Official: Aussies love a bit of arts and culture

Australians outside the inner-city arts bubble believe culture is important to the nation’s wellbeing.

Canberra-based think tank A New Approach’s program director Kate Fielding. Picture: Aaron Francis

Australians outside the inner-city arts bubble believe culture is important to the nation’s wellbeing, but aren’t necessarily interested in elite arts they say aren’t for them.

That’s the cultural takeaway from a study by Canberra-based think tank A New Approach, which has made a study of attitudes to the arts and culture sector of “middle Australians”.

Program director Kate Fielding said the study explored some of the preconceptions about the arts, not least that they are “captured” by one part of the community. It was based on focus groups of 56 men and women from suburban Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Townsville, including people who work in ­office jobs and trades.

People value culture when it involves them in community activities — such as visiting libraries or going to festivals — and when it is part of children’s education.

Ms Fielding said respondents particularly valued cultural experiences that brought different groups in the community together and activities that “broaden your mind”. When respondents were asked about the arts, they said theatre, opera and ballet were for “wealthier” people than themselves.

Ms Fielding said speaking about the arts and culture together, rather than the arts in isolation, “really opens up the conversation” and shows that people are engaged and interested in a cultural life.

“When we talk about arts and culture, we’re talking about something that most Australians want to do, as part of having a good, enjoyable life,” she said.

The report said respondents valued the arts and culture as a “public good” but they were largely unaware of there being an industry that contributes to the economy and employs people.

The focus groups were held before the lockdown came into force, and Ms Fielding said its conclusions showed that arts and culture could make an “important contribution” to the post-COVID recovery.

A previous study by A New Approach into government spending on the arts reported a 4.9 per cent decline, in per capita terms, in the decade to 2018.

“There will continue to be lots of pressure on governments, on philanthropists, on businesses and individuals,” Ms Fielding said.

“It’s really timely for us to understand how this particular cohort values arts and culture in their lives, and to be able to demonstrate that arts and culture is not just a niche interest.”