The value of measuring value: using cultural data to advocate for the arts

• Queensland’s State Government agency for arts and culture

• Key areas of responsibility:― Advising the Minister on strategic policy for arts

and culture in Queensland ― Administration of funding programs and capital

works programs ― Reporting on government investment in arts and

culture ― Managing the state’s arts and cultural assets ― Supporting governance in broader arts portfolio

About Arts Queensland

• Evidence-based policy and funding decisions

• Tighter fiscal environment

• Local government positioning of arts and culture

• Arts Qld policy goals

• Broader measurement frameworks about wellbeing and progress

Drivers to improve advocacy

• ABS data – useful but not localised or outcomes-based

• Arts Portfolio data – focus on targets/outputs

• Program data – anecdotal information and sporadic evaluation

• Local government data – variable quality of data across local government

• Data hidden in reports

The data landscape

1. Grow the evidence base – improve the quality and quantity of data

2. Tell the story – present data in a digestible way that supports advocacy

The data challenge

• More than bums on seats – state and regional data

• Local government data collection tool

• Arts Qld program and policy evaluationshttp://www.arts.qld.gov.au/aboutaq/publications.html

Growing the evidence base

Growing the evidence base

• Evaluation resources for the sector

http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/publications/evaluation-resource.html

Growing the evidence base

Growing the evidence base

• Good practice case studies

http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/publications/case-studies.php

Growing the evidence base

Growing the evidence base

• aqblog http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/blog/

Growing the evidence base

Growing the evidence base

• More than bums on seats – general booklet, regional and community profiles http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/publications/bums-on-seats.html

Telling the story

Telling the story

• Local government ‘community arts and wellbeing’ presentation http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/arts/regional-exchange/advocacy-resources.html

Telling the story

Telling the story

• Community recovery fact sheet http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/docs/arts-community.pdf

Telling the story

Telling the story

• Good practice case studies http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/docs/brotherhood-of-the-wordless-case-study.pdf

Telling the story

Telling the story

• Executive summaries of evaluations

Telling the story

Telling the story

• Continue to build an evaluation culture within Arts Qld and the arts and cultural sector

• Identify new advocacy tools in consultation with local government and the sector

• Obtain trend data by repeating More than bums on seats research

• Learn from the Western Australian public value measurement study

What next?