1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2008
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/02/2008
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SPORTS AND PHYSICAL RECREATION
While 42.2% of the private-sector organisations were 'not for profit', these were mainly concentrated in sports administration, where all 1,147 organisations operated on a not-for-profit basis; and in sports clubs, where 1,824 (68.9%) were not for profit. The highest proportions of organisations operating for profit occurred in the categories of health and fitness centres and gymnasia (94.3%), and other sports services (93.4%). At least 57% of the employees in sports administration, sports clubs, and horse and dog racing were male. Health and fitness centres and gymnasia had the highest level of female employment, both in absolute terms (11,362) and as a percentage of people employed (67.3%). Organisations in the categories of sports administration, sports clubs and other sports services were the most likely to make use of volunteer labour. Together, they accounted for 96.8% of the 181,832 volunteers assisting organisations providing sports and physical recreation services. For these three categories, volunteers outnumbered employees by over three and a half to one overall. However, for the remaining three categories, employees outnumbered volunteers by nine to one overall. The main sources of income for each category of sports and physical recreation service were:
Employment and other involvement 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 sports and physical recreation occupation. People who had unpaid involvement in sports and physical recreation activities and people who worked in sports and physical recreation as a 'second job' were not recorded as being in sports and physical recreation occupations, unless their main job (in terms of hours worked) was also a sports and physical recreation occupation. The 2001 Census found that in August 2001, 83,008 people (1.0% of all employed persons) had their main (paid) job in a sports and physical recreation occupation. This is a 21.6% increase from 1996 when 68,274 people (0.9%) had their main job in a sports and physical recreation occupation, and compares with an 8.7% increase for all occupations. Of those employed in a sports and physical recreation occupation in August 2001, fitness instructors (12,364 persons) and greenkeepers (11,928 persons) were prominent (table 14.25). There were more males (50,113 or 60.4%) than females (32,895 or 39.6%) employed in sports and physical recreation occupations. By comparison, of all employed persons, 54.8% were male. The ABS conducted a household survey in April 2004 to measure people's involvement in organised sports and physical activities over the previous 12 months. In the year ended 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 (table 14.26). 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%) 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 14.26). These data, and the figures in table 14.24, indicate how heavily reliant sports organisations are on the support of unpaid helpers. A household survey, conducted by the ABS during March-July 2006, 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 a third (34.1%) of Australians aged 18 years and over (5.2 million people) undertook some form of voluntary work in the 12 months prior to interview in 2006. Sports and physical recreation organisations had the largest number of volunteers at 1.7 million, giving a volunteer rate of 11.2%. Although the overall volunteer rate for females (36.4%) was higher than for males (31.8%), the reverse was true for sports and physical recreation organisations with the male volunteer rate being 13.8% and the female 8.7%. The peak age group for volunteering for sports and physical recreation organisations was 45-49 year olds with a volunteer rate of 19.0%. The volunteer rate for these organisations was higher in the balance of the states (14.2%) than it was in the capital cities (9.5%). Higher rates of volunteering for these organisations were also associated with being employed (14.1%), being in a couple family with dependent children (17.9%), attending sporting events (17.4%) and participating in sports and physical recreation (15.9%). Government support Governments of all levels play an important role in the development of sport and physical recreation in Australia at both the elite and grassroots levels. The functions of some government (and non-government) national administrative bodies are described below. The Sport and Recreation Ministers' Council (SRMC) provides a forum for cooperation and coordination between the Australian Government and state and territory governments on matters relating to the development of sport and recreation. The governments of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are also represented on SRMC. Its membership comprises government ministers with prime responsibility for sport and recreation. The Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport (SCORS) comprises representatives of the relevant ministers' departments and the Australian Sports Commission, and provides advice and administrative support to SRMC. A subcommittee of SCORS is the SCORS Research Group which provides a coordinated and collaborative approach to the collection and analysis of national sport and recreation data. More information about its operations and statistical output can be found on its website.The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government agency responsible for the funding and development of sport at the national level. The ASC supports a wide range of programs designed to develop sporting excellence and increase participation in sports by all Australians. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a major program within the ASC and is responsible for developing elite sport on a national basis with a particular focus on success at the international level. More information about the ASC and AIS can be obtained from their websites. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was established in March 2006 and reports to the Minister for Art and Sport. Its mission is to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. ASADA is an integrated anti-doping organisation with testing, education and advocacy roles. It replaces the Australian Sports Drug Agency, and incorporates the functions of the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee. More information about ASADA can be obtained from its website. Individual sports in Australia are managed and coordinated by National Sporting Organisations (NSOs), each managing the participation in, and development of, a specific sport. Many NSOs receive funding from the ASC. More information about most NSOs can be obtained from the Australian Sports Directory on the ASC website. Surveys of organisations (both private and public) providing sports and physical recreation services were conducted by the ABS in respect of 2004-05. It was found that the total funding provided by Commonwealth, state and local governments to these organisations was $1,563.6m - 17.7% of their combined total income ($8,820.5m). Of the funding provided by government, $695.1m went to Commonwealth, state and territory government organisations providing sports and physical recreation services, $480.8m funded local government organisations, $45.9m went to organisations operating to make a profit, and $341.8m funded organisations operating on a 'not-for-profit' basis. The amount of funding by type of sports and physical recreation service can be seen in table 14.27.
