Queen Street Studio. Arunas Photography
NSW has the largest creative economy in Australia with more than 37 per cent of all creative industry employment in the country.
(Source: Access Economics, The NSW Economy in 2020, NSW Business Forum Discussion Paper 2010)
- It is home to a flourishing, dynamic and innovative arts ecology, with key arts and cultural sectors contributing to the State’s economy with a total income of more than $2.3 billion.
ABS, Selected Service Industries Surveys (Museums and art galleries; Film and video production; Film and video post production; Performing arts operations; Performing arts venues; Public libraries; Performing arts venues), various years - The creative industries account for 4% of NSW employment and are expected to maintain this share of the NSW economy over the next decade.
Access Economics, The NSW Economy in 2020, NSW Business Forum Discussion Paper 2010 - Australia’s iconic performing arts centre, the Sydney Opera House, attracts more than 8 million visitors a year. In 2010/11, 1.3 million people were entertained there.
Sydney Opera House - The NSW performing arts sector includes 11 of Australia’s 28 major performing arts companies.
Australia Council - New South Wales generates the largest share of Australia’s live performing arts revenue (35%) and is on a par with Victoria in terms of ticket sales (33%).
Live Performance Australia, Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey 2010 - NSW has extensive networks of regional theatres, music festivals, conservatoriums, regional galleries, writers’ centres, museums performing arts touring and cultural institutions.
- Aboriginal arts and culture in NSW is distinctive, contemporary, urban and cutting edge.
- NSW dominates the Australian feature film and TV drama production industry representing 41 per cent of total expenditure in 2010/11.
Screen Australia, The Drama Report 10/11, Production of Feature Films and TV Drama in Australia 2011 - The Art Gallery of NSW is one of Australia’s most visited galleries with around 1 million visitors a year.
Art Gallery of NSW - Sydney is home to Australia’s leading modern art museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, which is currently being redeveloped.
- Sydney stages a world class program of major arts festivals across Greater Sydney each year – Sydney Festival, the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Biennale of Sydney and the Sydney Film Festival – which attract up to 1.5 million visitors annually.
Data provided by Festivals - NSW has a strong culture of private support for the arts with the local industry receiving $33.3 million from the corporate sector and $49.3 million from private philanthropy.
Australian Business Arts Foundation (ABAF) 2010 - NSW is an innovative environment for encouraging the benefits of the arts across society in areas such as education, health, ageing and disability through support for organisations such as Big hArt and Beyond Empathy who work with disadvantaged communities.
- There were 226,000 people who had some paid involvement in cultural activities in NSW, 33% of Australia’s total ABS.
Participation in Selected Cultural Activities 2010-11 - Of this number,140,100 NSW people received a wage or salary for their involvement in cultural activities, which is 9.1% of the total of 1.53M people over 15 who participated a cultural activity in NSW.
ABS, Participation in Selected Cultural Activities 2010-11 - NSW has 36,380 people employed in arts occupations, representing 37.9% of the national arts workforce.
Australia Council, What’s your other job: a census analysis of arts employment in Australia, Cunningham and Higgs 2010 - Total cultural employment in NSW is 170,000 people, with 58,000 having a cultural occupation in a cultural industry, 42,000 having a cultural occupation outside the cultural industry and 70,000 having non-cultural occupation in the cultural industry.
ABS, Census 2006 - 4.76 million people attended at least one cultural venue or event or 83.2% of the NSW population aged 15 years and over (which totals 5. 7M people).
ABS, Attendance at Selected Arts and Cultural Venues and Events 2009-10 - Around 600,000 NSW children aged 5-14 years or 68% of NSW children attended at least one cultural venue or event outside school hours.
ABS, Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities 2009-10 - Over 1.53 million people aged 15 years and over in NSW participated in a cultural activity, such as dancing, sculpting, painting, drawing or cartooning. This represents a participation rate of 26.6%.
ABS, Participation in Selected Cultural Activities 2010-11 - The participation rate for people aged 15-24 years for NSW is 36.6%, and for people aged 65 years and over for NSW is 22.6%.
ABS, Participation in Selected Cultural Activities 2010-11
