Australia’s cultural landscape changed in 2023. The federal government announced its new national cultural policy ('Revive'), New South Wales and Western Australia launched the development of updated cultural and creative industry state policies, and several other states and territories are preparing to refresh their policy settings for arts and culture. Industry and audiences are enjoying the return of international and national festivals, institutions, events and community gatherings as they rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Understanding the views of people in Australia – the voters in elections and referenda who are also keen consumers of cultural goods and services – can support industry, governments and other investors to navigate this change and bring Australia closer to becoming a global cultural powerhouse by 2035.

The purpose of this paper is to summarise attitudes on arts, culture and creativity among cohorts of middle Australians aged 18–75, drawing on ANA’s Middle Australia Insight Report series. The paper compares, contrasts and synthesises the findings of the middle Australia series to present the key similarities and differences across three generations. It also draws on the recommendations from ANA’s broader research program, updating them for 2023 and beyond.