Melbourne Arts Precinct Coporation
Melbourne Arts Precinct draws millions of people every year, and its value to Victoria goes well beyond the stage and the gallery floor.
The Melbourne Arts Precinct stretches south from Federation Square and is home to over 30 arts-related organisations, many of which form Melbourne’s iconic arts and cultural institutions. Household names include Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Australian Centre for Moving Image, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts, and many others.
MAP Co is currently delivering the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project, which will remove physical and perceived barriers within the fragmented precinct and create a thoughtfully designed, globally significant and connected arts quarter – centred around an expansive new garden, Laak Boorndap.
MAP Co commissioned SGS to estimate the precinct's economic benefits and impacts, ensuring precinct stakeholders were informed of its contributions before and after the transformation project.
We approached this task by surveying arts organisations across the precinct to understand their current and forecast rates of programming, visitation, income and employment generation, before estimating:
- Economic benefits generated for Victorian community members, including benefits for Victorian residents (consumer surplus) and for Victorian businesses and their workers (producer surplus).
- Economic impacts generated within the Victorian economy, including the precinct’s contribution to Gross State Product and employment, after accounting for the operating and construction expenditures the precinct and its transformation will trigger across the Victorian economy.
Our results show that in 2025, Melbourne Arts Precinct:
- Contributed $590 million to the Victorian economy, making it one of the state's most significant economic drivers
- Drew 19.3 million visitors to more than 5,500 events and exhibitions
- Generated 2.3 million ticket sales alongside its free events and exhibitions, with reported spending of more than $245 million
- Supported 1,700 full-time jobs.
Read more about the project here.
