided by state and territory government in 2009-10 was allocated to Environmental heritage ($1,345.7m or 45%), compared with $1,358.3m (46%) in 2008-09. Of all states and territories, Western Australia allocated the highest proportion of cultural funding to Environmental heritage (59%), followed by Northern Territory (55%) and New South Wales (51%).

Funding for Arts activities decreased by 4% in 2009-10 to $689.0m, compared with $718.9m in 2008-09. This resulted in the value of funding per person for Arts activities decreasing by 6% from $33.08 per person in 2008-09 to $31.10 in 2009-10. South Australia had the highest proportion of Arts funding to total funding (33%) of all states and territories followed by Victoria (31%) and Australian Capital Territory (29%).

4.3 CULTURAL FUNDING, By State and Territory Governments - 2008-09 and 2009-10
			NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Total
			$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
2008-09
	Heritage
		Art museums	34.0	53.1	50.5	8.7	12.4	5.2	6.6	2.5	173.0
		Other museums and cultural heritage	121.4	74.3	54.5	28.8	39.7	9.7	11.4	5.0	344.8
		Environmental heritage	357.9	207.3	289.8	128.1	258.5	39.5	42.5	34.6	1 358.3
		Libraries	68.1	81.4	62.0	30.5	43.8	23.2	10.4	12.4	331.8
		Archives	7.8	15.4	16.7	6.2	2.1	2.9	1.3	0.9	53.4
		Total heritage	589.2	431.5	473.5	202.3	356.5	80.5	72.3	55.5	2 261.4
	Arts
		Literature and print media	1.7	13.0	1.4	0.6	1.5	0.6	0.1	0.3	19.3
		Music performance	15.1	12.0	5.7	4.3	5.0	3.0	1.0	2.0	48.1
		Drama	5.5	4.4	6.3	5.1	6.7	0.5	0.3	1.3	30.1
		Dance	2.4	3.6	4.4	2.0	4.8	0.3	0.4	0.7	18.5
		Music theatre and opera	2.5	4.8	5.6	1.9	1.9	0.3	-	-	16.9
		Other performing arts	2.4	13.0	12.9	1.5	1.9	2.9	0.1	0.1	34.6
		Performing arts venues	45.9	39.1	83.7	22.2	55.5	0.4	1.2	10.6	258.7
		Music composition and publishing	-	0.1	0.2	-	-	-	-	0.1	0.5
		Visual arts and crafts	8.1	4.1	10.6	3.9	8.1	1.9	1.0	3.4	41.1
		Design	0.8	3.0	0.2	0.2	0.7	0.1	-	-	4.9
		Radio and television services	0.8	0.1	-	0.1	0.6	-	-	0.1	1.6
		Film and video production and distribution	11.3	53.6	19.0	12.7	16.5	0.6	0.4	0.3	114.4
		Multimedia	0.3	2.4	0.2	1.6	0.3	-	-	1.2	6.1
		Other arts	27.1	26.2	17.5	25.1	20.9	1.0	5.5	0.9	124.2
		Total arts	124.0	179.4	167.6	81.2	124.2	11.6	10.1	20.9	718.9
Total			713.2	610.9	641.1	283.5	480.7	92.2	82.4	76.4	2 980.3
2009-10
	Heritage
		Art museums	50.4	54.3	44.2	9.2	13.3	4.3	7.3	4.1	187.1
		Other museums and cultural heritage	122.6	82.5	71.2	25.3	41.8	8.7	12.4	7.2	371.8
		Environmental heritage	383.7	133.4	288.7	108.6	295.8	42.8	49.3	43.4	1 345.7
		Libraries	77.6	85.9	67.1	30.5	42.6	21.1	10.4	12.4	347.6
		Archives	7.4	21.4	17.0	6.3	1.9	5.7	1.5	0.9	62.2
		Total heritage	641.8	377.5	488.2	180.0	395.5	82.5	80.9	68.0	2 314.4
	Arts
		Literature and print media	1.8	5.8	2.5	0.8	2.0	0.4	0.3	0.3	14.0
		Music performance	16.5	13.8	5.2	3.8	4.6	2.6	1.8	2.1	50.6
		Drama	4.9	3.2	12.2	5.2	4.8	0.4	0.1	1.2	32.0
		Dance	2.4	2.6	3.9	2.0	2.6	0.6	0.4	0.6	15.1
		Music theatre and opera	6.1	6.0	5.6	1.6	2.6	0.1	-	-	22.1
		Other performing arts	5.6	22.0	12.4	0.8	3.5	0.3	0.3	0.1	45.1
		Performing arts venues	43.5	28.2	51.0	19.1	58.8	0.5	2.0	10.9	214.1
		Music composition and publishing	0.1	0.1	0.3	-	-	0.1	-	-	0.6
		Visual arts and crafts	3.8	4.8	10.5	3.9	7.3	1.4	0.6	5.7	38.1
		Design	1.4	4.2	1.1	0.1	0.4	0.1	-	0.2	7.4
		Radio and television services	-	0.4	0.1	0.1	-	-	-	0.1	0.8
		Film and video production and distribution	10.2	45.3	16.2	24.2	11.5	0.7	0.2	0.2	108.4
		Multimedia	0.7	3.9	0.2	2.0	0.4	-	-	1.5	8.8
		Other arts	13.0	31.7	43.4	26.1	6.8	4.0	2.7	4.3	131.9
		Total arts	110.0	172.1	164.6	89.9	105.4	11.3	8.5	27.3	689.0
	Total		751.8	549.6	652.8	269.9	500.9	93.8	89.3	95.3	3 003.3
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Source: Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0).

