Brisbane's Creative Industries 2003

Abstract

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The BRISBANE’S CREATIVE INDUSTRIES 2003 report is a project commissioned by the Brisbane City Council. This report is divided into 5 sections: 1. Creative Industries – A Brief Overview 2. Employment in the Creative Industries 3. Financial Dimensions 4. The Brisbane "Hotspots" 5. Conclusions The first section, "Creative Industries – A Brief Overview", presents: A definition of the creative industries, building on sectors outlined by the UK Creative Industries Task Force, and based in the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The second section, "Employment in the Creative Industries", assesses these dimensions of creative industries in Brisbane in comparison with state, national and global data. This section indicates that: Total employment in the creative industries in the seven main capital cities is 225,905. Brisbane has 25,324 workers employed in the creative industries, which corresponds to 11.2% of all creative industries workers in the seven main capital cities and 3.4% of the working population of Brisbane, compared to the national average of 4.2%. The relative size of each sector as a percentage of those employed in the creative industries in Brisbane is: Literature and Print Media (31.1%), Performing Arts (5.1%), Music Composition and Publishing (2.1%), Visual Arts and Crafts (5.1%), Design (26.3%), Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Film (17.4%), Other Arts (1.7%), and Heritage (11.2%). Creative occupations with the largest employment are 2121 Architects and Landscape Architects (1,230 persons), 2533 Designers and Illustrators (1,107 persons), and 2534 Journalists and Related Professions (914 persons). • Creative industries workers on average earn higher incomes than non-creative industries workers. Median individual weekly incomes are much less for Brisbane creative industries workers ($666)than their counterparts in Sydney ($838), Melbourne ($763) and Canberra ($814). Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Film provides the highest individual weekly median income. • Between 1996 and 2001, Brisbane experienced a decline in the numbers of persons employed in the Performing Arts (-2.7%), Heritage (-8.8%), and Music Composition and Publishing (-9.1%), and an increase in the numbers of persons employed in Other Arts (19.8%), Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Film (12.5%), Design (5.8%) and Visual Arts and Crafts (5.6%). The third section, "Financial Dimensions", describes the financial characteristics associated with the creative industries activities across all eight creative industries sectors and concludes with the following significant findings: • Based on 1996-1997 data, the industry sectors with highest potential for financial growth were Film and Video Production and Distribution, and Music and Theatre Productions. The sectors with the highest potential for employment growth were Architectural Services, Film and Video Production and Distribution, and Music and Theatre Productions. • The activities with the largest profit margin are commercial television services (24.6%), manufacture of recorded music (16.3%), studio sound recording (13.8%) and motion picture distribution (11.4%). • Australia-wide, the creative industries attracted $4,027.2m in funding from across the three levels of government in 2000-2001. • The Queensland state government provided $288.5m in funding to the creative industries in 2000-2001, of which 87.1% was allocated to Heritage, 6.9% to Performing Arts Venues, and 4.7% to Performing Arts. The fourth section, "The Brisbane Hotspots", outlines existing and emerging hotspots of Brisbane’s creative industries and indicates that: • The data confirm that Brisbane does not have true creative industries clusters but does have the capacity for development and, given the appropriate forms of intervention and investment, true creative industries clusters are likely to form. • The overall strengths of Queensland’s creative industries are seen as the presence of highly talented individuals, high levels of innovation, strong government support for the sector, competitive prices for creative output and a culture that values diversity and enthusiasm. • Queensland’s creative industries weaknesses are identified as the small size of demand in the local market, lack of critical mass, weaknesses in some skills (such as script-writing, business and marketing), lack of an entrepreneurial culture, failure to network and collaborate, remoteness from major markets and limited access to capital. • Brisbane has identifiable creative industries hotspots including: Craft, Design, and Visual Arts; Games and Leisure Software; Contemporary Music; Film and Television; and Performing Arts. The fifth section, "Conclusions", integrates the data presented on Brisbane’s creative industries: • The creative industries in Brisbane are relatively small. • The largest industries are based in Literature and Print Media; Design; and Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Film. • The focus of Brisbane’s creative industries is primarily to the local market, whereas a stronger interstate and international focus is required for strong economic impact to develop. • Current methodologies based upon ABS data to identify the creative industries under-report emerging industries, particularly those industries based in new media and IT.

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