Creative Australia’s comprehensive Artists as Workers report, published today, paints a sobering picture of the economic and working conditions faced by professional artists in Australia over the five years to 2023. The study, which spans 265 pages and analyzes data from across the arts sector, reveals that nearly half of Australia’s professional artists earn less than $10,000 a year from their creative work, with two in five struggling to meet basic living costs.
The report, led by researcher and co-author David Throsby, found that only one in 10 artists work full-time on their creative practice, while the remaining 91 per cent rely on a mix of arts-related work, such as teaching, or non-arts work to supplement their income. When factoring in these additional sources of income, the average annual income for a professional artist in Australia stands at $54,500 – a staggering 26 per cent below the national workforce average. The average income based solely on creative work is an even more dismal $23,200 per year.
Despite the fact that 74 per cent of artists hold a university degree (compared to 36 per cent in the general workforce), the report highlights that earning potential across all art forms remains significantly lower than in professions requiring similar levels of education. Professor Throsby notes that artists have the same level of qualifications as managers and professionals in the workforce, yet they earn about half as much. This disparity in income could be seen as a form of subsidy, with artists willing to work for much lower rates of return to support the country’s artistic and cultural output.
The report also sheds light on the persistent gender pay gap in the arts sector. While women now outnumber men two to one across the artistic workforce (65 per cent, up from 51 per cent in 2016), they continue to be paid less on average than their male counterparts, with a sector-wide pay gap of 19 per cent. This figure, although an improvement from the previous report’s findings of 25 per cent, still exceeds the 2023 Australian workforce average of 12 per cent.
Georgie McClean, the executive director for development and partnerships at Creative Australia, acknowledges the challenges in addressing the gender pay gap for artists, citing systemic issues such as caring responsibilities and broader cultural values that determine who gets to be considered a “great artist.”
The study also reflects an increase in the diversity of professional artists, with the proportion of artists with disability doubling since the previous report in 2016 to 16 per cent, and artists who speak a language other than English now making up 13 per cent of the artistic workforce, up from 10 per cent in 2016. However, despite these positive shifts, the diversity of the artistic workforce still falls below the broader Australian population, where one in six Australians (18 per cent) live with disability, and 23 per cent speak a language other than English.
The report highlights the precarity of artists’ employment, with the majority (four out of five) working on a freelance or self-employed basis. The work artists undertake to supplement their income is increasingly casualised, compounding job and income insecurity. The proportion of Australian artists now working on a freelance basis outside of their creative endeavors has risen to 59 per cent for arts-related work (up from 40 per cent in 2016) and 56 per cent for non-arts work (up from 26 per cent).
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on professional artists’ livelihoods is also noted in the report, with one in two experiencing unemployment in the five years to 2023 and only one-third returning to pre-pandemic work hours by the end of 2023. The current cost-of-living crisis has made continuing with creative work untenable for some, with the biggest losses seen among musicians and craft professionals.
As part of the federal government’s national cultural policy Revive, announced in 2022, $286 million in funding has been committed to the arts and cultural sector over five years, including $199 million for Creative Australia. While this funding is a step in the right direction, the report underscores the need for continued vigilance in addressing the barriers faced by artists and ensuring that their work is properly valued for its significant contributions to society.
The Artists as Workers report serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by professional artists in Australia, highlighting the need for systemic changes to ensure a more equitable and sustainable future for the country’s creative workforce. Without addressing these issues, the risk of losing artists to other professions remains a genuine concern, potentially diminishing the richness and diversity of Australia’s cultural landscape.