A creative gift economy: pre-pandemic creative systems examined through a study of regional creative industries in Australia

Australia’s creative industries and the impact COVID-19 had on cultural, employment and economic outputs is examined through the themes creative systems, creative migration, cultural volunteering and cultural tourism. Using a Creative System/Ecosystem theoretical framework, this research takes a retrospective view through data collected during the ‘old normal’ that was pre-pandemic Australia and presents findings on creative and cultural activities occurring in seven statistically determined creative hotspots. These findings are reviewed against the COVID-19 economic stimulus packages created by Australian Federal and State Governments. The research takes a deep dive into the precarious nature of creative employment and migration, cultural volunteering and tourism, through an investigation of Australia’s regional creative economies and points to the existence of a gift economy that sustains many activities that are essential to the Creative Industries.