The Census and the creative workforce
Presented by Stuart Cunningham
Wednesday April 19, 2023
11am - 12pm
Online (Zoom)
Abstract
In the light of the new National Cultural Policy Revive, this presentation outlines new approaches to measuring Australia鈥檚 creative workforce to address increasingly urgent questions about the value of this significant but poorly understood part of the Australian economy and society. There are new methods for capturing a range of creative activity currently at the margins of traditional measurement typified by the Census. The presentation will overview these new approaches that help us understand, for example, the relation between qualifications the contribution to innovation of creatives working outside the creative industries, the value of second and subsequent jobs, the efficacy of volunteering and pre-market creative labour signalling, and online creative entrepreneurship.
Biography
Stuart Cunningham AM is Professor, Faculty of Art and Design, University of Canberra; Distinguished Emeritus Professor, Queensland University of Technology; and Senior Associate, Outside Opinion. He is a leading researcher supporting the development of cultural and creative industries policies. He directed the first ARC Centre of Excellence based outside the hard sciences (Creative Industries and Innovation) from 2005 to 2014 and has advised Australian governments and their agencies in communications and arts portfolios. He has worked closely with bodies such as the UK鈥檚 NESTA and recently consulted on developing creative industries research and policy in Iceland.
