Indigenous and culturally diverse Australians more likely to attend arts events, study finds

The Parrtjima light festival in Alice Springs in September 2020. A major survey found that culturally and linguistically diverse Australians were almost twice as likely to attend First Nations arts and cultural activities than non-Cald respondents. Photograph: Che Chorley/Parrtjima

Advocates representing diverse Australian artists have called for more funding after a landmark study found that Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse (Cald) Australians were more likely than other Australians to create, attend and engage with the arts.

Results from the fifth National Arts Participation survey of 9,396 Australians aged 15 and above, conducted in September and October 2022, were released on Wednesday – the first survey to take place since the Covid pandemic decimated the arts industries.