4147.4.55.001 - Culture and Recreation News, Jul 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/08/2002   
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ACCESS TO SPORTING FACILITIES IN ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES

The 2001 Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey collected data about all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing organisations and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia. It collected data on the availability of housing and related infrastructure - such as water, electricity and sewerage systems, rubbish collection and disposal - and facilities - such as transport, communication, education, sport and health services - in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The survey found that a total of 80,841 (85%) people living in communities with a population of 50 or more had access to at least one type of sporting facility in their community. This reflects the fact that nearly two thirds (65%) of discrete Indigenous communities of this size had such facilities. The larger communities were more likely to have these facilities with 88% of communities with a usual population of 200 people or more having at least one sporting facility, compared with 34% of communities with a usual population of 50 to 99 people. The types of sporting facilities most commonly reported were outdoor courts for games such as basketball, netball and tennis (83% of those with at least one sporting facility) and sports grounds (78%).

Main features of Housing and Infrastructure in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities, 2000-01 are available free of charge on this site.