Positive Solutions was engaged by The Ian Potter Cultural Trust engaged to review the impact of the Trust’s support for Australian artists, and advise on strategies for the future. As context for our advice we prepared a scan of some factors impacting the sustainability of artists’ careers – a key focus for the Trust. With the Trust’s permission the following is an edited version of the context material we prepared, highlighting some of the issues raised by artists.
Artists' Earnings
In a report for the Australia Council David Throsby highlights two of the key constraints affecting artists’ creative earnings – financial challenges and time constraints. The former arise from a variety of sources, including lack of work opportunities in the artist’s artform, lack of financial return from creative practice, and lack of access to funding or other financial support. Time constraints—a lack of time to do creative work—arise through a variety of external pressures and responsibilities such as the need to undertake research and development for new work that may be unpaid and time-consuming.
Pre-Covid, artists’ average total annual income was $48,400 – 21% less than the average Australian wage level – with just $18,800 from creative work. Between 2007-08 and 2014-15, adjusted for CPI, mean creative
income declined by 19%.
