Australian cultural and creative activity: a population and hotspot analysis

The nationwide three-year project was a partnership between the department, the universities, Arts Queensland, Create NSW, Creative Victoria, and Arts South Australia. It concluded in 2020.

WA’s creative hotspots are, Albany-Denmark, Busselton, Fremantle and Geraldton, all of which have above average creative and innovative growth and potential. 

The research, entitled ‘Australian cultural and creative activity: A population and hotspot analysis’ combined population-level statistical analysis and interviews with local creatives. 

Reports, factsheets and data tables

Detailed reports on each of the four WA hotspots have been published and are available above. These reports provide a detailed analysis of the creative ecosystem in each location and discuss potential reasons behind the higher-than-average creativity that exists there.  

The Queensland University of Technology project website also has published the following based on the most recent Census data (2016):

• Data tables on creative employment and income figures for each of the hotspots
• Data tables on creative employment for income for local governments and capital cities
• Factsheet on the creative economy in Australia
• Factsheet on creative economy sub-sectors and income in Australia

Reports on each of the other creative hotspots across Australia are also available on the Queensland University of Technology project website.