Productivity is critical to our quality of life but Australia’s measured productivity is growing at its lowest rate in 60 years. Arts, culture and creativity can accelerate productivity growth and contribute to solving Australia’s complex productivity problem. This report analyses international and Australian evidence to understand the contribution of culture and creativity to productivity and demonstrate it can be enhanced through integrated, innovative policy design.

Policymakers and industry leaders are exploring effective ways to invest limited funds in arts, culture and creativity so Australia can harness the economic, social and cultural benefits of creative engagement. This report presents a comprehensive view of the scale of income and investment attracted by Australia’s cultural and creative industries through both public and private channels. It highlights opportunities for governments and industry stakeholders to leverage new and existing finance opportunities and can help inform better strategic decision-making.

One hundred departments (including selected agencies and authorities) across the three levels of government are identified as investing in cultural and creative activities in the 2020–21 cultural funding by governments survey.

This striking figure – which represents four more departments than in 2019–20 – suggests that the three levels of government recognise the diverse roles played by cultural and creative activity across their portfolios and in Australia’s economic, social, environmental and cultural vitality. ANA’s third report in our Big Picture series of research recommends changes that will make these various departments investments more transparent and coordinated.

This report brings together published and unpublished data on the attitudes and beliefs towards arts and culture held by ‘Baby Boomer middle Australians’. In presenting the findings of a third national focus group study on middle Australia, the aim is to ensure that Australia’s policy settings and public investments remain relevant, targeted and effective for the 21st century. As an independent think tank, ANA’s research informs conversations about arts, culture and creativity, including the current development of Australia’s National Cultural Policy.

This report provides an updated overview of cultural expenditure trends by governments in Australia between the years of 2007–08 and 2019–20, drawing on a new release of Australia’s most comprehensive dataset on cultural funding by governments (CFG) at every level. ANA released its first report on the topic in September 2019.

This report provides current insights into the attitudes and beliefs held by ‘young middle Australians’ towards arts and cultural engagement and the role it plays in their lives. It includes the findings of a national focus group study of 18–29-year-old ‘undecided voters’ from lower- and middle-income families, predominantly living in outer suburbs, regional areas and federal marginal electorates.

This report gives an overview of our cultural and creative economy and highlights opportunities for Australia to adopt a 21st century approach in this industry sector. It outlines the scope, scale and trends within the cultural and creative economy pre-COVID-19, and highlights opportunities that respond to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urging nations to ‘build back better’.

This report draws on 70 years of Australian and international arts, cultural and creative policies, to understand the drivers that inform our public policy settings for arts and culture. This is critical, because as a nation we are facing unprecedented challenges and arts and culture are poised to play a significant role in helping Australia’s recovery.

This report explores current attitudes to arts and culture amongst middle Australians, with a particular focus on swinging voters and marginal electorates in suburban and regional areas. It finds that middle Australians are passionate about the role of arts and culture in their lives, and have clear views about the opportunities that arts and culture create for them, for their families, and for society more broadly.

This report recognises some of the challenges Australia faces as a nation and asks, ‘what if creative and cultural activity could make a transformative contribution towards solving them?’

This report looks at more than a decade of expenditure on arts and culture by the three tiers of government in Australia (2007-08 to 2017-18). Current and credible data sources have been utilised and it is the most comprehensive study of its type. It identifies some basic international comparisons and, by synthesising available data, enables meaningful comparisons to be made now and into the future between different years, different levels of government and different areas of expenditure. One of our hopes is that people will realise the value in capturing, analysing and disseminating relevant data to ensure an even clearer picture of the funding environment and return on investment in all its forms.