australia
Client Live Performance Australia
Project Economic Impact Analysis of the Australian Theatre Sector
Year 2025
Australia’s theatre sector is a major part of the national economy, supporting venues, production companies, creative professionals and supply chains across the country. Its economic impact also extends beyond the sector itself. Audiences travelling to shows spend money on accommodation, food and drink, transport, shopping and entertainment, generating additional economic activity in the places they visit.
Live Performance Australia commissioned Sound Diplomacy to quantify this impact across Australia’s six states and two territories, and build a clearer picture of the sector’s contribution to the national economy.
The study measured turnover, Gross Value Added (GVA) and employment, capturing the impact of theatre and production company operations alongside the wider economic activity generated by interstate and international audiences.
CHALLENGE
strategy
Sound Diplomacy conducted an Economic Impact Analysis to measure the contribution of the Australian theatre sector at both national, and state and territory level, covering New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
The analysis focused on two key areas: the economic impact generated by theatre and production company operations, and the additional economic activity generated by interstate and international audiences travelling specifically to attend theatre performances.
Using data from 285 organisations across Australia, alongside attendance and revenue data for the 2023 to 2024 financial year, the analysis measured:
Turnover, Gross Value Added (GVA) and employment
Direct, indirect and induced economic impacts
Theatre and production company operations
Non-local audience spending
Economic impact at national, state and territory level
The research also examined theatre organisations’ expenditure on suppliers, including how much was spent within their own state or territory, interstate and internationally, providing a wider picture of how the sector’s economic activity flows through the Australian economy.
Findings & outcomes
Australia’s theatre sector generated:
AU$4.14 billion in total turnover
AU$2.06 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA)
30,403 jobs across the country
The impact comes from both the sector itself and non-local audience spending. Theatre and production company operations generated AU$913.8 million in turnover and supported 16,666 jobs, while spending by interstate and international audiences generated AU$3.22 billion in turnover and supported 13,737 jobs.
The analysis also demonstrated how this activity flows through the wider economy. For every AU$1 in sales by the theatre organisations, there is a AU$4.39 spillover effect throughout the Australian economy.
This impact extends across a range of sectors. Non-local audiences spent on accommodation, airfares, food and drink, transport, shopping, entertainment and petrol, while 72.4% of theatre organisations’ supplier expenditure remained within their own state or territory.
Together, the findings provide a national and state-level picture of the economic activity generated by Australian theatre.
Photo Credit:‘The Bogong’s Song’, Bangarra Dance Theatre, 2026 (Photo: Jordan Munns)‘Illume’, Bangarra Dance Theatre, 2025 (Photo: Daniel Boud)Rebecca Nash as Turandot in Opera Australia’s Turandot 2026 (Photo: Keith Saunders)‘Never Have I Ever’, 2025, Black Swan State Theatre Company (Photo: Daniel J Grant)