Frequently asked questions
Over the past decade, the National Arts Participation Survey, the arts landscape it examines, and the ways in which the sector needs to understand audiences, have evolved.
To support these evolving needs, Creative Australia and Lonergan Research developed new and interactive ways to explore the data from the 2022 National Arts Participation Survey, <em>Creating Value</em>.
This is the second time this method of analysis has been used with the results from the National Arts Participation Survey, with the first set of tools analysing the 2019 National Arts Participation Survey data. In this 2022 update, the audience data and advocacy tools have been expanded. This second edition includes personas based on the population segments, and allows data from the population segments to be interactively explored alongside the Behavioural Index and the Attitudinal Index.
The Audience Data and Advocacy Tools can be used to better understand Australians’ engagement with and attitudes towards the arts.
Knowing and Growing your Audience: Guide to the 2022 audience data and advocacy provides an indication of how the tools may be used. While specific uses of the tools are presented throughout the guide, these examples are not exhaustive and there are multiple ways the tools can be used to explore the data. Users may explore the tools in any way they like.
Insights from the Audience Data and Advocacy Tools can be used for strategic planning and advocacy. Depending on your strategy and goals, the dashboards can be used to identify more information on target audiences.
For example, if your organisation’s target audience is parents of children under 16 in South Australia, you can apply the location filter on the demographics dashboard page and test each quintile or population segment to see which holds the largest proportion of your target demographic. You can then use the other dashboard pages to understand more about the quintile(s) which hold this audience – from understanding their key motivations and barriers to how often they engage with the arts.
This audience may also behave differently depending on whether you are looking at them via Population Segment, Behavioural Index or the Attitudinal Index. These insights may inform your organisation’s strategy in reaching this audience. For example, you may be able to tailor specific communication to this group or remove certain barriers that affect their participation.
Benchmarks can be set by choosing a measure, or measures, of interest to you or your organisation and recording the relevant data points.
A benchmark can be as simple as looking at the percentage of those in a particular segment who are in an age category of interest to you and who give to the arts. This percentage can be used as an initial benchmark measure and revisited in future years.
The dashboards cannot be filtered by artform at this stage. Art form filters may be explored in future versions of the tools.
These are currently the only available demographic filters. Additional demographic filters may be explored in future versions of the tools.
No, only one segment can be selected at a time.
At this stage it is not possible to save your settings or findings within the dashboards. However, you can download a dashboard view to PDF which will provide a snapshot of the data you’ve created in the dashboards.
A full report is available on our website which details the methods used to develop the Behavioural Index, Attitudinal Index and Population Segmentation Model.
To reset the dashboard, remove all applied filters by clicking on the highlighted filters. To remove the demographic filters, select ‘All’ in the dropdown menu to apply all categories.
Four filters can be selected at the same time. When using the dashboards, the three demographic filters at the top of the page can be selected at the same time, as well as the index filter.
Applying multiple filters can reduce the available sample size to low numbers. We recommend caution when the sample size (n) reaches 30 or below. Results should then be used indicatively only.
A dashboard is a moving and interactive on-screen graphical summary of information. Within the dashboard there are tabs that hold certain categories of information. Each tab shows various relevant charts. There are five tabs: Types of engagement, Motivations & barriers, Value of the arts, Diversity, Demographics. Each of these tabs illustrate various charts based on their topic.
A persona is a character profile based on the data from the survey. In this guide, personas are based on grouping people together according to their levels of arts engagement and on age, gender, life stage, education and cultural background.
Applications that focus solely on academic studies, or are for activities that are part of assessable coursework are unlikely to be successful with our assessment panels. Assessment panels are also unlikely to support applications requesting the costs of academic fees or courses.
If you wish to apply for study costs, explain to the panel how your project extends, or supplements, the course’s standard curriculum requirements. Also, bear in mind that your project will be assessed on artistic merit of the work.
