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The top 3 demographic trends you need to know in 2022

The 2021 census data is out and is telling a story about a rapidly-changing nation. Here’s what you need to know.

The 2021 census data is out and is telling a story about a rapidly-changing nation.

The results are in - Australia is more culturally diverse than ever, the country’s age profiles are shifting and our First Nations population is growing. 

Below, we share the scoop on the top 3 biggest demographic shifts underway, and how our cultural and community-based sectors can use these insights to engage larger or new audiences.

We finish with a checklist of actions so you can stay ahead of the shift.

Over a million new migrants have arrived in Australia since the last census.

Source: ABS

More than 50% of Australian residents are born overseas or have a parent born overseas, making us the first English-speaking nation to have a migrant majority. Incredible! Plus, as you can see in the chart, there’s an increase in the proportion of migrants from the Global South (eg. Asia and Africa) between 2016 and 2021, while migrants from England, New Zealand and Italy have decreased.

The many faces of Australia mean that we need to represent and redefine the Australian story. We cannot let diversity be just a buzzword to throw around aimlessly.

We have a responsibility, and an opportunity, to embrace and reflect these cultural shifts, whether it be through the people we hire, the programs we invest in or the audiences we strive to serve.

If you’re wondering what your next step is, we love the Creative Equity Toolkit and their action-oriented approach to increasing cultural diversity in the arts. Check out their resources for Audience Development and Marketing to learn more about trust, reciprocity and cultural democracy.

Millennials and Baby Boomers now have equal numbers across the nation, with Millennials overtaking most capital cities.

Young Australians see arts and culture as central to their lives. According to a report by A New Approach, young people believe ‘arts and culture are embedded in and inseparable from everyday life - it is impossible for them to imagine a world without arts and culture as they access these experiences constantly.’ Read their executive summary below for the key findings and opportunities.

Couple these sentiments with Australia’s shifting age profiles and we can see just how worthwhile it is to tailor our approaches and engage these younger audiences. Many organisations have already tapped into the idea that Millennials and younger are in the market for ‘experiences’, such as immersive and participatory installations that are perfect for sharing on social media (*cough* Van Gogh Alive). 

Take a look at our Young People Attendance Outlook to find out how Millennial and Gen Z audiences are currently feeling about cultural events (spoiler: they’re eager!) and the ways we can overcome barriers to attendance. 

And stay tuned for a new research resource on arts and young people in Spring 2022. Patternmakers, in collaboration with ATYP, is working on a series of key messages and infographics, based on rigorous, quality research, as a part of the National Youth Arts Connections program.

The number of people identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander increased by over 25% since the last census.

There are now almost one million Indigenous people in Australia and this rapid increase cannot be accounted for by births alone. What we’re seeing is an identification change - people who previously did not state they are of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin are now choosing to do so. 

There are many reasons why Indigenous people may decide not to state their First Nations identity, ranging from fear of government surveillance to the failure of the census in accurately defining and measuring Indigeneity.

Despite this, people are feeling more comfortable declaring themselves as Indigenous and this is an encouraging development.

The census also revealed that traditional languages remain an important part of Indigenous households - with more than 78,000 people speaking an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language at home. First Languages Australia developed an excellent ongoing interactive map, titled Gambay, consolidating the first languages across the country with the help of language centres and community members. Search up your own area to learn about the local languages or keep an eye out for voice recordings and videos provided by the Indigenous community. Go forth and explore!

Checklist of actions

Here are some ideas to help your organisation stay ahead of the shifts occurring:

  • Ensure your leadership, executive teams and board are across the data. Schedule a briefing or send around an email. We love how this interactive scrolling tool by ABC News visualises the data.

  • Have a look at how each of these growing demographic segments are represented in your board (and executive team, and staff) and if needed, read more about implementing diversity strategies.

  • Schedule time in the next strategy meeting for a briefing on demographic trends, and brainstorm what the trends can mean for your organisation or community.

  • Identify community organisations, schools, businesses and publications in your community that serve these growing audiences - and explore how you might connect with them or include them in your partnership strategy.

  • Create (or update) your Audience Development Plan to include new strategies to serve culturally diverse communities, younger audiences and the First Nations population. Check out this guide by The Audience Agency to get started.

  • To be effective and sustainable, audience development should be woven into the fabric of your organisation. The Creative Equity Toolkit signposts a checklist to assess your capacity for successful audience development (page 135).

There’ll be more census updates to come, as the ABS releases new data.

Cover image: Pintupi Women’s Collaborative, Kanaputa, 2010. Obtained from National Gallery of Victoria.

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About the Author

Melanie Raveendran
Digital Marketing Associate

 
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Connecting with arts audiences online: Fact Sheet

As more artists and cultural organisations look to grow their audiences online, we’ve assembled a Fact Sheet with statistics, insights and resources for digital strategy, marketing and distribution.

