Connected Cultural Experiences
Bringing people together through the arts, heritage and cultural activities.
Supporting connection and celebrating WA’s cultural heritage
The 2016 Australian Census affirmed that WA is one of the most diverse and fastest growing of all the states and territories in Australia (Office of Multicultural Interests, 2021). It’s also home to one of the oldest surviving cultures on earth. Arts, heritage and cultural activities are powerful mechanisms to bring our communities together and to celebrate all that makes WA great.
Key Outcomes
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Our community is connected through arts and cultural activities
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Indigenous heritage and culture is respected, acknowledged and embraced
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Western Australia's cultural heritage is shared and preserved
Indicators of Connected, Cultural Experiences
To measure the cultural participation and inclusion of communities, we need to look at many different indicators to make sure we get the full picture of people’s lives. Important indicators include attendance at cultural events, respect for Indigenous culture and attitudes to arts.
So, how is WA tracking against key cultural indicators?
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Cultural Attendance by Gender
Percentage of people who attended at least one cultural venue or event in the last 12 months. Cultural activities are a valuable forum for social examination and debate, and a means of fostering creativity, innovation, and dialogue. A higher percent of people in Western Australia attended at least one venue or event overall, compared to Australia as a whole, however there are a number of areas where Western Australia falls below the national figure.
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Community Respect by Region
Percentage of people that agree that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are important to Australia’s identity as a nation. To achieve reconciliation in Australia, we need to develop strong relationships built on trust and respect. In a reconciled Australia, national unity means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, histories and cultures are valued and recognised as part of a shared national identity. The number of people that agree or strongly agree with the statement "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are important to Australia’s identity as a nation" has been
increasing over the last 8 years.
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Attitude to the Arts by % Agree
Percentage of people who agree that there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the arts. The arts are vital expressions of human experience and embody individual and collective identities, stories and histories. In both Western Australia and Australia as a whole, only half of the population believe that there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the arts.
How we’re helping to create cultural connection in WA
Lotterywest and Healthway are working to increase connection to cultural heritage and the arts across WA by supporting great partners and initiatives. As part of this work, we encourage all our grant partners to think about the impact they can have on equality, access and inclusion to improve the wellbeing of all Western Australians.
Our investment in supporting Connected, Cultural Experiences last financial year
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$38.2M
in grants awarded -
159
total number of grants funded -
129 grants
to support the outcome of community connected through arts and cultural activities -
22 grants
to support the outcome of Indigenous heritage and culture is respected, acknowledged and embraced
Related Case Studies
Dive deeper into your community
Use the Community Insights Tool to access the latest publicly available data on wellbeing indicators in WA. This tool is ideal for framing your project to your unique community and state of wellbeing.
Select the next wellbeing category you want to explore:
Acknowledgement of Country
The Western Australian Community Impact Hub acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are based, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation and extends that respect to all the Traditional Owners and Elders of this country. We recognise the significant importance of their cultural heritage, values and beliefs and how these contribute to the positive health and wellbeing of the whole community.
