Released last week, the ninth biannual Theatre Network Australia salary review report provides a host of pertinent insights into employment trends within what is currently one the most vulnerable areas of the arts, the small-to-medium performing arts sector.
Drawing on data from 92 Australian performing arts organisations with annual turnovers of between $250,000 and $4 million, the survey charts the persistently lagging salaries of small-to-medium arts company employees – even in roles that enjoyed healthy increases over the past two years.
Salaries in the performing arts – quick links
Small-to-medium performing arts salaries compared to national averages
TNA’s report shows that small-to-medium arts salaries have increased across the board since 2023 with increases ranging from as little as 2.5% (for Development Managers) to as much as 17.8% (for Executive Directors).
These percentage increases are indeed good news, but their financial value is less impressive – especially when compared to our national average salaries and similar positions in other industries.
According to TNA’s survey, small-to-medium arts company Executive Directors are earning an average salary of $104,713, while the Australian jobs site Seek.com.au puts the expected salary range of an Australian Executive Director, working in any industry, at between $200,000 and $220,000.
International data platform Payscale.com also presents an average estimate for the salary of an Australian Executive Director, but its listing is more modest at $154,000, though still 50% higher than the average on offer in the small-to-medium arts sector.
A similar story of being underpaid compared to national average salaries is true for many arts management positions listed in TNA’s report.
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For example, the average small-to-medium performing arts sector Operations Manager is being paid $79,786, showing an increase from $83,788 in 2023. But according to Payscale.com, the national average salary range for an equivalent position in 2025 is $95,000.
Unfortunately, this is further evidence of a trend we are already aware of – that many arts sector salaries lag well behind their equivalent roles in other sectors.
However, there is one arts salary listed in the report whose current average salary sits within the national average range.
Arts Administrators’ salaries in the small-to-medium sector averaged $68,132 over the 2024 to 2025 period, while administrators employed across the Australian workforce at large can expect to be paid between $65,000 to $80,000, according to Seek.com.au’s average figures.
While Arts Administrators’ salaries are still at the bottom end of this estimated pay range, the TNA survey data appears a positive sign that hints at reform and higher standards for these typically entry level arts positions.
Other average salaries captured in TNA’s 2025 report include those of Producers, Finance Managers, Production Managers, Marketing Managers and Box Office Managers. To check where your role or organisation sits, the full report is free for TNA members and available for purchase for non-members.
Numbers of permanent FTE staff decreasing over time
Another important finding from the survey relates to levels of permanently employed staff at small-to-medium performing arts companies.
TNA’s 2025 survey respondents reported they employed an average of 6.8 FTE (full-time equivalent) permanent staff per organisation. This compares to 2023’s result which was 7.2 FTE permanent staff per company, showing a decrease in numbers of permanent staff over that two years.
But even more worrying is that the 2023 figure of 7.2 FTE was down on 2021’s result of 8.6 FTE.
What this data indicates is that in the space of around five years, many small-to-medium performing arts companies have gone from having core teams of almost nine people to less than seven.
It begs the question whether this downward trend is another Covid legacy in the arts sector.
Is it true that small-to-medium performing arts companies are now less able to offer permanent ongoing work to arts workers in the numbers they once were? Is it also the case that these companies are undertaking and producing the same level of work as they ever were, but now, they are doing so with fewer staff?
Either way, this particular statistic speaks to a concerning narrowing of employment opportunities in the small-to-medium performing arts sector, where employment opportunities are already more precarious than they are in other, larger arts companies.
Workplace diversity beating national averages in some areas
The TNA survey shows that over the past two years, the workplaces of small-to-medium performing arts companies have become more diverse in some areas, but are still persistently lagging in others.
When it comes to non-binary, gender diverse and trans representation in these arts workplaces, figures have increased over the past two years from 4.6% of the workforce in 2023 to 6% in 2025.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not currently have any open access data reports on trans and gender diverse representation in the Australian workforce, however this 6% figure is likely higher than the national average.
The report’s LGBTQIA+ category shows a 21.1% representation of LGBTQIA+ people in these arts workplaces in 2025. For context, the ABS’s 2024 data found 2% to 3% of working age Australians identify as LGBTQIA+.
The TNA report shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts workers are now 5.1% of the small-to-medium performing arts sector workforce – a number that has increased from 4.2% in 2023. This representation is also above the current national average, where approximately 3.8% of the workforce is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
When it comes to arts workers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, TNA’s report shows they make up 16.1% of this arts workforce, up from 13.6% two years ago. A recent Australian Public Sector employee survey puts the percentage of CaLD public sector employees at 26.8%.
Similarly, 4.8% of the small-to-medium performing arts sector workforce identify as having a disability, compared to 5.8% of the Australia Public Service sector.
The final noteworthy statistic shows the sustained high proportion of female arts workers in this small-to-medium performing arts sector – but it is arguably a statistic that rings true throughout the sector at large.
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TNA’s report shows that on average, female workers make up 70% of all positions in the small-to-medium performing arts sector, with some roles like Development Manager and Operations Manager listed as being 80% female.
The only roles included in the survey where female arts workers do not so obviously outnumber males and non-binary, gender diverse and trans workers is the Production Manager role, where 60% are male, 37% are female and 10% are non-binary, gender diverse or trans.
