Australia's cultural and creative workforce refers to those employed in a cultural and creative industry or occupation. The Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research (BCARR) has undertaken a detailed analysis of cultural and creative employment in Australia.
This is an interim report which provides preliminary workforce estimates while Australia moves to a new occupational classification framework. A final report is expected to be released in 2027–28, following the publication of 2026 Census data and labour market statistics which incorporate updated occupational classifications.
Key interim findings
Interim findings show that the cultural and creative sector is a significant and resilient part of Australia's economy.
- In 2023–24, over 591,000 people were employed in this sector as their main job—comparable to major industries like transport, postal and warehousing and wholesale trade—with nearly 50,000 secondary jobs highlighting the flexible, multi-job nature of the workforce.
- Employment has grown by 33% since 2008–09, driven by architecture services, events (arts), and advertising and promotion, with most domains rebounding strongly post-COVID.
While concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria, cultural and creative employment contributes across all states and territories, and draws from a diversity of cohorts, with women making up 56% of the workforce and First Nations employment increasing by more than 80% since 2008–09.