2024 Visual Artists and Arts Worker Survey

Visual Arts Work (VAW) is an Australian Research Council Linkage project led by researchers from RMIT University and The University of Melbourne, and industry partners the National Association of the Visual Arts (NAVA), and the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA). Visual Arts Work: sustainable strategies for the Australian visual arts and craft sector aims to strengthen the industry’s ecosystem. In a context where artists’ incomes are low and falling, commercial galleries are financially vulnerable, and public galleries face funding challenges, this project aims to address barriers to the sector’s economic health and the challenge of improving artists’ and arts workers’ incomes.
VAW have recently launched a 2024 survey for visual or craft artists or arts workers living in Australia. The survey is a follow up to the 2022 iteration, and is designed to enable Visual Arts Work to compare results over time. Previous data has been used to provide evidence to the Fair Work Modern Awards Review, and has been published in academic journals and The Conversation.

NAVA are also currently running a survey, with early insights showing that pay, working conditions, cost of living and freedom of expression remain key concerns for this workforce.

​Learn more and complete the survey here