Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research

The Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research (BCARR) undertakes research and provides economic and data analysis on communications, arts, cities and regions to support evidence-based policy development and advice.

Select your area of interest below or explore our menu.

Communications

See our research and analysis of the communications and media sectors.

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Arts

View our research and analysis of the arts sector and cultural and creative parts of the economy.

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Regions and Cities

The economic and social characteristics of Australia’s regions and cities vary significantly. Our spatial research and analysis improves our understanding of these differences and enables location appropriate development.

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Data Dashboards

Our data dashboards provide an interactive way of monitoring, measuring, analysing, and generating insights from different datasets.

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What's new

10 Dec 2024

Highlighting the value of our cultural and creative activity

The Australian Government has today released two reports highlighting the significant contribution the cultural and creative sector is making to the economy and examining its trends post-COVID.

19 Nov 2024

Bridging the digital divide: understanding First Nations Children's digital technology use

New research reveals important insights into the socioeconomic factors impacting First Nations’ childrens use of digital technologies.

Mother sitting on a couch with two children who are using electronic devices.

18 Sep 2024

Future of communications could be written in the stars with LEO satellites

LEO satellites expected to provide faster and more reliable communications

20 Jun 2024

New research examines telecommunications affordability for First Nations households

The Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research (BCARR) have released their findings on telecommunications affordability and access for First Nations households.

First Nations mother and daughter sitting on sofa at home pointing at a tablet

07 May 2024

Experimental Gross Regional Product Estimates have been released

In 2020-21, the economic contribution of capital cities to the national economy was 69.2 per cent, with regional Australia contributing 30.8 per cent.

Publications

Characteristics of Employment and Business Activity in Cultural and Creative Sectors—fact sheet

characteristics-of-employment-and-business-activity-in-cultural-and-creative-sectors_0.pdf (443.22 KB)

characteristics-of-employment-and-business-activity-in-cultural-and-creative-sectors.docx (591.59 KB)

Analysis that provides insights into the employment characteristics of workers in the cultural and creative sector.

Affordability of communications services for low income households

bcar-affordability-of-communications-services-for-low-income-households.pdf (1.22 MB)

30042020_bcar-affordability-of-communications-services-for-low-income-households.docx (1.05 MB)

In 2017, the Bureau of Communications and Arts Research found that the affordability of communications services in Australia had improved overall. In general, consumers were getting better value as prices stayed the same or fell, while product inclusions (such as data) increased.