If you are applying for an Arts Projects grant for funding to complete a training program, course, workshop or diploma, explain how doing so will impact positively on your career or practice.
A segment is a grouping of people who are similar in characteristics of interest. Population segments may be different in size and there is no limit to the number of segments there can be in a population or market.
A quintile is one of five equal, or roughly equal, segments of a population, divided based on a selected variable.
Emerging and Experimental Arts frequently asked questions
Artists working in experimental practice take new approaches to nurturing, creating and presenting art. These projects explore challenging new concepts in the creation and experience of art and culture.
Emerging and experimental arts may sometimes be difficult for audiences to engage with and understand. Its processes often resemble those of research and development, experimentation and creative development. Artists funded by Emerging and Experimental Arts develop projects that generally have some of the following characteristics:
- Highly conceptual, contextual, relative and relational – they address the question “what is experimental now?”
- Play with or invent new forms, methodologies, technologies or non-material ideas
- Investigating problems and asking questions without necessarily focusing on the answer. The process of exploration is more important than a fully resolved artistic product as the project outcome.
- Innovative partnerships and collaborative / cross-disciplinary processes
- Cross-over with broader cultural issues.
Applicants to this category must be able to demonstrate what is experimental about their own practice and project, and explain why this is experimental in their own context and the broader arts sector.
Your project does not need to be interdisciplinary.
Emerging and experimental arts activity is innovative in its methodology and often takes risks with processes and outcomes of the work. This can happen both within and across artforms and disciplines.
We find the most competitive applications often involve innovative creative collaborations and partnerships – between artists, or artists collaborating with non-artists. New and experimental processes often emerge from an interdisciplinary collaboration or partnership.
Other art form sections of the Australia Council support applications for experimental projects within a single art form practice.
No, your project does not need to involve technology to be eligible or competitive for grants and initiatives from Emerging and Experimental Arts.
Projects may include Indigenous and intercultural collaborations, art and science, social engagement, community participation, artistic interventions into public spaces, artists working with urban renewal and ecology projects, and much more.
If technology forms a core part of your project, it is important to clearly articulate how and why it will be used. In all cases, the most competitive applications clearly communicate the innovative ideas and processes driving the experimental arts activity.
Community Arts and Cultural Development frequently asked questions
Community arts and cultural development is a community-based arts practice and can engage any art form. There are many variations of how community arts and cultural development works are made, developed and shared – there is no one model.
However, what is at the core of this practice is the collaboration between professional artists and communities to create art.
The Australia Council focuses its support for community arts and cultural development practice through a number of community priority areas. These include regional Australia, disability, young people, cultural diversity, emerging communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and remote communities, as well as specific critical social and cultural issues requiring focused attention.
The guiding principles that inform and drive our funding decisions, priorities, projects, policies and programs include:
Activities are of artistic excellence and the communities are directly involved in their purpose, design, and evaluation.
This involves working within each community in ways that are meaningful and relevant. The collaborations that underpin the activity are inclusive, respectful and able to demonstrate that they are based on the needs and aspirations of all stakeholders.
The management of a project should demonstrate a blend of effective leadership and decision-making that engages the community at all stages of the process.
The proposal should be able to clearly set out how the activities will increase the capacity and skills of the communities and how this will lead to the communities being able to continue their artistic and cultural development after the completion of the project.
Artists, arts workers and producers should be able to demonstrate their excellence in artistic and cultural development practice. The arts workers need to be able to clearly explain the collaboration processes that will achieve excellence in the artistic expression of the communities’ vision.
Project leaders should be actively engaged in partner-building and be able to effectively manage, sustain and leverage partners for strategic and mutual advantage.
Proposals which capture the unique dynamic and energy of a community will be able to reflect a freshness of vision and design.
Activities ought to embrace the strong emotional and aesthetic elements of each community, and strive to assert the role of activities of artistic excellence in contributing to its vibrancy and well being.