Last week. I delivered a webinar entitled ‘What Audiences Want Online’ for the Australia Council for the Arts’ Creative Connections webinar series. It was fun!

I regretted the name of the session, but you’ll have to watch the webinar to find out why!

Watch the webinar here, and scroll down to see a list of resources related to the content of the webinar: digital strategy, marketing and distribution of cultural experiences.

Webinar: What audiences want online

Fact Sheet: Connecting with Audiences Online

If the content of the webinar appeals, and you want to know more about the sources and resources I referred to, you can download the below Fact Sheet: Connecting with Audiences Online.

 
 

Thank you to our Research Administrator Aurora Nowosad who helped me to publish this as a Fact Sheet.

Video: six digital professionals share their insights

In the process of preparing the content for the session, I reached out to a number of colleagues working in digital technology.

I wanted to hear about audience engagement, from the point of view of others working closely with artists and cultural organisations (not just a data geek like me!). This included with a web developer, a digital transformation professional, a digital strategist, a digital inclusion researcher and a creative entrepreneur.

Head over to my last post to watch the video and hear what they had to say. Particular thanks go to digital strategist Michael Edson, whose wisdom helped me identify a better way to come at the topic of audience engagement.

Other useful resources on digital engagement

REMIX Academy launched recently with 500+ online talks on topics like digital business models, content creation and creative entrepreneurship. The REMIX guys know their business models, so of course full access to the content involves a (very affordable) paid plan, but you can access 10 hours worth of webinars for free.

The Audience Agency have some helpful guidance for digital strategy (start with this article in Arts Professional).

I’ve been reading Katie Moffat’s Digital Snapshot for years. Another favourite newsletter with digital storytelling finds is the Storythings newsletter.

Still more?

If you have specific questions, please get in touch with me via LinkedIn or Twitter.

To stay in the loop with new research and resources generally, subscribe to Patternmakers’ semi regular Culture Insight & Innovation Updates.

You can listen to the first five episodes of the Theory of Creativity Podcast now, and look out for the upcoming episode on digital storytelling metrics and measurements. 

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Tandi Palmer Williams

Patternmakers
Managing Director

Tandi leads Patternmakers’ research projects, and is a regular speaker, trainer and writer on audience research and public value in cultural organisations.

 
 

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6 digital professionals share their insights about engaging audiences online

Six digital professionals share their insights about audience engagement, including a web developer, a digital strategist, a digital transformation consultant and a creative entrepreneur.

This week, I’m delivering a webinar entitled ‘What Audiences Want Online’ for the Australia Council for the Arts’ Creative Connections webinar series.

In the process of preparing the content for the session, I reached out to a number of colleagues working in digital technology.

I wanted to hear about audience engagement, from the point of view of others working closely with artists and cultural organisations (not just a data geek like me!). This included with a web developer, a digital transformation professional, a digital strategist, a digital inclusion researcher and a creative entrepreneur.

I’m so glad I did. Not only are their insights useful for culture professionals thinking about sharing work online - but I learned a lot too (ego - be gone!). Thank you to all the people below who helped me make the webinar much more interesting, nuanced and useful.

Read more about the contributors below.

…

Indigo Holcombe-James

Research fellow in the Technology, Communications and Policy Lab at RMIT

‘It’s important to remember that [digital] inequity applies to audiences as well as cultural sector practitioners. If we want to ensure that the cultural sector is as inclusive as possible in these strange times, acknowledging digital inequity is a critical first step.’

You can read more about Indigo’s work in The Conversation article, on Twitter, her website. You can read her thesis and visit the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (which provides some helpful demographic insights).

Peter Tullin

Co-Founder - REMIX Summits & CultureLabel.com

‘Don’t start with the tech or the platform, think about the need… study the landscape… think deeply about the consumer of the content. What customer journey are you creating and why is it different from what exists already?’

Pete is delivering a free webinar on digital business models and monetising digital work this Friday.

REMIX also just launched the Remix Academy, which will have hours of free content, condensing some of these trends. it will also give you access to over 500 talks from amazing content creators around the world.

Jane Peacock

Digital Coach & Advisor at Your Coach.Digital

‘Right now, the opportunity is to be the people that are building the community… Digital is an enabler of connection. Those who are doing it well are starting to build collaborative ecosystems around what they do, getting active in telling their brand story and reaching out and connecting with people. That’s what we’re seeking; connection.’

At the time of posting, Jane is offering free workshop/ ideation sessions to help businesses pivot. She’s happy to do an hour for free as long as time permits.

Jasper Visser

Consultant specialising in community leadership, sustainable development, and digital transformation

‘Cultural institutions that are successful with digital engagement combine ‘reaching’ and ‘engaging’ activities in an ongoing conversation with their audience. Reach out to a new audience, address a shared interest, find a shared purpose with a new group of people, and then engage them by telling a unique and compelling story that only you can tell.’

