Community Arts Worker

A Community Arts Worker designs, delivers, and facilitates arts programmes and creative activities in community settings such as local councils, neighbourhood centres, schools, aged care facilities, and culturally diverse communities. They work to increase access to arts participation, build creative capacity within communities, and address social isolation or disadvantage through creative practice. The role involves programme planning, direct facilitation of workshops and classes, partnership development with community organisations, and evaluation of arts outcomes against social and wellbeing goals.

Plan and design arts programmes that align with community needs, cultural contexts, and organisational objectives. Facilitate visual arts workshops, performance activities, music sessions, or creative writing groups for diverse age groups and abilities. Recruit and engage participants from target populations, including culturally and linguistically diverse communities, older adults, people with disability, or young people at risk. Deliver arts instruction using appropriate teaching methods and adaptive techniques to support diverse learners. Establish partnerships with local schools, community health services, NDIS providers, local government, and not-for-profit organisations to co-deliver programmes. Manage arts materials, equipment, studio or workshop spaces, and ensure compliance with health and safety standards. Document and evaluate programme outcomes through attendance records, participant feedback, case studies, and demonstrated changes in wellbeing or social connection. Support participants to exhibit work, perform publicly, or share creative outputs within the community.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

Many roles are part-time or contract-based, so job security is patchy. You're also managing emotional labour with vulnerable groups while often working with limited budgets and outdated facilities.

Councils, neighbourhood centres, and not-for-profits in metro areas employ the bulk of workers. Regional and rural areas have some positions but they're sparse. Remote work is uncommon: you need to be on site to run workshops and engage communities directly.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 2726, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Active Listeningcore
• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Community Developmentcore
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Group Facilitationcore
• Inclusive Practicecore
• Participant or Client Advocacycore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Trauma-Informed Communicationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Conflict Resolution
• Digital Literacy
• Disability Awareness and Inclusion
• Funding Claim Submission
• Record Management
• Report Writing
• Research and Analysis
• Service Navigation and Referral
• Workload Self-Management

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 30 October 2026