INVOLVEMENT IN ORGANISED SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The ABS (2010b) Survey of Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Australia, April 2010 (cat. no. 6285.0) collects information about paid and unpaid involvement in sport and whether it was in a playing or non-playing role such as coach, umpire or administrator.

The 2010 survey found that there were 1.6 million people (9.0% of people aged 15 years and over) involved in at least one non-playing role in organised sport and physical activity during the 12 months prior to interview in April. About one third (29%) of these people were involved in more than one non-playing role.

There were 643,300 people involved as a coach, instructor or teacher; 526,600 as a committee member or administrator; and 313,000 as a referee or umpire. Men had a higher participation rate than women in each of these roles: 4.3% compared with 3.1% for coach, instructor or teacher; 3.1% compared with 2.9% for committee member or administrator; and 2.3% compared with 1.3% for referee or umpire.

8.7 Persons involved in organised sport and physical activity, By role and sex - 2010
		Males		Females		Persons
		Total involvements	Participation rate(a)	Total involvements	Participation rate(a)	Total involvements	Participation rate(a)
		'000	%	'000	%	'000	%
Playing role		2 097.2	24.4	1 725.7	19.7	3 822.9	22.0
Non-playing roles
	Coach, instructor or teacher	370.3	4.3	273.0	3.1	643.3	3.7
	Referee or umpire	197.8	2.3	115.1	1.3	313.0	1.8
	Committee member or administrator	270.0	3.1	256.5	2.9	526.6	3.0
	Scorer or timekeeper	216.8	2.5	264.3	3.0	481.1	2.8
	Medical support	58.1	0.7	60.0	0.7	118.2	0.7
	Other non-playing role	60.4	0.7	82.8	0.9	143.1	0.8
Total non-playing roles(b)		826.4	9.6	734.6	8.4	1 561.0	9.0
Total involved(c)		2 446.4	28.5	2 068.8	23.7	4 515.2	26.0
(a) The number of persons involved in organised sport and physical activity, expressed as a percentage of the population in the same group.
(b) Components may not add to totals as some persons were involved in more than one non-playing role.
(c) Components may not add to totals as some persons were involved in both playing and non-playing roles.
Source: Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Australia, April 2010 (cat. no. 6285.0)

Of the 1.6 million people involved in non-playing roles, 60% (928,800) were involved with school or junior sport and 41% (634,300) had completed a course or qualification relevant to their role.

People who were involved as a coach, instructor or teacher were more likely to receive some payment (27%) than people who were in a playing role (3%).

8.8 Persons involved in organised sport and physical activity, By role and payment status - 2010
		Some paid involvement(a)	Unpaid involvement only(b)	Total persons involved	Proportion with some paid involvement(a)
Type of role(c)		'000	'000	'000	%
Playing		122.5	3 700.3	3 822.9	3.2
Non-playing roles
	Coach, instructor or teacher	172.3	471.0	643.3	26.8
	Referee or umpire/Scorer or timekeeper/Medical support	99.8	658.4	758.2	13.2
	Other non-playing roles(d)	40.0	601.0	641.0	6.2
Total		395.4	4 119.8	4 515.2	8.8
(a) Paid involvement includes those who only received good and services as payment.
(b) Includes those who did not know whether they would be paid for their involvement.
(c) Persons may be involved in more than one role.
(d) Includes Committee member or administrator.
Source: Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Australia, April 2010 (cat. no. 6285.0)

In 2001, 2004 and 2007 similar surveys were conducted by the ABS. For further information about the differences in the surveys, please refer to the Explanatory Notes in the publication (cat. no. 6285.0). The level of involvement in organised sport and physical activity was 27% in 2001, 2004 and 2007 but fell to 26% in 2010. A comparison of involvement rates over time can be made for the three non-playing role categories of coach, instructor or teach; referee or umpire; and committee member or administrator. There was a decline in the rate of involvement between 2001 and 2010 in the roles of referee or umpire (2.3% to 1.8%) and committee member or administrator (4.0% to 3.0%).

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