Western Australia’s Software and digital content segment experienced the highest average annual rate of creative employment growth, of 5.3%, followed by Architecture and design, which grew at an average annual rate of 4.8% between
2006 and 2011.
Employment, 2011
Occupations | In Creative Industries | In Other Industries | Total Workforce | Creative Employment |
In creative occupations | 11,095 | 12,832 | 23,927 | |
In other occupations | 17,390 | 1,056,562 | 1,073,952 | |
Total 2011 | 28,485 | 1,069,394 | 1,097,879 | 41,317 |
Average Annual Growth Rate in Employment, 2006 - 2011
Occupations | In Creative Industries | In Other Industries | Total Workforce | Creative Employment |
In creative occupations | 4.1% | 1.9% | 2.9% | |
In other occupations | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3.3% | |
2006-2011 | 3.7% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.2% |
Advertising and marketing (growth of 2.6% per annum) and the state’s three cultural production segments – Music, visual and performing arts (1.6%), Publishing (0.8%) and Film, TV and radio (0.2%) – all grew at a rate
below Western Australia’s average workforce growth (of 3.2% per annum) between 2006 and 2011.
Western Australia’s cultural production workforce remained static overall, with a slight increase of 0.3% per annum between 2006 and 2011. With the exception of Victoria and New South Wales, all other states and territories experienced
a decline in their cultural production workforce over the five years to 2011.
Perth’s creative industries
The majority (89%) of Western Australia’s creative workforce is located in the Perth metropolitan area. Of the total 41,317 Western Australians employed in creative occupations, 36,873 of those are located in Perth.
Approximately 92% of Western Australia’s creative services jobs are located in the capital city. A comparatively higher proportion of the state’s jobs in the cultural production segments (17%) are located in non-metropolitan
Western Australia.
Comparing Australia’s major capital cities, between 2006 and 2011, Perth’s average annual rate of creative employment growth of 3.1%, was second only to that of Melbourne (3.9%).
Despite the majority of the state’s creative workforce being located in Perth, only 1.2% of Perth’s workforce is employed in creative occupations. This is below the comparable proportions for all other major capital
cities.
With the exception of Sydney, comparing 2006 and 2011, employment in creative occupations declined as a proportion of the total workforce in all major capital cities including Perth.
Compared to the other capitals, Perth has the highest number of Architecture and Design workers as a proportion of the city’s total creative workforce.
Between 2006 and 2011 Perth experienced employment growth across all creative segments with the exception of Publishing, which showed a fall in employment growth in all the major capitals.
Nationally, employment growth in Perth’s Architecture and design segment (of 4.6% per annum) was second only to that of Melbourne where employment in Architecture and design increased by 6.1% per annum.