Jasper references the (free!) publication the Digital Engagement Framework along with podcasts Explore the Symphony from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and 20000 Hz: Cremona.

You can read more case studies on his blog www.themuseumofthefuture.com

Yuan Wang

Founder of Yump, web development agency specialising in user experience for not-for-profit organisations

‘Before a person can make a decision about whether to support an organisation… they have to first develop a connection with the website. To develop a connection with your audience, you have to create trust with your content, and to create trust, you need two key ingredients: credibility and authenticity.’

Case studies of Yump's work are online at https://yump.com.au/work/ and they share insights and helpful tips about online engagement on their blog https://yump.com.au/blog/

Michael Edson

Digital strategist working with tech, culture, democracy, & the SDGs

“If you want to ask a powerful question that helps your team see what could be possible, that helps you serve the people you serve and love, the question isn’t “what do people engage with online”, it’s more, “What do we stand for, WHO do we stand for? And what can we do together? I think the answers aren’t in your conference room, Directors Suite or creative studios. They’re out there in the world, so - go out and find them.”

Since the Covid-19 crisis broke, Michael has been working with 13 institutions and leaders across 18 time zones. He says, ‘Audiences, users, PEOPLE, are inventing a new kind of digital culture, a new kind of platform in the home that is cultural, emotional, connected, and open to play and experimentation in a way we've never seen before. I encourage your audience, everyone, to look outward from their institutions and join together with communities to develop the cultural language for what is happening to us now — and to help shape the culture we want to have when the crisis eases.’ 

Michael is organising free workshops, an evening of Ignite talks, and peer-to-peer meetings for cultural leaders and practitioners — find out more at https://usingdata.com/covid19.

…

Header image features Jasper Visser at work. Image credit: Dmitry Smirnov / Strelka Institute

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Tandi Palmer Williams

Patternmakers
Managing Director

Tandi leads Patternmakers’ research projects, and is a regular speaker, trainer and writer on audience research and public value in cultural organisations.

 
 

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Power moves: How evaluation can help you prepare for multi-year funding applications

Are you applying for multi-year funding in 2019? Here are five things you can do to strengthen your work, consolidate impact and improve your chances of success in upcoming funding rounds. 

Are you applying for multi-year funding in 2019? Then you need to get your evidence base sorted! And it’s not too late to start.

Here are five things you can do to strengthen your work, consolidate impact and put your best foot forward in upcoming funding rounds. 

1.     STRUCTURE: Ensure your evaluation framework is up to date

If you don’t already have an evaluation framework in place for the organisation, now is the time to map your program logic or theory of change, and identify some questions relating to your efficiency, effectiveness and ultimate impact. Depending on your size, you might think about this at the project, program or organisation level – or a combination.

There are a bunch of free guides and tools for this out there, but we think the one in the Program planning and evaluation guide from the Australian Institute of Family Studies has just the right amount of detail. 

 If you’ve already developed this (or there’s something similar buried in your share drive somewhere), dust it off at your next team meeting and do a quick discussion on what aspects might need to be refreshed. Appoint someone to lead the work of getting it up to date, approved and communicated to your board and staff. 

2.     GATHER: Analyse your reach and impact  

Impact evaluations are fast becoming an essential management tool for arts and culture organisations. They assist teams to understand the extent to which they are having an impact in the world, what is working well, and what isn’t, and exactly what factors are delivering the best outcomes. They can also help teams to work out the gaps and opportunities in their current programs and clarify the best future direction.

For instance, the Australia Council’s funding guidelines assessment criteria talk about identifying impact and need, which can be demonstrated through evaluation.

You can evaluate your impact through qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, depending on what is most appropriate to address the priority questions in your evaluation framework.

Some basic qualitative questions to ask are: 

What was the best part about Program X?

What could we improve?

What have you taken away from your experience with Program X?

Some quantitative questions to ask are:

On a scale from 1 to 5, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Program X?

On a scale from 1 to 5, how likely are you to recommend X to a friend or colleague?

You can also ask this last one on a scale from 0 to 10, and use the results to calculate a Net Promoter Score which can be benchmarked with other programs and events.

3.     TEST: Gather evidence about what is needed in future

As a part of the strategic planning process, it can be helpful to gather hard data on what your community, participants and/or stakeholders want to see in future. This could include running a consultation process using interviews or focus groups, or running a survey of your stakeholders.

You can also prompt people with a list of potential new initiatives or priorities, and ask people to select their top three. Doing a temperature check like this can be enormously useful in helping you prioritise limited resources – and it gives you an evidence base to fall back on if people challenge your investments.

For example, Creative Plus Business conducted a survey to find out what people wanted from a creative business conference. Collecting data from their community gave them confidence that their plans were on track and is helping ensure the likelihood of a successful event.

