Australia’s visual arts and craft workers are facing increasingly deteriorating conditions, according to research published today.

Our four-year study reveals workers are abandoning the visual art sector, largely because of unstable employment, below-average salaries and a lack of support.

We present findings from the largest academic surveys of artists and arts workers to-date – the first conducted in 2022 (more than 700 respondents) and the second in 2024 (almost 900 respondents) – with income and employment data from four financial years between 2018 and 2024.

Alongside the surveys, we conducted interviews with 20 artists and arts workers to better understand hybrid career patterns – and consulted widely with industry.

Artists and arts workers represent a financially vulnerable group in Australia’s workforce. Our research identified concerning patterns of work, including:

high levels of education that don’t match salaries, which are well below the average for professional workers

high levels of unpaid work, volunteer work and self-employment

a highly gendered (majority women) workforce, with a significant gender pay........

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