More than 90 per cent of Australians agree that creativity is a vital skill for children and young people to develop, and that employees’ capacity to innovate will be crucial to the future economy.

A new report co-commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) and LG Electronics Australia – the Museum’s new major partner for innovation and learning – demonstrates that in our rapidly changing world, and with an unprecedented pace of technological change, Australian children need more than academic skills to succeed. The report shows that other non-cognitive skills are also becoming increasingly valuable, revealing:

• More than 9 in 10 Australians agree that creativity is a very important skill for children and young people to develop
• This belief is widely shared across genders (95 per cent for females and 92 per cent for men) and age groups, with the strongest level of support expressed by respondents aged 50-plus (98 per cent agreeing, in comparison to 90 per cent of respondents from the 18-34 age bracket that agreed).
• This belief was also shared widely across socioeconomic groups, with 97 per cent of respondents from modest income households (under $50,000 annually) agreeing, in comparison to 92 per cent of respondents from high income households ($90,000 or more annually);
• Some 90 per cent of parents and 92 per cent of Australians in full-time jobs also agree that employees’ capacity to innovate will be crucial skills in the future economy.

Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor said of the study’s findings: “At the MCA, we firmly believe that creative capacity is vital for tackling the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. All MCA school programs are facilitated by a team of Artist Educators, practising artists who model the essential ingredients for creative learning – imagination, experimentation, collaboration, risk-taking, problem-solving and critical thinking.

“The MCA is thrilled to welcome LG Electronics as our new Major Partner for Innovation and Learning. Their generous support will enable us to continue to deliver outstanding learning programs for students and teachers from across Australia, and inspire young creators of the future,” Macgregor said.

LG Australia’s managing director, Mr. Youngik Lee, added: “As a technology company, we are laser focused on innovation and creating products and experiences that relate to our mission of making life and living the best it can be; to make Life Good. Naturally, the same is true for our new partnership with the MCA and we will look to share our knowledge and experience – particularly through the MCA’s Learning Programs – to create a culture of innovation for our young people.”

Georgia Close, MCA’s manager for student and teacher engagement, concluded: “Some of our most popular learning programs – such as Lights, Camera, Experiment for primary schools and This is in real time for secondary schools – already incorporate a variety of technologies such as video, sound and animation to explore experimental art-making techniques. We are very excited to be working with technology and innovation powerhouse LG to further encourage young Australian people to look, think and create in new ways.”