Arts and cultural management
Discipline
Become a specialist manager in the visual and performing arts, heritage and creative industries. Our courses deliver management education tailored to the arts and cultural sector.
More accessible entry requirements
From 2026, Master of Business (Arts and Cultural Management) entry is more flexible, with two years of professional experience now accepted instead of three. Standard academic entry requirements continue to apply.
Explore your study options
Develop innovation and leadership skills in courses designed for the arts and cultural sector. You’ll be taught by staff with wide-reaching, practical experience in management across the industry. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage with a range of industry representatives, learn from cutting-edge thinkers, and apply your knowledge through an industry project or internship.
Choose an arts and cultural management degree that will get you work ready
At Deakin there’s a clear connection between what you study and what lies ahead in your career. Our arts and cultural management courses will equip you with the skills and experience needed for a rewarding career in the arts sector.
Learn from industry experts
Our team of teachers and researchers are specialists in the arts sector. Benefit from their deep knowledge of the unique conditions and pressures facing arts organisations today. Their professional experience and ground-breaking research will directly inform your learning and skills development.
Arts management with a business edge
Deakin’s arts and cultural management courses are unique in Australia for being delivered by a business school. You’ll develop a strong understanding of the management and business principles that underpin your practise as an arts manager, delivered by experts recognised in their fields.
Top professional roles in arts and cultural management
Management and leadership, finance and accounting have been identified as acute skills shortages across arts sectors, especially performing arts, visual arts and screen arts.* Meet the sector’s skills needs with Deakin’s tailored business education for arts and shape your arts management and leadership career.
In 2023–24 cultural and creative activity contributed $67.4 billion to Australia’s economy and employed over 591,000 people.^ Fostering creativity, design thinking and problem-solving capabilities, culture is increasingly recognised as a driver of innovation and productivity in the workforce. Develop your arts management capabilities and help keep our creative industries thriving.
Deakin celebrates 30 years of arts and cultural management
Over three decades, we have developed deep expertise in teaching and curriculum for our Master of Business (Arts and Cultural Management). This vibrant program has built an influential network of alumni and industry partners to ensure we can support our cultural industries long into the future.
We give our students a business education that integrates the need for economic, social and cultural sustainability.
Lecturer, Arts and Cultural Management
World-class teaching experiences
Deakin’s industry-shaped courses and practical, real-world approach to learning will prepare you to be adaptable across the jobs of the future.
Industry-led courses
Industry boards guide the design of our courses while our academics work alongside industry employers and board members to develop assessments, projects and content that reflect current challenges in the field.
Global perspective
Connect with the world through a study tour, short-term partner program or international internship. Choose a management-focused program in the UK, Europe or North America to broaden your international and intercultural scope.
Work-integrated learning
Build your professional network by studying alongside like-minded peers and utilising our strong industry connections. Graduate with real-world experience and professional networks through work-integrated learning, consolidating your theoretical knowledge in a work setting.
Future-proof content
You’ll be ready for sustainable management, with course content integrating practices from global frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Principles of Responsible Management Education.
Study online at the #1 Victorian uni for graduate employment
Deakin’s online arts and cultural management degrees are designed to fit your lifestyle and career goals so you can study anytime, anywhere. Join more than 78,000 online students who have already graduated from Deakin.
Meet the managers who keep the arts thriving
Arts and cultural industries in Australia weave infinite possibility out of finite resources. For 30 years, Deakin has been training the managers who keep arts and cultural organisations thriving.
Helping arts organisations engage with diverse audiences
Our research is helping arts organisations to attract new and diverse audiences. Rather than focusing on audience development, our work considers the impact of organisational practice on audiences. It identifies the changes needed within organisations if they are to shift the social profile of their audiences.
Want to explore more?
The best online program to grow your arts and cultural management career
Unlock new opportunities in arts management with Deakin's flexible arts and cultural management programs.
Now is the time to study arts and cultural management
The question isn't whether the arts and cultural sector needs stronger leadership, it is how quickly we can build it.
Deakin references data from a range of government, higher education and reputable media sources. For more information, visit our University rankings page.
*Service and Creative Skills Australia (SaCSA), Progress in Action: Arts Workforce Plan Update, 2025. SEQ2473-Arts-Workforce-Plan-Update-2025-V3-20-6-25-Compressed.pdf
^Australian Government 2026, Towards a New Cultural Policy: Public Consultation Paper: Public consultation paper for a new National Cultural Policy | Office for the Arts
Contact us
Got a question about our arts and cultural management courses? Our course advisers are available to speak to you about your study options and how we can help you further your career.
Domestic students
1800 693 888
Enquire online
International students
+61 3 9918 9188
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