Arts and disability

15 Sep 2015

Did you know?

Disability is defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as any limitation, restriction or impairment which restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months. (1) The ABS collects information about degree of disability (moderate/mild to profound/severe activity limitation, and schooling or employment restriction) and distinguishes those with a disability under and over 65 years of age.

Just under one in five Queenslanders (820,700 people or 18%) reported having a disability in 2012.

For those people with disability, 720,200 (16%) had a specific limitation or restriction that meant they were limited in the core activities of self-care, mobility or communication, or restricted in schooling or employment.

Disability will affect the majority of Australians if they live long enough

The ABS states that the rate of disability increases with age with less than 1 in 20 children under the age of five in Australia having a disability compared to almost 9 in 10 people aged 90 years and over.

People experiencing disability have active social and cultural lives

Of Queenslanders aged 5-64 years experiencing disability, four in five (91 per cent) participated in one or more cultural, recreational or sporting activities in the 12 months prior to survey. For persons over 65 years with a disability this was slightly less at 88%.

People with disability are as likely to create art than those without disability

The Australia Council 2013 Arts in Daily Life (ADL) survey found that people with disability are just as likely to create art than those without a disability (17% compared to 11%).(2)

People with a disability report lower levels of arts attendance

Australia Council Arts in daily life survey data supports the ABS findings evidencing that the rate of ‘receptive participation’ or attendance is lower for people with disability – 88% compared to 95% for people without disability. This is true across a number of artforms: (3)

• Reading – 81% vs 83%
• Live music – 25% vs 41%
• Painting, drawing and street art – 16% vs 20%
• Sculpture and installation art – 9% vs 12%
• Circus and physical theatre – 6% vs 13%
• Theatre and dance – 4% vs 8%

Queenslanders with a disability prefer to attend cultural events than sporting events

Almost twice as many Queenslanders with a disability attended a movie, concert, theatre or other performing arts event than attended a sporting event as a spectator. According to the ABS, attending a movie, concert, theatre or other performing arts event is by far the most popular activity with 51% of those aged 5-64 years with a disability doing this. This drops to 34% for people over 65 years.

Visiting a library remains constant for people below and over 65 years – around 3 in 10 of those with a disability did this in the 12 month prior to survey.

Between 5% and 6% of Queenslanders with a disability participate in performing arts and /or visual arts and craft group activities – this remains consistent after 65 years.

Participation in some cultural activities decline over 65 years

16% of Queenslanders aged 5-64 years with a disability participated at home in art or craft work (for or with other people) – this nearly halves for people over 65 years

Over one in five (under 65 years) visited a museum or art gallery with visitation dropping by 7% for those over 65 years

Rates of participation in some of these activities were lower among those with a profound or severe activity limitation.

Figure 1. Proportion of those with a disability participating in cultural and recreational activities Queensland 2012

Source: Queensland data – Table 21, Australian Bureau of Statistics 4430.0 – Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia 2012.

Cost and opportunities to participate are the biggest barriers

Barriers to creative and receptive arts participation include cost, not enough opportunities close to home, finding the arts more difficult to access, ill-health, and feeling uncomfortable and nervous about trying new things. Respondents were less likely to cite lack of time and a preference for sports as a barrier than other Australians.

People with disability generally have similar attitudes to the arts as other Australians, but they are more likely to think that:

• the arts tend to attract people who are somewhat elitist or pretentious: 35 percent agreeing or strongly agreeing with this, compared with 29 percent
• the arts are too expensive: 48 percent agree, compared with 34 percent
• there are plenty of opportunities for them to get involved in the arts, 61 percent agree compared with 74 percent for the rest of the population.

People with disability are more likely to volunteer their time to arts organisations

Despite barriers to participation, people experiencing disability are just as likely to donate time and/or money to the arts as people without a disability and are 7% more likely to donate time to help arts organisations (60% vs 53%).

So what about Carers?

In 2012, there were 2.7 million carers in Australia. (4) The ABS asked them about their participation in social and civic life without their recipient of care and found that it is much lower than when they are with their recipient of care. Carers without their recipient of care participated as follows:

• Art and craft work (for or with other people, at home last 3 months) – 4%
• Performing arts group activity (away from home at home last 3 months) –4%
• Art or craft group activity (away from home at home last 3 months) – 4%
• Visited a public library (in the last 12 months) – 21%
• Visited a museum or gallery (in the last 12 months) – 12%
• Attended a movie, concert, theatre or other performing arts event (in the last 12 months) – 32%

Though the survey asks about satisfaction with medical and other health related services it does not ask about satisfaction with arts and cultural services provision. It’s a gap in our knowledge that would help frame better arts and cultural services to increase active participation of people with disabilities.

Notes:

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) Australia and Queensland Tables.  Statistics quotes are from this survey unless otherwise stated.  

2. Australia Council for the Arts 2014, Arts in Daily Life: Australian participation in the arts

3. Australia Council for the Arts 2014, Arts in Daily Life: Australian participation in the arts

4. ABS 2012. Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Carer Tables.

Image credit: Derivative of Disability parking on cobblestones, Vilseskogen, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vilseskogen/  Licensed under Creative Commons