TIME SPENT BY PARTICIPANTS
While 99.0% of Australians aged 15 years and over had participated in recreation and leisure activity in their free time, only 25.0% had participated in Sport and outdoor activity.
Table 4.2 shows the average time that participants spent on selected free time activities. The information relates to the time that persons spent in participating in activities on a single day and are derived from data that take into account all days of the week and all seasons of the year. Other surveys, cited in Chapter 3 - Participation in Sport and Recreation, ask about participation in sports and physical recreation during a 12 month period.
According to the Time Use Survey, participants who spent time on Sport and outdoor activity did so for 1 hour 28 minutes per day on average. This accounted for 18.4% of time spent on recreation and leisure.
4.2 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON FREE TIME ACTIVITIES, All activities by sex, Participants(a) - 2006 |
| |
| | Males | Females | Persons | |
Purpose of activities | minutes per day | minutes per day | minutes per day | |
| |
Social and community interaction | | | | |
| Socialising | 123 | 96 | 108 | |
| Visiting entertainment and cultural venues | 125 | 108 | 114 | |
| Attendance at sports events | 144 | 109 | 127 | |
| Religious activities / ritual ceremonies | 91 | 91 | 91 | |
| Total(b) | 115 | 103 | 108 | |
Recreation and leisure | | | | |
| Sport and outdoor activity | 103 | 73 | 88 | |
| Games, hobbies, arts, crafts | 108 | 93 | 100 | |
| Reading | 79 | 74 | 76 | |
| Audio / visual media | 288 | 260 | 274 | |
| Attendance at recreational courses (excluding school and university) | 100 | 118 | 113 | |
| Talking (including phone) or writing / reading own correspondence | 142 | 153 | 148 | |
| Total(b) | 484 | 411 | 478 | |
| |
(a) Refers to persons aged 15 years and over on a single day. |
(b) Total includes additional categories not shown in the table. |
Source: How Australians Use Their Time, 2006 (cat. no. 4153.0). |
In 2007, participants spent an average of 2 hours 28 minutes per day on formal sport - organised sport undertaken with a club or as a competition, or with a commitment to skill development, including practice and training. In comparison, participants spent an average of 2 hours 4 minutes each day on informal sport - sport undertaken for recreation or socialising rather than with the commitment needed for competitive sport.
4.3 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON SPORT AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, All activities by sex, Participants(a) - 2006 |
| |
| Males | Females | Persons | |
| minutes per day | minutes per day | minutes per day | |
| |
Organised sport | 154 | 135 | 148 | |
Sport informal | 135 | 97 | 124 | |
Exercise (excluding walking) | 57 | 52 | 54 | |
Walking (including or exercise) | 56 | 51 | 53 | |
Hiking / bushwalking | 68 | 78 | 74 | |
Fishing | 220 | 189 | 216 | |
Holiday travel, driving for pleasure | 133 | 119 | 127 | |
| |
(a) Refers to persons aged 15 years and over on a single day. |
Source: How Australians Use Their Time, 2006 (cat. no. 4153.0). |