Despite visual and other art forms being a vital component of a city’s cultural DNA, artists in Australia are still earning well below the base wage.

Research from Creative Australia (2024) shows that the average artist earns roughly $14,000 to $23,000 a year from their creative practice, falling far below national minimum wages. In conjunction with these figures, over 80% of visual artists and craft practitioners rely on outside jobs, volunteering, or insecure project grants to pay rent and survive.

In another study conducted by researchers at Melbourne’s RMIT University and the University of Melbourne, artists were found to be among some of the country’s worst-paid workers, scraping through on an average income of $13,937 from their arts practice.

Despite their struggle, recent findings in a longitudinal study by Creative Australia demonstrate that artists, and their art, remain strongly valued in society. The National Arts Participation survey examines Australians’ attitudes towards and engagement with the arts, and the 2025 results demonstate that almost all Australians engage with the arts in some way. The survey shows that 98% of Australians engage with the arts, either by listening to music,
reading, creating art, engaging with the arts online or by attending arts and cultural events and festivals, and is in line with the 2022 (97%) result – illustrating that creativity continues to play a role in the lives of the vast majority of Australians.

The study also demonstrated that more Australians recognise the positive impacts of creative engagement on our society, our economy and ourselves (86% up from 84% in 2022), and that 19.4 million Australians – or 93% of the population aged 15 and over – hold positive attitudes towards the arts.

Close to one quarter of Australians give their time or money to the arts (23%), which is consistent with the 2022 results (23%). However, this number did see a drop from the pre-pandemic (2019) result of 26%.

So why are so many Australian artists still struggling to build longevity in their practice?

According to Penny Griggs, Chief Executive Officer at the Adelaide Central School of Art (ACSA), it’s a question the industry has been grappling with for a long time.

“It’s the age-old question in the arts, isn’t it? It’s like how do we educate others of the value of our sector? It’s really challenging. I’ve been in the industry a long time, and you see those mid-career artists do have to make choices sometimes, and you see it over and over again. It’s like, this is hard. You’ve got to hustle all the time. (You have to ask yourself) Is that the kind of life that I want to continue to have?”

Griggs adds that students at the school are taught to hone their unique voice, but also prompted to think about what success looks like for them.

“We talk a lot about it’s not always monetary that is satisfying as a person and in your career; what does success look like? And that’s different for everybody, obviously. But there is an absolute tension there, and I don’t know what the answer is, but it would be nice to have recognition,” says Griggs.

For long-term partner of Square Holes, Helpmann Academy (an NFP that supports emerging creatives), helping creatives build sustainable practices is a major part of its remit. As Kate Zealand, Communications and Marketing Manager at Helpmann Academy, explains, branding is an important component of a creative’s practice.

“We encourage artists to think strategically about how they present themselves, connect with audiences and communicate the value of their work. In an increasingly competitive creative landscape, a clear and authentic brand is essential for building visibility, attracting opportunities and sustaining a long-term creative practice,” says Zealand.

For Helpmann, it’s about supporting artists to build sustainable practices over commercial success.

“Our focus is to empower emerging creatives and give them the agency to follow their own pathway to success. We talk to building sustainable practices, rather than thinking about ‘commercial outcomes’. In recognising the diversity of artistic practice, we offer a wide range of programs for emerging creatives so they can select those opportunities that suit their goals, aspirations and stage of practice,” says Zealand.

One solution for the arts value proposition can be found in Ireland, where a permanent guaranteed weekly wage of €325 (~A$479) for eligible professional creatives has been introduced. Reports from the pilot of the program, which ran from 2022- 2025, found that for every €1 invested, the arts delivered €1.39 back – with recipients spending nearly eight additional hours per week on their creative practice and supporting the creation of 40% more Irish artworks.

“How lovely would that be elsewhere? I’m not sure that’s likely in the near future. And in the meantime, it is about how do you balance that creative career? And some artists do find a commercial balance within their art practice. We’ve got quite a few of our graduates who are tattoo artists, so they’re sort of aligned careers or aligned careers and practice to their practice or working in gallery spaces, even mural artists who are responding often to briefs, but also doing their own work,” adds Griggs.

In the meantime, South Australian punters (and interstate travellers) have the opportunity to see artists from all walks of life as the annual South Australian Living Artist Festival (SALA) kicks off on August 1. Spanning a month, the festival boasts over 700 visual art exhibitions and events.

Griggs, who was the SALA CEO from 2012 – 2018, says the festival is the only of its kind.

“It speaks to that broad breaking down of barriers of what visual art is and that it’s outside of the white cube and that it shouldn’t be intimidating; it’s open to everybody,” says Grigg.

“It’s an open access festival model exactly like The Fringe, so anyone can participate. And to a certain extent, it shows the value of art in society. I mean, it’s incredible. There’s nothing else really like it anywhere else in the world… It raises awareness across the board that there are practising artists, and that’s a very broad spectrum of people and types of artists.”

Square Holes is a cultural insight studio.

We design mixed method explorations of people and culture beyond the category,  uncovering the patterns, tensions and shifts shaping behaviour to inform strategy, inspire innovation and enable confident decisions. Our studio model brings together the right mix of thinkers, researchers and specialists for each exploration. If you’re navigating change, entering a new market, or seeking deeper understanding of people and culture, let’s start a conversation >