Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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EMPLOYMENT AND INVOLVEMENT IN SPORTS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYMENT IN SPORT AND PHYSICAL RECREATION OCCUPATIONS

The 2001 Census of Population and Housing provides information on the number and characteristics of people aged 15 years and over whose main job in the week prior to the census was in a sport and physical recreation occupation. People who had unpaid involvement in sport and physical recreation activities and people who worked in sport and physical recreation as a ‘second job’ were not recorded as being in sport and physical recreation occupations, unless their main job (in terms of hours worked) was a sport and physical recreation occupation.

The 2001 Census found 83,008 people (1.0% of all employed persons) had their main job in a sport and physical recreation occupation. This is a 21.6% increase from 1996 when 68,274 people (0.9%) had their main job in a sport and physical recreation occupation, and compares with an 8.7% increase for all occupations.

Of those employed in a sport and physical recreation occupation in 2001, fitness instructors (12,364 persons) and greenkeepers (11,928 persons) were prominent (table 12.35). In August 2001 there were more males (50,113 or 60.4%) than females (32,895 or 39.6%) employed in sport and physical recreation occupations. By comparison, of all employed persons, 54.8% were male.

12.35 PERSONS EMPLOYED IN SELECTED SPORT AND PHYSICAL RECREATION OCCUPATIONS - 2001
	Males	Females	Persons
Fitness instructor(a)	3,685	8,679	12,364
Greenkeeper(b)	11,637	291	11,928
Veterinarian	2,975	2,032	5,007
Veterinary nurse	121	4,737	4,858
Recreation officer	1,035	2,807	3,842
Stud hand or stable hand	1,626	1,867	3,493
Boat builder and repairer(c)	3,153	60	3,213
Ticket collector or usher	1,576	1,624	3,200
Animal trainer(d)	2,251	875	3,126
Other sports coach	1,991	887	2,878
(a) Comprises Fitness instructors and related workers n.f.d. and Fitness instructor. (b) Comprises Greenkeepers n.f.d., Greenkeeper and Apprentice greenkeeper. (c) Comprises Boat builder and repairer, and Apprentice boat builder and repairer. (d) Comprises Animal trainers n.f.d., Horse trainer and Animal trainers n.e.c. Source: Employment in Sport and Recreation, Australia, 2001 (4148.0).

INVOLVEMENT IN ORGANISED SPORTS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

In the 12 months to April 2004, 4.3 million people (27.2% of all people aged 15 years and over) were involved in sport and physical activity organised by a club, association or other organisation. This involvement included not only players and participants, but also people involved in non-playing roles that support, arrange and/or run organised sport and physical activity. There were 1.5 million people (9.6% of all people aged 15 years and over) who were involved as coaches, referees, administrators, scorers or in other non-playing roles.

Of the 4.3 million people involved in organised sport and physical activity, 895,800 (21.0% of those involved) were both a player and involved in at least one non-playing role. Of the 1.5 million people with non-playing involvement, 32.8% participated in more than one non-playing role. In all, these 1.5 million people had 2.2 million involvements in non-playing roles in the 12 months prior to interview.

Of the 3.7 million players, 87,700 (2.4%) received some payment (in dollars and/or goods and services) for their involvement, and of the 2.2 million non-playing involvements, 267,100 (11.9%) attracted some payment (table 12.36). These data, and the figures in table 12.32, indicate how heavily reliant sports organisations are on the support of unpaid helpers.

12.36 INVOLVEMENT IN ORGANISED SPORTS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES(a)
		Some paid involvement(b)		Unpaid involvement only		Total involvements		Participation rate(c)
		2001	2004	2001	2004	2001	2004	2001	2004
Type of involvement		’000	’000	'000	’000	’000	’000	%	%
Playing		88.1	87.7	3,428.3	3,580.5	3,516.4	3,668.2	23.5	23.4
Non-playing roles
	Coach, instructor or teacher	105.8	122.1	452.6	472.3	558.4	594.5	3.7	3.8
	Referee or umpire	69.5	78.6	270.5	256.8	340.0	335.4	2.3	2.1
	Committee member or administrator	24.3	21.6	570.7	552.8	595.0	574.4	4.0	3.7
	Scorer or timekeeper	*14.6	16.7	439.1	496.3	453.7	513.0	3.0	3.3
	Medical support	*11.9	14.1	78.2	90.4	90.1	104.5	0.6	0.7
	Other involvement	*7.3	14.0	79.8	113.9	87.1	127.9	0.6	0.8
	Total non-playing involvements(d)	233.5	267.1	1,890.9	1,982.6	2,124.3	2,249.6	. .	. .
Total involvements(d)		321.6	354.8	5,319.2	5,563.0	5,640.8	5,917.8	. .	. .
(a) Relates to persons aged 15 years and over who were involved in sport or physical activity organised by a club, association or other organisation in the 12 months prior to interview in April 2004. (b) Includes those who were paid for all or some of their involvement. Payment includes payment in dollars and/or goods and services. (c) Refers to the number of persons involved in organised sport and physical activity, expressed as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over. (d) The total number of involvements is greater than the corresponding total number of persons because persons can have more than one involvement each. Source: Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Australia, April 2001 and April 2004 (6285.0).

The General Social Survey, conducted by the ABS in 2002, collected information on the types of organisations, clubs and associations to which people provided unpaid help in the form of time, services or skills. The survey found that just over one-third (5.0 million) of Australians aged 18 years and over undertook some form of voluntary work in the 12 months before interview in 2002. Sport, recreation and hobby organisations had the largest number of volunteers at 1,756,700, giving a volunteer rate of 12.1%. Although the overall volunteer rate for females (35.1%) was higher than for males (33.6%), the reverse was true for sport, recreation and hobby organisations with the male volunteer rate being 15.1% and the female 9.2%. The peak age group for volunteering for sport, recreation and hobby organisations was 40-44 year olds with a volunteer rate of 18.9%. The volunteer rate for these organisations was higher in the balance of the states (15.6%) than it was in the capital cities (10.2%). Higher rates of volunteering for these organisations were also associated with being employed (15.4%), being in a couple family with dependent children (17.8%), attending sporting events (19.3%) and participating in organised sport (25.6%).

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