Local Government Funding

In 2009-10, local government funding for cultural activities was $1,197.7m, which was 18% of total cultural funding provided by all levels of government. This was an increase of $49.1m, or 4%, on 2008-09 when local government funding for cultural activities was $1,148.6m.

The majority of local government cultural funding was allocated to Libraries in 2009-10 ($759.3m or 63%), compared with $730.3m (64%) in 2008-09. Most public libraries are funded at the local government level, except in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory where libraries are mainly, or solely, funded by the state and territory governments. As such, local governments in most states allocated a majority of their cultural funding to Libraries in 2009-10. Of those states where Libraries rely on local government funding, South Australia had the highest proportion of local government funding for Libraries (79%), followed by Western Australia (71%), New South Wales (66%), Victoria (60%) and Queensland (58%).

The value of cultural funding per person provided by local government increased to $54.07 in 2009-10, from $52.86 in 2008-09.

4.4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT CULTURAL FUNDING, By state and territory and category(a)(b) - 2008-09 and 2009-10
		Art museums	Other museums and cultural heritage	Libraries	Performing arts	Cultural or arts services nec	Total	Change from previous year	Funding per person(c)
		$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	%	$
2008-09(d)
	New South Wales	29.8	12.7	253.5	41.0	63.2	400.2	10.9	56.58
	Victoria(e)	-	-	168.9	-	117.2	286.0	10.2	53.11
	Queensland	21.2	5.7	142.0	38.5	18.7	226.0	14.0	51.73
	South Australia	1.8	4.5	80.0	5.9	12.4	104.6	16.0	64.83
	Western Australia	2.0	7.1	84.5	5.1	17.8	116.4	4.2	52.60
	Tasmania	0.5	7.3	-	3.4	2.3	13.5	-14.9	26.99
	Northern Territory(e)	-	-	1.5	-	0.3	1.8	-23.0	8.15
	Total	55.2	37.4	730.3	93.8	231.9	1 148.6	10.6	52.86
2009-10
	New South Wales	28.0	12.2	257.7	34.4	58.9	391.1	-2.3	54.44
	Victoria(e)	-	-	192.2	-	128.0	320.2	11.9	58.22
	Queensland	18.2	9.9	129.4	40.9	23.4	221.8	-1.8	49.60
	South Australia	2.5	1.5	80.5	5.7	11.8	102.0	-2.5	62.41
	Western Australia	2.0	11.3	97.6	7.0	20.0	137.9	18.4	60.76
	Tasmania	1.8	12.4	0.1	3.2	2.3	19.8	46.5	39.21
	Northern Territory(e)	-	-	1.7	-	3.2	4.8	166.1	21.19
	Total	52.4	47.4	759.3	91.1	247.5	1 197.7	4.3	54.07
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Local Government Finance data is sourced from state/territory Local Government Grants Commissions, or equivalent.
(b) Care should be taken when comparing categories between states and territories (see paragraphs 12 and 14 of the Explanatory Notes in Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0)).
(c) Although the Australian Capital Territory does not have a local government, its population has been included in calculations of per person funding. See paragraph 14 in the Explanatory Notes of Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0).
(d) Data for 2008-09 has been revised (see paragraph 13 of the Explanatory Notes in Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0)).
(e) No data were recorded for Victoria and the Northern Territory for grants and subsidies provided by councils to community organisations.
Source: Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4183.0).

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