Creating Our Future is the fourth report in a landmark study that examines the cultural attitudes,habits and tastes of Australians,and follows on from surveys conducted in 2016,2013 and 2009.
Sixty-three per cent of parents believe the arts is crucial to childhood development and education (up 13 per cent from the last survey in 2016) and 74 per cent of all respondents – 9000 were surveyed – wanted arts learning to be a spending priority.
Dr Austin,a lecturer at the Victorian College of the Arts who has been creating theatre with and for young people for 15 years,is unsurprised by the findings.
"Neuroscience tells us that the first three years of life are crucial for a baby's development,"Dr Austin said."This is when neural pathways are wired,and when we have an opportunity to foster curiosity,connection,risk,and beauty in our children's understanding of the world."
Generation Z,defined in the report as those aged between 15 and 24,are some of the sector's hungriest consumers and its strongest supporter by age group,with 83 per cent attending live events including live music (66 per cent) and festivals (61 per cent).
Australians'increased regard for the arts marked a shift away from a growing ambivalence to arts and culture detected in 2016. But sentiment that the sector attracted elitist or pretentious people"not like me"was up from 26 to 29 per cent.
Global headlines around the US election and Brexit had weighed on the public mood four years ago,said Dr Wendy Were,the council's executive director of advocacy and development.