Country of birth - artists

The 2002 Australia Council artists survey, Don't give up you day job, collected information relating to practising professional artists in Australia. The survey included full-time and part-time artists; employed and self-employed artists; and artists regardless of whether all, some or none of their income was from art practice.

The survey did not include artists whose primary involvement was in design (furniture, interior, fashion, industrial, architectural or graphic); artists working primarily in the film industry; or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists working in remote Indigenous communities.

According to Don't give up your day job, over 40 per cent of artists from a non-English speaking background, born outside of Australia, are from Europe and the former Soviet Union.

If a survey respondent said that English was not the first language they learned, they were classified as coming from a non-English speaking background.

Artists from a non-English speaking background born outside of Australia

Country of birth	Percentage of artists (%)
Europe and the former Soviet Union	43
Asia	10
Africa and the Middle East	6
Americas	13
Other	3

Source: Australia Council, Don’t give up your day job: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia (Throsby and Hollister 2003).

In 2000–01, artists from a non-English speaking background earned less than artists from an English-speaking background.

When comparing total arts income, artists from a non-English speaking background earned a mean gross income of $19,700 compared to $25,000 for artists from an English speaking background.

When comparing total incomes, artists from a non-English speaking background earned a mean gross income of $30,500 compared to $37,700 for artists from an English speaking background.