Architects in Victoria a view from the census

Transcription

1 Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects The Business f Architecture Architects in Victria a view frm the census Prepared by Gill Matthewsn an ACA resurce ACA SA PO Bx 354 Unley Adelaide, SA 561 T E sa@aca.rg.au Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects

2 SA branch Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects The Business f Architecture PO Bx 354 Unley, SA 561 ABN T E sa@aca.rg.au ARCHITECTS IN VICTORIA A VIEW FROM CENSUS DATA Prepared by Gill Matthewsn This reprt is an extensin f the ACA State f the Prfessin research prject, led by Jhn Held and Sue Phillips f ACA SA and funded thrugh a grant frm the Architectural Practice Bard f Suth Australia. Census data This reprt is based n the analysis f custmised data abut thse wh identified themselves as architects (ccupatin cde Architect, ANZSCO ) in Victria in the, and Australian Bureau f Statistics Censuses f Ppulatin and Husing. Census data includes all thse wh describe their ccupatin as architect, whether r nt they are registered. 1 Because f this, Census figures are mre inclusive than ther cunts f prfessinal participatin and, internatinally, researchers in architecture cnsider them t be reasnably accurate data fr the architecture wrkfrce. 2 Overall findings The reprt finds the fllwing: Overall, the ppulatin f architects in Victria has increased between each Census and substantially s between and. This means the state s prprtin f all architects in Australia has increased. In, Victria had mre architects per capita than any ther state. That substantial grwth in numbers was especially in the yunger age grups; by, mre than half f the state s architects were under the age f 4. Victria has a cnsistently higher prprtin f wmen architects than the natinal average. In, the number f wmen in the age grup almst equals the number f men. In, fewer architects seemed t be wrking lng hurs than in the past state and cuntrywide. Architects are increasingly emplyees rather than emplyers. Architects in Victria earn slightly less than the natinal averages. Detailed findings Number f architects As expected, the ppulatin f architects fluctuates acrss the three Censuses, as shwn in Table 1: Table 1: Number f architects Year Victria VIC % f Aus 3,121 11,442 28% 3,724 13,285 28% 4,669 14,973 31% t grwth 5% 33% Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 1 f 7

3 While the cuntry shwed a steady increase f 33% in the numbers f architects fr the ten-year perid, in Victria that grwth was significantly mre at 5%. Fr the cuntry, grwth was strnger in the first fiveyear perid than ver the next Census perid. Hwever, fr Victria the reverse was true. The grwth frm t matched that f the cuntry, but frm t the state s ppulatin f architects grew by 25%, whereas fr Australia as a whle grwth was 13%. Cnsequently, the state s prprtin f Australia s architecture ppulatin increased; in, Victrian architects cmprised nearly ne-third f the cmplement. This higher grwth rate fr Victria runs cunter t the perceptin f a slwdwn in wrk fr the cnstructin industry as a whle because f the 28 Glbal Financial Crisis and suggests that the state was less affected by that event. Perhaps a mre imprtant figure is hw thse straight numbers f architects relate t the verall ppulatin, which has, f curse, als increased between Censuses. Dividing the number f architects int the ttal ppulatin gives the number f architects per 1, peple, shwn in Figure 1: VIC Figure 1: Number f architects fr every 1, peple 3 By this measure, there was mre subdued grwth fr the cuntry than that shwn in Table 1, but with Australia still supprting 15% mre architects per capita in than it did in. Fr Victria that grwth figure was nce again mre substantial: duble the natinal figure at 3%. Figure 1 als shws that, taken verall, Victria has mre architects per head f ppulatin cmpared t all f Australia, 4 substantially s in. This wuld suggest that the larger ecnmy f a larger state supprted a higher prprtin f architects within the ppulatin fr that perid. The age prfile f architects Figure 2 shws the distributin f architects in Victria by age acrss the three Censuses Figure 2: Architects by age grup The first pint t nte is that the prprtin f architects under the age f 4 increased ver the ten-year perid in bth Victria and all Australia (depicted in yellw and ranges in Figure 2). This is nt surprising, given that the number f architecture graduates Australia-wide increased by 4% frm 2 t Hwever, in Victria this grwth was again mre marked with a 69% grwth in graduate numbers ver the same perid. By 21, 36% f Australia s graduates were being prduced within the state f Victria. Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 2 f 7

