When the show can’t go on: rebooting Australia’s arts & entertainment sector after COVID

While Australia has a proud story to tell, the future of our culture looks increasingly uncertain.

New research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work reveals the ongoing, devastating impact of COVID-19 on Australia’s arts and entertainment sector and provides a series of recommendations to government that would reboot the creative sector following the crisis.

Key Findings:

  • More people work in broad cultural industries (over 350,000) than many other areas receiving greater policy support, including aviation (40,500) and coal mining (48,900)
  • The arts and entertainment sector contributed $17 billion in GDP to the Australian economy in 2018-19
  • Workers in the sector experience disproportionately insecure and precarious labour market conditions

‘Destructive market-first policies eroded the richness and diversity of arts and culture in Australia long before COVID-19 hit,’ said Alison Pennington, Senior Economist, Centre for Future Work.

Read more

Research page: Creativity in crisis: rebooting Australia’s arts and entertainment sector after COVID

Download: Creativity in crisis: rebooting Australia’s arts and entertainment sector after COVID [PDF 830KB]