ADULT PARTICIPATION
Characteristics of participants
During the 12 months prior to interview in 2011-12, 65% of Australians aged 15 years and over participated in physical activities for recreation, exercise or sport. Table 3.1 shows that overall, men had a higher participation rate for sport and physical recreation compared with women (66% and 64% respectively) and that there was a general tendency for participation rates to fall with age. Over three quarters (78%) of people aged 15-17 years participated in sport and physical recreation, significantly higher than for people aged 65 years and over (50%).
Participation in sport and physical recreation for people living in capital cities (66%) was higher than those who lived in other areas of Australia (63%). Participation rates varied among the states and territories, with the Australian Capital Territory reporting the highest participation rate of 80%.
The participation rates for full-time and part-time employed people was 70% and 71% respectively while the participation rate for unemployed people was 64%. The participation rate for unemployed people was significantly lower compared with those employed part-time. However, there was not enough evidence to suggest that the difference between the participation rate for people employed full-time and unemployed people was statistically significant. For people not in the labour force, the participation rate was particularly low at 55%, however, a substantial proportion of this group are aged 65 years and over.
3.1 Participants in sport and physical recreation(a), Selected characteristics - 2011-12 |
|
 | | NUMBER | PARTICIPATION RATE |
| | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons |
| | '000 | '000 | '000 | % | % | % |
|
| Age group (years) | | | | | | |
| 15-17 | 415.1 | 315.9 | 730.9 | 85.1 | 70.3 | 78.0 |
| 18-24 | 814.7 | 699.7 | 1 514.3 | 76.2 | 66.8 | 71.6 |
| 25-34 | 1 130.4 | 1 141.6 | 2 271.9 | 70.0 | 70.4 | 70.2 |
| 35-44 | 1 083.8 | 1 083.1 | 2 166.9 | 69.6 | 67.7 | 68.7 |
| 45-54 | 918.9 | 1 009.0 | 1 927.9 | 61.4 | 65.3 | 63.4 |
| 55-64 | 788.1 | 832.8 | 1 620.9 | 61.8 | 63.5 | 62.6 |
| 65 and over | 745.2 | 758.6 | 1 503.8 | 52.9 | 48.1 | 50.4 |
| State or territory | | | | | | |
| New South Wales | 1 897.9 | 1 911.4 | 3 809.3 | 66.1 | 64.1 | 65.1 |
| Victoria | 1 506.4 | 1 503.9 | 3 010.3 | 67.2 | 65.0 | 66.1 |
| Queensland | 1 145.1 | 1 085.9 | 2 231.0 | 64.3 | 59.5 | 61.9 |
| South Australia | 395.0 | 436.5 | 831.5 | 60.3 | 64.3 | 62.3 |
| Western Australia | 654.3 | 598.3 | 1 252.7 | 68.9 | 64.2 | 66.5 |
| Tasmania | 137.1 | 142.9 | 280.0 | 69.0 | 69.1 | 69.0 |
| Northern Territory(b) | 44.6 | 45.3 | 89.9 | 65.1 | 66.9 | 66.0 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 115.7 | 116.3 | 232.0 | 81.8 | 78.8 | 80.3 |
| Area of usual residence | | | | | | |
| State capital cities | 3 878.4 | 3 835.3 | 7 713.7 | 67.8 | 64.7 | 66.2 |
| Balance of state/territory(c) | 2 017.7 | 2 005.3 | 4 023.0 | 63.3 | 62.2 | 62.7 |
| Labour force status | | | | | | |
| Full-time | 3 659.6 | 1 968.3 | 5 627.9 | 69.6 | 70.2 | 69.8 |
| Part-time | 691.6 | 1 773.5 | 2 465.1 | 69.6 | 72.0 | 71.3 |
| Total employed | 4 351.3 | 3 741.7 | 8 093.0 | 69.6 | 71.1 | 70.3 |
| Unemployed | 190.6 | 200.4 | 391.0 | 67.5 | 60.7 | 63.8 |
| Not in labour force | 1 354.3 | 1 898.4 | 3 252.8 | 57.1 | 53.4 | 54.9 |
| Total | 5 896.2 | 5 840.6 | 11 736.7 | 66.2 | 63.8 | 65.0 |
|
| (a) Relates to persons aged 15 years and over who participated in physical activities for recreation, exercise or sport as players during the 12 months prior to interview. |
| (b) Refers to mainly urban areas. |
| (c) Includes all of ACT and NT. |
| Source: Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 4177.0). |
Table 3.2 shows the number of players who participated in sport or physical recreation organised by a club or association (e.g. playing tennis as part of a tennis club competition) and participation in non-organised activities. Examples of this include swimming at the beach with the family, walking for exercise and playing tennis socially. Some players participated in both organised and non-organised activity. Of the 11.7 million participants in sport and physical recreation, a majority (53%) had undertaken at least some non-organised activity, while over one quarter (27%) had participated in some activity which was organised.
In organised sport, the participation rate was similar for men (28%) and women (27%). A higher proportion of men (54%) participated in some non-organised activity compared with women (51%).
3.2 Participants in sport and physical recreation(a), Type of participation - By sex - 2011-12 |
|
| Organised only | Non-organised only | Both organised and non-organised | Total organised | Total non-organised | Total participants(b) |
NUMBER ('000) |
|
| Males | 1 053.4 | 3 398.4 | 1 428.2 | 2 481.6 | 4 826.6 | 5 896.2 |
| Females | 1 106.6 | 3 381.8 | 1 321.5 | 2 428.1 | 4 703.4 | 5 840.6 |
| Persons | 2 160.0 | 6 780.3 | 2 749.7 | 4 909.7 | 9 530.0 | 11 736.7 |
PARTICIPATION RATE (%) |
|
| Males | 11.8 | 38.1 | 16.0 | 27.9 | 54.2 | 66.2 |
| Females | 12.1 | 37.0 | 14.4 | 26.5 | 51.4 | 63.8 |
| Persons | 12.0 | 37.5 | 15.2 | 27.2 | 52.8 | 65.0 |
|
| (a) Relates to persons aged 15 years and over who participated in physical activities for recreation, exercise or sport as players during the 12 months prior to interview. |
| (b) Includes participants who answered 'don't know'. |
| Source: Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 4177.0). |
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