4 Cnsequently, the pattern f an increasing prprtin f yunger architects is accentuated with thse under the age f 4 making up just ver half the state s architect ppulatin by. The secnd pint t nte is that the prprtin f architects ver the age f 6 (in greens) als increased, fr the state and the cuntry. In architects f this age were 8% f the Australian architect ppulatin (6% fr the state); by they cmprised 13%. This means that the prprtin f architects in the middle band between 4 and 6 (in blues and purples) decreased, and even mre markedly fr Victria. In this age grup cnstituted arund half the ppulatin; by this prprtin had drpped t arund 4% fr the cuntry and a lwer 37% fr the state. The actual numbers f architects in this age grup has nt necessarily drpped but, prprtinally, less f them make up the architecture wrkfrce. What happens, then, t architects in the Census as they age? Architects wh were in the Census wuld be appearing in the Census in the age grup (and in the 3 34 age grup in ). Figure 3 shws the number f architects aligned by age grups (the slid red line indicates their age in, the green and blue lines the numbers fr that chrt in and respectively) Figure 3: Lss and gain f architects frm Census t Census The graph shws a strng pattern: befre architects reach their 4s, numbers increase, presumably due t mature graduates entering the wrkfrce as well as internatinal arrivals. Hwever, at sme time in their 4s a number f architects stp labelling themselves as such in the Census. Victria shws the same pattern but with a less dramatic drp-ff fr lder architects. In, 461 peple in Victria aged called themselves architects; in, when these peple were 3 35, there were 59 f them; and in, when aged, the figure grew t 692. Cnversely, arund ne-quarter f thse wh were 5 54 years ld in in Australia disappeared by. The drp was less fr Victria but nnetheless represents a significant numerical lss f experienced architects. Gender is a factr in the number f architects by age grup. Table 2 details the increasing numbers f wmen in the architecture wrkfrce ver the ten-year perid. Victria is cnsistently just ahead f all Australia frm Census t Census. Of nte, Victria s Schls f Architecture graduated a higher prprtin f wmen graduates than the natinal average (the Victrian average fr the ten years 2 29 was 43%, and fr the cuntry 41% 6 ). Table 2: Number f architects by gender Victria Year Male Female Ttal % Female Male Female Ttal % Female 2, ,121 23% 8,987 2,296 11,442 2% 2, ,724 24% 1,199 3,86 13,285 23% 3,299 1,37 4,669 29% 1,828 4,144 14,973 28% Figure 4 shws the breakdwn f the data by age grup and gender. (Figures fr all Australia have been scaled dwn t match the Victrian figures; the scaling pint is the number f men age 25 29). Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 3 f 7

5 Age VIC Male VIC Female Relative Australia Male Relative Australia Female Figure 4: Number f architects by age grup and gender, Victria relative t all Australia Figure 4 reveals sme ntable patterns. First, in all cases wmen are cncentrated in the yunger age grups and the men mre evenly spread; wmen have an almst straight line dwnhill frm a high pint in the yungest categry f In, the number f men and wmen in that yungest age grup very nearly equalised in Victria (387 wmen and 393 men Victria was the nly state in the natin t shw such a clse 5/5 gender split). Secnd, Victria has becme increasingly aligned with the pattern f the whle cuntry ver time fr bth men and wmen. The figures frm the Census shw greater amunts f difference, but by the Census there is clser alignment. Third, despite the drp-ut rate f architects after age 45 shwn in Figure 3, the actual number f lder architects has grwn ver the tenyear perid (thse 55 and ver nearly dubling in Victria frm ), cntributing t their increased piece f the pie (Figure 2). Hurs f wrk Lng hurs are generally cnsidered endemic in architecture, but this is a pattern that appears t have changed ver time. Figure 5 shws the number f hurs architects reprted wrking in each Census. The red bands indicate the prprtin fr thse in excess f 4 hurs a week and the blue and green bands are fr thse wrking part-time (less than 35 hurs a week); the yellw/range bands are fr standard wrking hurs f 35 4 hurs a week Figure 5: Hurs per week wrked, Victria and Australia There is little difference between Victria and architects in all Australia fr hurs wrked per week. Hwever, there is a strng trend visible acrss the Censuses. In, ver half f all architects wrked mre than 4 hurs a week, with mre than a third f all architects wrking in excess f 48 hurs a week (such hurs are defined as lng in emplyment literature). Hwever, by, this prprtin had drpped: arund 4% reprted wrking mre than 4 hurs a week (39% fr the state), and the ver 48 hurs a week grup had drpped t under a quarter. In additin, part-time wrkers increased, with 14% wrking part-time in and 17% in natinwide, with Victria less than a percentage pint under the natinal figures. Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 4 f 7

