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Arts Workforce Scoping Study

Nov 07, 2024
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The National Cultural Policy, Revive: A place for every story, a story for every place, outlined the need for an Arts Workforce Scoping Study to understand workforce challenges and skills needs across the creative sector and to inform industry-driven solutions.

Service and Creative Skills Australia (SaCSA) have engaged Creative Australia to deliver this project across 2024. SaCSA is the Jobs and Skills Council established by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to provide workforce advice for the creative sector.

Findings and recommendations from this study will inform SACSA’s Workforce Plan, along with reviews of vocational education and training (VET) packages and other potential workforce development initiatives.

The Arts Workforce Scoping Study – Interim findings report presents key findings from Part A of the Arts Workforce Scoping Study.

It presents new data from a national sector survey of employers conducted by Creative Australia in June 2024, obtaining information on skills shortages and recruitment issues. It also incorporates key findings from a high-level desktop literature review of current sector data on workforce shortages, and barriers to workforce participation.

The six sectors in scope for the study are:

  1. Performing arts (all types of live performance across art forms)
  2. Visual arts, craft and design (including all types of visual arts and crafts; and graphic, digital and fashion design for exhibition)
  3. Writing and publishing (all forms including fiction and non-fiction)
  4. Digital games (games development)
  5. Screen (including film and TV production and post-production)
  6. Music (including live performance, music recording and publishing)

The creative and cultural workforce in Australia is large and diverse, and there are a broad range of skills and recruitment concerns that impact all workers, including artists. This interim report focuses on skills shortages and recruitment issues being experienced by employers and employing organisations. The second phase of the Arts Workforce Scoping Study has included consultation with the broader sector, including artists and arts workers.

Across July-October 2024, Creative Australia contracted Portable to undertake a sector consultation, engaging with artists, technical workers, managers, industry leaders and educators to verify and add detail to these interim results. This consultation process also co-designed potential actions to address skills gaps, enhance training programs, improve job quality, embed diversity, equity and inclusion practices and develop a workforce strategy to ensure sustainable, vibrant, accessible and inclusive creative industries into the future.

Findings from that consultation process will be published as part of the final Arts Workforce Scoping Study report in early 2025. Until then, we trust that this interim report provides a useful update on work in progress, and thank all those who have contributed their time, knowledge and experience to this research.

Download the report:
The Arts Workforce Scoping Study – Interim findings