Performing Arts

In 2010 Arts Access Australia will publish a research report into current access strategies used in the Australian performing arts sector.

Statistics available through the Cultural Ministers Council 2007 report Cultural Participation by Persons with a Disability and Older Persons indicate that both groups have significantly lower rates of cultural participation than the overall population. While 85% of Australians attend at least one cultural venue or event in a year, that figure falls to 74% for people with a disability and 69% for older Australians.

Responses to the research were received from 134 organisations, including 25 of 28 (90%) Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG) members and 77 of 112 (70%) Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA) members.


Key findings from the research include:

  • There is a high level of recognition for Arts Access Australia.
  • The vast majority of organisations are attracting some people with disabilities as audience members and have some access services available.
  • The vast majority of organisations do not promote productions to people with disabilities or monitor their attendance.
  • While organisations generally have a very low usage of existing access resources and organisations, this is combined with a very high desire to find out more about access.
  • People with disabilities have a low level of employment in surveyed organisations, and even lower participation on Boards and management committees.
  • Regional and smaller organisations are often better at including people with disabilities than their metropolitan counterparts.

Related work supported by Arts Access Australia includes:

Live Performance Australia
Arts Access Australia and Accessible Arts NSW are supporting work by Arts Access Victoria to further develop the Live Performance Australia codes and guidelines relating to access.

Betty Siegal 2008 tour and LEAD conference
Arts Access Australia was a partner in the 2008 speaking tour of Australia by Betty Siegal, Director of Accessibility at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts. Betty also coordinates the annual Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference for audience development specialists.

NSW Accessing the Arts Group
Based on the LEAD model Accessible Arts NSW coordinates a group of arts professionals dedicated to improving access.

NSW Access and Heritage
Accessible Arts NSW is leading a team investigating the relationship between access (disability discrimination) and heritage through both legal and practical research.


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