6 ACA ARCHITECTS IN VICTORIA: CENSUS REPORT The changing gender demgraphic f architects is likely t be cntributing t this shift, particularly as Victria has a higher prprtin f wmen than the natinal average. Figure 6 shws the difference 7 between men and wmen fr hurs wrked fr all Australia Figure 6: Hurs per week wrked, by gender, all Australia The dramatic difference between men and wmen in terms f hurs wrked is a result f the wider scietal expectatin whereby mthers are much mre likely t reduce their hurs t accmmdate children. Nnetheless, the drp-ff in the prprtin f thse wrking in excess f 4 hurs a week nted in Figure 5 is still visible in Figure 6 fr bth men and wmen. This is a significant shift fr men t wrking standard rather than lng hurs, given that the prprtin f men wrking part-time increased nly slightly ver the ten-year perid (11% f men wrked part-time in and 13% in ). Emplyment situatin The Census asks fr infrmatin n whether smene is an emplyee, emplyer r an independent peratr (such as sle practitiner r cntractr). In the and Censuses, the latter were termed wn accunt wrker. In the Census, tw new terms were used: Owner managers f unincrprated enterprises and Owner managers f incrprated enterprises. This distinctin has affected sme f the infrmatin presented in Table 3 and graphically in Figure 7. Table 3: Architects by emplyment situatin Victria 1,754 2,151 2,96 6,451 7,781 9,323 Own accunt wrker ,768 1,638 2,12 Emplyer 67 1,79 1,37 2,7 3,71 3,394 Emplyee Emplyers Own accunt wrker Emplyees Figure 7: Architects by emplyment situatin Over the ten-year perid, the prprtin f thse wh were emplyees has steadily increased frm 57% t 63% f the architecture ppulatin in Australia. T an extent this wuld be expected given the increasing prprtin f yunger peple in the wrkfrce, as seen in Figure 2. Victria was a cuple f percentage pints belw the natinal average in but abve it in ; this is due t the great increase in numbers f yung architects visible in Figure 2. Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 5 f 7

7 The figures fr emplyers and wn accunt wrkers fluctuate with a high fr the frmer and a lw fr the latter in in bth Victria and the whle cuntry. This, hwever, may be due t the change in descriptin between the and Censuses. In, a sle practitiner r partnership wh emplyed just ne persn might have described themselves as emplyers, but in they wuld be categrised by the legal basis f their business, which (as a small business) is mre likely t be an unincrprated enterprise. In that case, althugh the and Censuses can be cmpared, a and cmparisn needs t be treated with cautin. Between and there is a marked drp in the number f wn accunt wrkers and a large increase in emplyers. This was pssibly a respnse t the bm perid fr architecture in the middle f the 2s with practices f all sizes emplying staff. The changes between and suggest a drp in the prprtin f emplyers. It is pssible that this can be attributed t the dwturn after the 28 Glbal Financial Crisis, which may have made small practices less viable and resulted in practices cnslidating. Hwever, the differing ways f categrising between these tw Censuses mean that this is a tentative cnnectin. Incme Incme infrmatin was sught fr all full-time architecture wrkers; the Census gathers this in terms f incme per week. Figure 9 gives the infrmatin fr and ( is mitted because the incme ranges differ frm the later tw Censuses). Incme per week Under $6 $6 $799 $8 $999 $1, $1,299 $1,3 $1,599 $1,6 $1,999 $2, + Figure 9: Architects by incme Figure 9 demnstrates that architects in Victria n average earn slightly less than the natinal averages. By, nearly half (47.3%) f Census-identified architects in Australia were earning mre than $1,6 a week (range plus red segments), but in Victria that prprtin was nearly 4 percentage pints less at 43.6%. Cnversely, Australia-wide 2.5% were earning less than $1, a week, but 22.4% were ding s in Victria. Incme, f curse, varies with age. Figure 1 shws the breakdwn by age fr. 8 1% Victria 1% 9% 9% 8% 8% 7% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% $2, plus $1,3 $1,999 $8 $1,299 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% Under $8 2% 1% 1% % % Figure 1: Prprtin f age grup in earnings brackets by age, Australia-wide, incme increases with age, peaking in the age bands. In Victria, the verall pattern mirrrs that f all Australia. Hwever, the pattern f Victrian architects earning slightly less than Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 6 f 7