Participation by adults The ABS conducted a household survey during the period July 2005 to June 2006 to measure participation in sports and physical recreation during the 12 months prior to interview. The survey included sports, such as football or netball, which are usually organised by a club or association. It also included other sports and physical recreation activities which may not have been organised, such as walking for exercise. Consequently, participation in swimming, for example, included people who swam for recreation at the beach, those who swam competitively as part of a team, and those who swam laps at the local pool for exercise. The 2005-06 survey found 65.9% of the population aged 15 years and over (or 10.5 million people) participated as a player (rather than in a support role) at least once during the 12 months prior to interview in one or more sports or physical recreation activities (table 14.28). The participation rate was highest for the 25-34 year age group (75.1%), then declined steadily with age to 49.4% for persons aged 65 years and over. The overall participation rates for males and females were very similar. However, for the 42.7% (6.8 million) of the population who participated at least weekly (on average), female participation (44.2% or 3.6 million) was higher than male participation (40.9% or 3.2 million).
The 2005-06 survey found that the activities which attracted the most participants during the 12 months prior to interview were walking for exercise (4.0 million people), aerobics/fitness (2.0 million), swimming (1.4 million) and cycling (1.0 million). For both males and females, the two most popular activities were walking and aerobics/fitness. Golf was the third most popular activity for males, while for females it was swimming. Table 14.29 shows the ten sports or physical recreation activities in which the most men participated and the ten in which the most women participated.
The 2004-05 National Health Survey conducted by the ABS found almost two-thirds (65.9%) of all adults had exercised for recreation, sport or fitness during the two weeks prior to interview, and the proportions of males and females exercising were similar. However, females were more likely to exercise at a lower level than males. The percentage of females exercising at a low level was 39.2% compared with 33.3% of males, whereas 8.3% of males exercised at a high level compared with 4.3% of females (table 14.30).
Almost half (49.3%) the adult population reported that they walked for exercise - 53.7% of females and 44.7% of males. Males were more likely to have undertaken vigorous exercise in the last two weeks - 18.0% compared with 11.4% of females. Regular surveys of household expenditure are conducted by the ABS, most recently in respect of 2003-04. Findings from this survey showed households spent, on average, $15.70 per week on sports and physical recreation products (table 14.31), which was 1.8% of their average weekly expenditure on all products. Of the $7.57 spent weekly on equipment, $3.41 went on swimming pools and $1.14 on sports or physical recreation footwear. Major components of the $7.02 spent on services were sports facility hire charges ($2.30) and health and fitness studio charges ($1.44).
Participation by children A survey of children's activities in the 12 months to April 2006 found 1.7 million children aged 5-14 years (63.5%) participated outside school hours in sport that had been organised by a school, club or association. Participation in organised sport peaked at the age of ten years for boys and nine years for girls. However, across all ages boys were more likely to participate than girls - the total participation rate was 68.9% for boys and 57.8% for girls (table 14.32 ). There was also a higher percentage of boys participating in more than one sport (36.6% of boys compared with 25.0% of girls).
Children in the Australian Capital Territory had the highest participation rate (70.9%) in organised sport outside school hours, while those in Tasmania had the lowest participation rate (59.3%).The most popular organised sports for children in 2006 were swimming, which had a participation rate of 17.4%, and outdoor soccer with 13.2% (table 14.33). The organised sports that attracted most boys were outdoor soccer (19.6%), swimming (16.5%), and Australian Rules football (13.8%); whereas girls favoured swimming (18.2%), netball (17.3%), and tennis (6.6%). As might be expected, boys dominated participation in some sports while girls outnumbered them in others. Boys made up 96.5% of Rugby League players, 96.1% of outdoor cricket players, and 94.1% of Australian Rules footballers. On the other hand, 99.2% of netballers and 76.8% of gymnasts were girls. Between April 2003 and April 2006, the sport participation rate rose from 54.2% to 57.8% for girls but remained steady at around 69% for boys.
Although boys had the higher participation rate in organised sport, girls had a much higher participation rate than boys in another form of organised physical activity - dancing. During the 12 months ended April 2006, there were 300,100 girls who participated in organised dancing outside school hours - a participation rate of 23.1%. The number of boys participating was 32,500 - a participation rate of only 2.4%. (table 14.34). Besides organised sport and dancing, the survey of children's activities in April 2006 also asked about participation in a couple of non-organised physical recreation activities - bike riding and skateboarding/rollerblading. For both activities, a considerably higher percentage of boys (73.4% and 29.2% respectively) participated than did girls (61.9% and 17.6%). However, participation by girls in bike riding was substantially higher in April 2006 than it had been in April 2003 - 61.9% compared with 53.3%.
Attendance Attending sports events (such as club matches and international competitions) is a popular pastime of many Australians. The ABS household survey conducted during the period July 2005 to June 2006 indicated 7.1 million people, or 44.3% of all people aged 15 years and over, attended a sporting event (excluding junior and school sport) at least once in the 12 months prior to interview. Men (51.9%) were more likely to have attended a sporting event than women (36.9%). Attendance rates were highest for men in the 25-34 year age group (62.1%) and women in the 18-24 year age group (52.6%). For both sexes, attendance then steadily declined with age. Among men aged 65 years and over, the attendance rate was 29.2%, while for women in this age group it was 17.5%. The sport with the highest attendance was Australian Rules football - 2.5 million people attended this sport on at least one occasion during the year (table 14.35). Horse racing (2.0 million), Rugby League (1.5 million) and motor sports (1.5 million) also attracted large numbers of spectators.
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