Cultural and Creative Activity Satellite Accounts Methodology Refresh

Feedback prepared in response to the Cultural and Creative Activity Satellite Accounts Methodology Refresh: Consultation paper, produced by the Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research.

Summary

ANA welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the proposed refresh of the methodological framework for estimating cultural and creative activity, as one of the actions in Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place – Australia’s cultural policy for the next five years.

This submission is informed by engagement across ANA’s arts and culture networks, our previous and forthcoming research on the cultural and creative economy and our research about perceptions of arts and culture.

It also draws on international recommendations about data collection and reporting and statistical updates in the Australian context regarding participation and attendance in cultural and creative activities. Finally, it reflects how we use the cultural and creative activity satellite accounts and estimates in our work.

The following information requests are addressed:

• Request 1. How ANA currently uses the cultural and creative activity satellite accounts and estimates
• Request 4. ANA’s thoughts on the proposed scope of proposed layers, domains and categories of cultural and creative activity
• Request 5. ANA’s thoughts on the scope of industries and occupations included in the proposed definition of cultural and creative sector
• Request 6. Other datasets that BCARR could use to further improve the estimates.

Considerations and feedback

ANA recommends that BCARR consider the following principles in its decisions about the methodology of the satellite accounts:

1. The broad scope, shifting definitions and importance of data on cultural and creative activity for a range of stakeholders.
2.  The need for “future proofing” these definitions and data for technological changes such as generative artificial intelligence to support regulatory and investment decision-making.
3. The need to prioritise useability, timeliness, year-to-year consistency, and international comparability in the reporting on the cultural and creative activity satellite accounts and estimates.
4. The benefits for different audiences of reporting the source data, at sufficient granularity, and the ability to group these data together in various ways, including by parts of a value chain.