In May, research organisations Patternmakers from Sydney and WolfBrown from the US released the first part of the Audience Outlook Monitor, a cross-sector collaborative survey being conducted across six months to investigate how Australian audiences feel about returning to performing arts events, museums, galleries and festivals.

The data collected in May found that nine out of 10 respondents intended to return to arts and cultural events. However, safety measures affected when that would be. Twenty-two per cent of respondents said they were comfortable with returning as soon as restrictions were lifted, 67 per cent said they would attend when they deemed the risk of transmission to be minimal, while 11 per cent said they wouldn’t consider returning until there is no risk at all.

The Audience Outlook Monitor is tracking audience sentiment about returning to live arts and cultural events. Photograph courtesy of Patternmakers

Phase 2 of the Audience Outlook Monitor was conducted in July. The results based on feedback from over 15,000 respondents from 152 organisations, have now been collated and released.

The new data shows that audiences are starting to embrace the various opportunities to return to arts and cultural events,...