As our colleague Bridget Jones at Wavelength said in a recent post, ‘One of the great things about planning is that it helps managers make the tough decisions about what to do - and what not to do - so they can be more successful.’ She also refers to some useful planning templates from Bridgespan to help you keep it real.

Your questions should partly be open ended, e.g.: ‘What would you like to see from us moving forward?’ or ‘What ideas can you share for our program in the next three years?’

4.     SCAN: Analyse the case for investment

Before you lock down your strategic priorities, it’s important to conduct a scan of the wider environment. Analysing big picture statistical trends is an important step in prioritising initiatives and working out the case for investment.

You can do this by examining reliable sources such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, thought leaders like Nesta (check out their predictions for 2019), data aggregators like Google Trends and academic research news articles like The Conversation.

Patternmakers also offer a series of short talks, designed for staff meetings, board meetings and strategic planning days (contact info@thepatternmakers.com.au for more information).

Your goal here is to look for alignment (or otherwise) between your plans, and where the world is heading in the next 1-5 years. For instance, topics like mental health are rising in importance, whereas some retail industries are under threat.

According to the Australia Council’s Strategic Plan Framework, you can consider producing a strategic/context analysis which summarises the strategic issues you expect your organisation to face over the next 3 years. This is often based on an assessment of your internal and external environments to identify the organisations strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges. It is a distillation of analysis and research undertaken by your organisation to underpin the artistic choices you have made and the goals you have set.

5.     PLAN: Work out how you’ll monitor and evaluate your progress

It’s good practice to set up your evaluation framework and methodology before you start a new funding period, new project or initiative. It doesn’t have to be super detailed, and things will undoubtedly change, but showing the assessment committee that you’ve thought about this in advance is just smart.

The key questions are basically what, when, how, why and who will be monitoring and evaluating your progress. How is the big one here, and specifically, how it will be resourced.

As a rule of thumb, I usually advise leaders in arts and culture organisations to set aside 3-5% of their resources for any given period or program for monitoring and evaluation. This doesn’t mean spending 5% on hiring a consultant, most of the work should be done internally, on things like the steps above. It’s also important to be growing your team’s skills – through things like training in research and evaluation.

___

So there you have it: Structure, Gather, Test, Scan & Plan. The geek’s guide to getting ready for your strongest application yet.

If this all sounds overwhelming, and you think there’s a case to invest in the help of a professional, you can get in touch to schedule your free consultation by emailing info@thepatternmakers.com.au. We can provide resources and templates to help you, recommend training that would suit your team, and scope out where you need professional support.

 

 

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Exploring the future of touring in Victoria

Throughout April 2018, our team will be travelling across Victoria to conduct consultations as a part of Creative Victoria's Review of Touring and Engagement.

This month, our team will be travelling across Victoria to conduct consultations as a part of Creative Victoria's Review of Touring and Engagement.

I’m delighted that Patternmakers has been commissioned to conduct the Review, with advisor Professor Peter Matthews. 

Throughout April and May, we will be conducting fieldwork across Victoria, including inner and outer metropolitan Melbourne, and six regional locations. I'm looking forward to seeing how tours are helping regional communities enjoy music, theatre, dance, visual art, heritage collections, multi-arts and heritage collections that they may not otherwise have access to. 

The Review presents an exciting opportunity to take a fresh look at the touring environment and identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness, inclusiveness and viability of touring across the State.

As a national research agency with our base in Sydney, I hope we will bring a fresh perspective. Our team is looking forward to building on our past projects related to regional Victorian arts & culture, including the Road Work Intrinsic Impact Study for Performing Lines, and Audience Development Planning for The Cube, Wodonga.

Those who have worked with us will know that our team has a collaborative style, combining rigorous research techniques with creative thinking to identify solutions. Some key features of our approach to this Review are:

  • Working collaboratively with the Creative Victoria Steering Group to co-design the Review

  • Combining both qualitative and quantitative research techniques to ensure future models are evidence-based

  • Inviting stakeholders to participate either face to face via a series of open forums, or by submitting written response to an online survey.

A major focus for this review will be exploring options for new touring and funding investment models. If you have ideas about the future of touring in Victoria, please head over to the Creative Victoria website to find out more about how you can participate in the Review.

We are also committed to hearing from people of all backgrounds, and those with access requirements. For any questions, please contact info@thepatternmakers.com.au or Sue Doyle, Manager, Regional Partnerships Arts Sector Investment via sue.doyle@ecodev.vic.gov.au.

Image: David LaChappelle, The Last Supper (Ballarat International Foto Biennale

About the Author

Tandi Williams
Managing Director

Patternmakers’ Founder and Managing Director Tandi Williams is an experienced consultant and arts and culture research specialist. 

 

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