This publication presents estimates of Australian public funding for arts and cultural activities, facilities and services by the Australian Government, state and territory governments and local governments. The statistics relating to the Australian Government and state and territory governments are sourced from the Cultural Funding by Government collection conducted annually by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and have been compiled using information provided directly to the ABS by government departments. Funding of arts and cultural activities by local government are included as part of the Local Government Statistics Collection undertaken by the ABS. For the purposes of analysis, tables in this publication contain data for 2011-12 and 2010-11 with some graphs also including data for 2009-10. Time series data from 2007-08 to 2011-12 is available in the datacube produced for this publication which can be found on the ABS website . Data collected prior to 2007-08 is not comparable with more recent data, refer to paragraph 16 in the Explanatory Notes for more information. Data have been aligned, where possible, with the categories specified in the Industry Classification of the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications, 2008 (Second Edition) (ACLC), (cat. no. 4902.0). The Explanatory Notes, Appendix and Glossary provide detailed information on the data sources, counting rules, terminology, classifications and other technical aspects associated with these statistics.