A comparison of each state and territory’s share of the Live Performance Industry against their population provides insight into spend per capita as well as the concentration of the Industry relative to where people live. Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia command a larger share of both Live Performance revenue and attendance compared to their share of Australia’s population. Although Victoria experienced a decline in revenue and attendance in 2014, it still remained well above its share of the population and had the highest spend per capita both in 2014 and 2013. Across the other states and territories, all had a smaller share of industry revenue compared to their population, although South Australia had a larger share of attendance.

There exist several possible explanations for these disproportional results:

• Some of Australia’s largest performing arts companies are based in New South Wales and Victoria and as such stage the bulk of their performances in Sydney and Melbourne, for example Opera Australia (Sydney), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and The Australian Ballet (Melbourne).
• Destination NSW and The Victorian Major Events Company are particularly active in the major events market and as such have been successful in attracting major live performance events to these states. For example, Destination NSW attracted the world premiere of Strictly Ballroom and the return of Disney’s The Lion King. In other categories, it has secured investment in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour and continued investment in Vivid Sydney.
• The majority of regional performances are not included in this Survey and as such, performances in larger states with significant regional markets, such as Queensland, are under-reported. To capture these types of live performance events LPA and EY are producing a supplementary ticket attendance and revenue report for 2014 that will include data from regional venue members of the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (APACA).
• Further, cities such as Brisbane are constrained in their ability to host performances due to a smaller number of venues and hence capacity, compared to Melbourne for example.
• South Australia’s larger share of attendance can partly be explained by the inclusion of Adelaide Fringe data. This festival attracted high attendance to the numerous low cost events.
• It should be noted that these state and territory breakdowns do not take into account people who travel from interstate or overseas to watch a live performance. Industry share only accounts for the state or territory in which the performance took place and hence where the revenue and attendance is recognised. This is particularly relevant for categories such as Musical Theatre where musicals opening their season in a particular state often attract significant visitation from outside that state.