8 architects in Australia as a whle (visible in Figure 9) appears again. The variance ccurs in the lwest and highest bands (red and blue in Figure 1) with Victria generally having a slightly greater prprtin f thse in the lw band acrss all age grups: slightly mre than 2 percentage pints fr thse under the age f 45, rising t 5 percentage pints fr thse ver the age f 6. In the higher incme band, it is the ver 6s wh are mst markedly at variance with the cuntry, with 5% less f thse age grups earning this incme. Summary This reprt has explred what might be read frm data abut architects frm three Censuses fr Victria cmpared t the rest f Australia. Data such as this helps articulate and indicate brad patterns. The first f these patterns is that architects are increasing their presence in the cmmunity in relative numbers, especially s in Victria. Curiusly, as a grup, architects are getting bth lder and yunger natinwide but, again, particularly s in Victria with mid-career/middle-aged architects nt keeping pace prprtinally with the ther age grups. The increasing numbers f graduates can perhaps explain the grwth in the number f yunger architects. The reasns fr the increasing prprtin f lder architects are less clear, especially as the data als recrds the departure f lder architects. Hwever, since the 197s there have been increasing numbers f architects verall. Architects are increasingly emplyees and emplyers rather than independent wrkers. This may reflect the increasing cmplexity f buildings and the need fr teams t wrk n them, althugh the data is a little t variable because the methd fr categrising emplyers and independent wrkers in the Census has recently changed. Of interest, fewer architects seem t be wrking lng hurs than in the past. While this might suggest thse in the prfessin are mving twards a better wrk life balance, the still weak representatin f wmen in the prfessin might indicate therwise. This was less s fr Victria, which has a higher prprtin f wmen architects than Australia verall. The slwing dwn f the pace f wrk in the wake f the 28 financial crisis may be anther pssible explanatin fr this drp in hurs wrked. The Census data strngly indicates that architecture is very dependent n the ecnmy. Victria is ne f the mst ppulus states in the natin and has a cnsequent high number f architects. While Australia as a whle seemed t be affected by the 28 Glbal Financial Crisis, Victria seemed mre resilient than ther states and dramatically grew its numbers. Hwever, architects in the state are generally paid slightly less than the natinal average, and they are als yunger. This may indicate that there is an versupply f graduates in the state. Overall, Victria s architects cnstitute a grwing prfessin, but ne that may be at risk due t an versupply f architects. 1 Indeed, each Census includes a very small number f year lds wh identify themselves as architects at that age they are unlikely t meet any acceptable ntin f an architect. Hwever, this number f peple is very small. 2 Rbert Gutman, Architectural Practice: A Critical View (Princetn, NJ: Princetn Architectural Press, 1988), 23; Annmarie Adams and Peta Tancred, Designing Wmen: Gender and the Architectural Prfessin (Trnt: University f Trnt Press, 2), 3. 3 Ppulatin data frm ABS, Estimated Residents Ppulatin, State and Territries, Australian Bureau f Statistics, 213, 4 The Australian Capital Territry, New Suth Wales and Victria all have a higher than average number f architects per head f ppulatin. 5 There were 74 graduates in 2 and 975 in 21. Numbers frm Architecture Schls f Australasia (Bartn, ACT: Australian Institute f Architects Natinal Office), and 212 editins. 6 Figures calculated by authr frm Architecture Schls f Australasia, 2 editins. 7 State data nt shwn because there are relatively small numbers f wmen in each state, which wuld tend t distrt the prprtins. 8 Incme brackets have been amalgamated because small numbers in a categry can cause distrtins. Assciatin f Cnsulting Architects page 7 f 7