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CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING

The census offers a unique opportunity to obtain a wide range of data about sports and physical recreation employment. However, the employment figures obtained from the census for work in sports and physical recreation do not include second jobs, unpaid work, or persons usually working in a sports and physical recreation occupation but 'between jobs' during the week before Census night. Also, because some types of sports and physical recreation work (e.g. football umpiring) are seasonal in nature, some persons employed in sports and physical recreation occupations will not have been recorded as such during the census period.

Employment in sports and physical recreation occupations

Of all persons employed in the week prior to the 2001 Census, 83,008 (1.0%) had their main job in a sports and physical recreation occupation. For the 1996 Census the corresponding figure was 68,289 persons which was 0.9% of total employment. The increase in employment for sports and physical recreation occupations between 1996 and 2001 was 21.6%. In comparison, the increase for all occupations over the same period was 8.7%.

The sports and physical recreation occupations recording the largest numbers of persons employed in 2001 were Fitness instructors (12,364), Greenkeepers (11,928), Veterinarians (5,007), Veterinary nurses (4,858) and Recreation officers (3,842).

The majority of sports and physical recreation occupation groups showed some increase in employment between the 1996 and 2001 Censuses, with nineteen of them increasing by more than 20%. The largest increases, in percentage terms, were for Outdoor adventure leaders (560.2% from 83 persons to 548 persons), Sail makers (84.3% from 235 to 433) and Fitness instructors (61.2% from 7,669 to 12,364). Fitness instructors also showed the largest growth in terms of the number of persons employed, with an increase of 4,695 persons during the period.

In comparison, there were seven sports and physical recreation occupation groups that experienced a decline in numbers between 1996 and 2001. In percentage terms, the largest falls occurred for Other sports centre managers (23.9% from 3,677 persons to 2,800 persons), Sports administrators (10.9% from 1,216 to 1,083) and Sports development officers (9.7% from 745 to 673).

In August 2001, there were more males (50,113 or 60.4%) than females (32,895 or 39.6%) employed in sports and physical recreation occupations. In comparison, of all employed persons in August 2001, 54.8% were male and 45.2% were female.

Persons employed in sports and physical recreation occupations showed a younger age profile relative to all employed persons. The 20-24 year age group had the largest number of persons employed in sports and physical recreation occupations ( 13,478 or 16.2%). There were considerably more younger workers employed in occupations such as Footballers, Sports umpires, Gymnastics coaches and Ticket collectors and ushers. By contrast, over forty percent of those employed as Horse or dog racing officials, or as Horse breeders, were aged 50 years or over.

7.1 EMPLOYMENT IN SPORTS AND PHYSICAL RECREATION OCCUPATIONS, By sex - 1996 and 2001 Censuses
	1996 CENSUS			2001 CENSUS
Occupation	Males	Females	Persons	Males	Females	Persons
Environment, parks and land care manager	1 889	447	2 336	1 823	509	2 332
Sports administrator	728	488	1 216	652	431	1 083
Horse breeder	653	476	1 129	688	541	1 229
Park ranger	1 438	257	1 695	1 255	351	1 606
Natural and physical science professionals n.e.c.	61	15	76	62	33	95
Veterinarian	2 779	1 467	4 246	2 975	2 032	5 007
Recreation officer	885	1 868	2 753	1 035	2 807	3 842
Sport and recreation managers n.f.d.	15	12	27	90	52	142
Fitness centre manager	486	417	903	626	537	1 163
Other sports centre manager	2 190	1 487	3 677	1 741	1 059	2 800
Sport and recreation managers n.e.c.	172	28	200	251	153	404
Sportspersons, coaches and related support workers n.f.d.	259	127	386	519	278	797
Jockey	705	169	874	813	311	1 124
Golfer	1 011	32	1 043	1 084	38	1 122
Footballer	986	5	991	1 377	8	1 385
Other sportsperson	1 441	450	1 891	1 965	826	2 791
Gymnastics coach	239	1 012	1 251	281	1 151	1 432
Tennis coach	1 044	312	1 356	1 419	358	1 777
Swimming coach	400	532	932	506	381	887
Horseriding coach	91	405	496	107	458	565
Other sports coach	1 727	800	2 527	1 991	887	2 878
Sports development officer	460	285	745	432	241	673
Sports umpire	1 403	558	1 961	1 840	698	2 538
Horse or dog racing official	351	32	383	365	45	410
Other sports official	60	19	79	89	35	124
Gunsmith	137	9	146	146	3	149
Farrier(a)	625	20	645	768	46	814
Animal trainer(b)	2 265	724	2 989	2 251	875	3 126
Greenkeeper(c)	11 609	300	11 909	11 637	291	11 928
Canvas good maker	282	286	568	354	257	611
Sail maker	214	21	235	398	35	433
Apprentice leather goods, canvas goods or sail maker	57	11	68	62	3	65
Boat builder and repairer(d)	2 166	47	2 213	3 153	60	3 213
Veterinary nurse	80	3 159	3 239	121	4 737	4 858
Fitness instructor(e)	2 234	5 435	7 669	3 685	8 679	12 364
Outdoor adventure leader	54	29	83	350	198	548
Ticket collector or usher	1 550	1 275	2 825	1 576	1 624	3 200
Stud hand or stable hand	1 171	1 356	2 527	1 626	1 867	3 493
Total sports and physical recreation occupations	43 917	24 372	68 289	50 113	32 895	83 008
Total employment	4 272 051	3 364 266	7 636 317	4 546 783	3 751 823	8 298 606
(a) Comprises Farrier and Apprentice farrier.
(b) Comprises Animal trainers n.f.d., Horse trainer and Animal trainers n.e.c..
(c) Comprises Greenkeepers n.f.d., Greenkeeper and Apprentice greenkeeper.
(d) Comprises Boat builder and repairer and Apprentice boat builder and repairer.
(e) Comprises Fitness instructors and related workers n.f.d. and Fitness instructor.
Source: Employment in Sport and Recreation, Australia, August 2001 (cat. no. 4148.0).

Earnings and hours worked in sports and physical recreation occupations

The Census found that, compared to persons employed in all occupations, persons employed in sports and physical recreation occupations (as their main job) were more likely to be working part-time (i.e. less than 35 hours per week). Almost two thirds (64.6%) of persons employed in all occupations worked full-time (i.e. 35 hours and over). By comparison, only 52.0% of persons employed in sports and physical recreation occupations worked full-time. Relatively large percentages of persons employed as Sports umpires (88.8%), Gymnastics coaches (84.9%), Ticket collectors or ushers (78.9%) and Fitness instructors (74.8%) worked part-time.

7.2 WEEKLY HOURS WORKED PROFILE OF OCCUPATIONS - August 2001

Over two fifths (43.5%) of all persons employed in sports and physical recreation occupations received a gross weekly income between $300 and $700.

7.3 WEEKLY INCOME PROFILE OF OCCUPATIONS - August 2001