Vital Signs: cultural indicators for Australia

local, state and national approaches

Andrew Abbott, Acting Director, Arts Victoria: Welcome and introduction

Judy Morton, Manager Research, Arts Victoria

Arts Victoria’s data collection activities

Andrew Middleton, Director,

National Centre of Culture and Recreation Statistics,

Australian Bureau of Statistics

ABS’ practices of data collection: current practices, challenges

John Smithies, Director, Cultural Development Network:

Local government data collection, and the National Local Government Cultural Forum.

Dr. Kim Dunphy, Research Program Manager,

Cultural Development Network

Forum participants’ collection and use of data:

summary of survey responses

Other: tourism research; Audience Atlas Australia analytics tool; research by Theatre Network Victoria

Other: from similar orgs nationally; community consultation; focus groups;Operational/performance data/site activation/floor space for artists and creative activity/visitation/cultural tourism/economic development;Benchmarking of membership

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Other uses of data: - to inform research design- create new products- to fundraise- to assist arts organisations to measure value- to inform our Board re performance

Other: lack of consistency in data sets

Is there other data you would like:

-de-identified but detailed info about orgs from their OIP application; data from comparable orgs in standardised financial report- greater detail on local govt arts spending- one central place for cultural data- application to manage existing data using self-determined filters- social and economic impact measures and data- probably, but I don’t know what I don’t know

Barriers to collecting the data you need:

- hard to capture information from audiences

- need an internal culture change so we collect data in a timely, consistent, regular way

In summary…

-data is increasingly used to inform the cultural sector, -organisations face barriers in lack of appropriate data, especially at the level they need- collection and use of data not yet prioritised by arts orgs, - skills in use of data not yet strong

Judy Morton, Manager Research, Arts Victoria

Returning to Vital Signs: Cultural Indicators for Australia:

details of indicators

Judy Morton, Manager Research, Arts Victoria

Returning to Vital Signs: Cultural Indicators for Australia:

details of indicators

Group discussion: - Is the three-themed framework – based on economic, cultural and social value – the most appropriate framework for organizing the data?

- Are the indicators identified in Vital Signs the most appropriate measures?

- How could these indicators be useful, and useful to you?

Report back and recommendations

Thankyou!