National Performing
Arts Touring Scan

The Final Report of the National Performing Arts Touring Scan is the first of two outputs of the National Touring  Scan. Support for a National Touring Scan was expressed through the Major Performing Arts Framework Public Consultations in 2018. Between January 14 and August 31, 2020, 87 consultations with 141 individuals took place across all states and territories. During these consultations, the sector expressed the need for better coordination and alignment of touring, both interstate and intrastate as a priority.

This report forms one of the two outputs of the Scan, the second being an aggregation of national touring activity provided to Australia Council and distributed to state and territory jurisdictions. It details the touring activity of artists and companies that tour, audiences, communities, networks, presenters and state/territory and national funding mechanisms. As a whole it provides a picture of pre-COVID touring activity and outlines the scope of performing arts touring and associated engagement activities, but inevitably illustrates some of the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 onwards and the need for ever more consistency in data collection across jurisdictions.

Reshaping and rebuilding touring activity will be a critical component of repairing the damage to the sector. These outputs have already been used to support touring investment decision-making as part of our industry response to COVID-19 and we expect them to be of immense value in future efforts as well.

Background

Support for a National Touring Scan was expressed through the Major Performing Arts Framework Public Consultations during September to November 2018, in which the need for better coordination and alignment of touring, both interstate and intrastate, was identified as an urgent priority.

The purpose of the Scan

The purpose of the Scan is to develop a clear understanding of the scope of non-commercial professional performing arts touring including associated engagement activities, reach and networks across Australia. Information gained through the Scan will enable governments to collaboratively support touring and to anticipate and respond to opportunities for more Australians to experience the performing arts.

About the consultants

Culture Counts is an international monitoring and evaluation platform that has developed research methodologies and tools to assist federal, state and local governments and cultural organisations to implement outcomes-driven and evidence-based decision-making. Culture Counts has a strong technological capability that can be applied to varied data sets, with an Australian database of over 10 million data points

Merryn Carter is an experienced arts specialist consultant who provides research services including audience research, program planning, marketing planning and ticketing system review, and audience development planning. Merryn has a comprehensive knowledge of the Australian performing arts touring landscape and a detailed appreciation of the current issues in touring from many perspectives.national-performing-arts-touri-60b87c2b24ec9