Overview
Digital Creativity extends our understanding of online arts participation in Australia, investigating the kinds of digital creative content being produced, who is engaging and how, and the extent to which those who make and share digital creative content are monetising this activity.
Importantly, the report also identifies correlations between those who participate in online creative activities and self-reported experiences of loneliness and trust.
Digital Creativity analyses data from the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Incorporated’s (ACSPRI) Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA). In 2025, the AuSSA survey had the theme of ‘digital societies’, providing an opportunity for us to explore arts participation online.
Digital Creativity is a collaboration between Creative Australia, researchers at the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra and School of Media and Communication, RMIT University.
Key findings
Digital creative engagement
- Overall, digital creative activities are associated with specific demographics: high-income earners, those with high educational attainment and those in paid work. Younger people are generally more likely than their older counterparts to engage with creative activities online.
- Living in a regional or metropolitan area plays less of a role in determining digital arts engagement than other demographic factors, such as age, education and income. However, those living in metropolitan areas are more likely to engage.
- Listening to streamed music, both paid and free, is the most common way to consume creative content online (72% of respondents stream music). Around half (54%) watch live-streamed or recorded performances. Posting photos and videos is the most common form of interaction (34%).
Creating digital work
- Young people aged 18–24 are by far the most likely age group to create digital content, with three quarters (74%) of people aged 18–24 creating digital work, compared to only half of people aged 25–34 (51%).
- Self-employed people (37%) and city dwellers (31%) are also more likely to create digital work than their counterparts.
- The most common forms of digital creative content produced are photography (20% of respondents), video (19%) and writing (13%).
Sharing digital work
- More than one quarter (28%) of respondents share their digital creativity with others.
- People aged 18–24 are much more active sharers of self-made creative work, with 71% sharing compared to 18% of people over 55.
- The top reason for sharing digital creative content is ‘professional reasons’, such as expanding audiences or networking. The second most popular reason is ‘to connect to family or friends’.
- Only 6% of respondents who created online creative content have received any form of compensation (e.g. money or free products) for the content in the past 12 months.
Loneliness
- Those who engage with digital creativity are more likely to report loneliness and feel it is a serious problem for them, compared to those who do not. Respondents who consume and interact with digital creativity are also more likely to report that they would be lonely without the internet than those who do not.
- Respondents who shared their creative content either within their private network or publicly are significantly more likely to say they experience loneliness at least once a year. This aligns with the finding that connection to family and friends is a strong motivator for sharing digital creative work.
- Among younger respondents (under 35), those who interact with digital creativity are more likely to report feeling lonely than those who do not. However, younger respondents were consistently more likely than older respondents (35-plus) to agree that loneliness has been a serious problem, regardless of whether they engage with digital creativity.
Trust
- Respondents who both consume and interact with digital creative content are more likely to trust people they communicate with online but have never met in person.
- Under 35-year-olds are more likely to trust unknown online contacts compared to those aged 35 and over.
- Those who share their digital creative content have a higher trust in unknown online contacts and general social trust than those who do not, particularly those who share beyond their own private networks.
Download the report (PDF)
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