Intro
83% of respondents agreed that the WA Government should invest in arts and culture to ensure activities are available to the public.
93% of respondents agreed that it is important for children and young people to have access to arts, cultural and creative activities as part of their education, and 91% of respondents agreed that it is important for children and young people to have access to arts, cultural and creative activities outside of school.
When respondents were asked to rate the value of arts, culture and creativity in their own life, 60% of respondents gave a high rating of 4 or 5 out of 5. Only 3% of respondents said arts, culture and creativity provided no value at all.
Arts, cultural and creative activities contribute to community health and wellbeing:
In recognition of the valuable role that arts and culture plays in people’s lives, 40% of respondents gave back to the arts, cultural and creative sector over the past 12 months, mostly by donating, volunteering or doing unpaid work.
Survey participants were informed that arts and cultural activities includes a range of activities such as cinema, music, theatre, dance, visual arts, opera, festivals, libraries, galleries, museums, archives, and community cultural events.
When asked to recall overall attendance or participation in arts and culture activities, 69% of respondents said they attended or participated in an arts and cultural activity over the past 12 months.
After the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted attendance and participation in arts and cultural activities, there were hopeful signs for recovery with overall attendance and participation rates increasing by 4% points to 78% in 2023. Attendance and participation levels were moving back up towards the pre-COVID rate of 82%. In 2024, however, the overall attendance and participation rate fell by 9% points to 69%.
Levels of attendance and participation varied across the community:
62% of respondents specified at least one activity they had participated in to express themselves creatively in the past 12 months. The top 5 most popular activities were art and craft activities (28%), photography (23%), dance (15%), playing a musical instrument (14%), and visual art (11%).
Creative expression varied across the community:
When prompted about attendance at specific types of events, 82% of respondents mentioned that they attended at least one arts, cultural or creative event over the past 12 months.
The top 6 most popular events attended were a movie or film (50%), live music or gigs (41%), exhibitions of art, photography, sculptures etc (32%), comedy (21%), theatre (19%) and musical theatre or opera (18%).
The least popular events attended were writing events (5%), puppetry (3%) and fashion shows (3%).
Although overall attendance at puppetry and fashion shows was lower, these events had the highest frequency of attendance among their patrons.
Digital arts events, circus or physical theatre, and cabaret or drag shows were more likely to be special occasion events that were only attended once or twice in the past 12 months.
46% of respondents had visited a library or archive facility, 44% had visited a museum and 30% had visited an art gallery over the past 12 months.
40% of respondents attended an arts, cultural or creative event at a library, art gallery or museum over the past twelve months.
47% of respondents had engaged in an online arts, culture and creative experience over the past 12 months.
35% of respondents had engaged in a First Nations experience over the past 12 months.
The ease of access index score dropped from 68 points in 2023 to 64 points in 2024.
Cost was the main barrier for attending and participating in arts and cultural activities over the past 12 months, mentioned by 31% of respondents.
Time was the next biggest barrier, mentioned by 26% of respondents. People were too busy with work, family and other commitments to attend arts and cultural activities and events over the past 12 months.
Over the next 12 months, 88% of respondents would like to be able to attend arts, cultural or creative events more often.
The most popular types of arts, cultural and creative events respondents would like to attend more often are movies or films (57%) and live music (49%), followed by comedy (35%), exhibitions (34%), theatre (33%) and musical theatre or opera (29%).
1 This figure includes COVID-19 support provided to arts and cultural organisations.