CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING
The Census collects detailed information about people employed in sport and physical recreation occupations and industries. However, the employment information relates to the main job in the week before Census and does 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 sport and physical recreation work are seasonal in nature (e.g. cricket umpiring), some persons employed in sport and physical recreation occupations will not have been recorded as such during the Census period.
Employment in sport and physical recreation occupations
Of all persons employed in the week prior to the 2006 Census, 75,155 persons (0.8%) had their main job in a sport and physical recreation occupation. For the 2001 Census the corresponding figure was 61,272 persons which was 0.7% of total employment. The increase in employment for sport and physical recreation occupations between 2001 and 2006 was 23%. In comparison, the increase for all occupations over the same period was 9.7%.
The sport and physical recreation occupations recording the largest numbers of persons employed in 2006 were fitness instructors (13,799), greenkeepers (12,137), swimming coach or instructors (7,585), stablehands (3,880) and other sports coach or instructors (3,461).
The majority of sport and physical recreation occupation groups showed some increase in employment between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses. The largest increases, in percentage terms, were for other sports and fitness workers nfd (64% from 797 to 1,304) and outdoor adventure instructors (52% from 548 to 832).
In comparison, there were three sport and physical recreation occupation groups that experienced a decline in numbers between 2001 and 2006. In percentage terms, the largest falls occurred for sportspersons nec (70% from 2,791 persons to 843 persons), recreation officers (46% from 3,842 to 2,061) and jockeys (42% from 1,124 to 649).
Of the 75,155 persons employed in sport and physical recreation occupations, there were more males (44,443 or 59%) than females (30,712 or 41%). In comparison, of all employed persons, 54% were male and 46% were female.
Persons employed in sport and physical recreation occupations had a younger age profile relative to all employed persons. The 20-24 year age group had the largest number of persons employed in sport and physical recreation occupations (13,403 or 17%). There were also considerably more younger workers employed in occupations such as sports umpires, lifeguards and footballers. By contrast, over 40% of those employed as horse breeders or dog or horse racing officials were aged 50 years or over.
8.1 EMPLOYMENT IN SPORT AND PHYSICAL RECREATION OCCUPATIONS, By sex - 2001 and 2006 |
|
 | | 2001 Census(a) | 2006 Census(b) |
| | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons |
|
| Occupation | | | | | | |
| Horse breeder | 688 | 541 | 1 229 | 766 | 651 | 1 417 |
| Sports administrator | 652 | 431 | 1 083 | 1 185 | 721 | 1 906 |
| Fitness centre manager | 626 | 537 | 1 163 | 750 | 914 | 1 664 |
| Sports centre manager | 1 741 | 1 059 | 2 800 | 2 071 | 1 336 | 3 407 |
| Recreation officer | 1 035 | 2 807 | 3 842 | 773 | 1 288 | 2 061 |
| Gunsmith | 146 | 3 | 149 | 171 | 6 | 177 |
| Dog handler or trainer | na | na | na | 326 | 249 | 575 |
| Horse trainer | na | na | na | 1 967 | 797 | 2 764 |
| Animal trainer(c) | 2 251 | 875 | 3 126 | na | na | na |
| Greenkeeper | 11 637 | 291 | 11 928 | 11 816 | 321 | 12 137 |
| Canvas goods maker | 354 | 257 | 611 | 419 | 316 | 735 |
| Sail maker | 398 | 35 | 433 | 428 | 43 | 471 |
| Fitness instructor | 3 685 | 8 679 | 12 364 | 5 075 | 8 724 | 13 799 |
| Bungy jump master | na | na | na | 10 | - | 10 |
| Fishing guide | na | na | na | 93 | 3 | 96 |
| Hunting guide | na | na | na | - | - | - |
| Mountain or glacier guide | na | na | na | 13 | 6 | 19 |
| Outdoor adventure instructor(d) | 350 | 198 | 548 | 519 | 313 | 832 |
| Trekking guide | na | na | na | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Whitewater rafting guide | na | na | na | 28 | - | 28 |
| Outdoor adventure guides nec | na | na | na | 149 | 61 | 210 |
| Diving instructor (open water) | na | na | na | 394 | 147 | 541 |
| Gymnastics coach or instructor | 281 | 1 151 | 1 432 | 411 | 1 633 | 2 044 |
| Horse riding coach or instructor | 107 | 458 | 565 | 78 | 527 | 605 |
| Snowsport instructor | na | na | na | 391 | 186 | 577 |
| Swimming coach or instructor(e) | 506 | 381 | 887 | 1 607 | 5 978 | 7 585 |
| Tennis coach | 1 419 | 358 | 1 777 | 1 677 | 468 | 2 145 |
| Other sports coach or instructor | 1 991 | 887 | 2 878 | 2 529 | 932 | 3 461 |
| Dog or horse racing official | 365 | 45 | 410 | 459 | 81 | 540 |
| Sports development officer | 432 | 241 | 673 | 559 | 339 | 898 |
| Sports umpire | 1 840 | 698 | 2 538 | 1 804 | 579 | 2 383 |
| Other sports official | 89 | 35 | 124 | 95 | 23 | 118 |
| Sportspersons nec(f) | 1 965 | 826 | 2 791 | 710 | 133 | 843 |
| Footballer | 1 377 | 8 | 1 385 | 1 440 | 13 | 1 453 |
| Golfer | 1 084 | 38 | 1 122 | 1 162 | 55 | 1 217 |
| Jockey | 813 | 311 | 1 124 | 501 | 148 | 649 |
| Lifeguard(g) | na | na | na | 1 687 | 907 | 2 594 |
| Stablehand | 1 626 | 1 867 | 3 493 | 1 613 | 2 267 | 3 880 |
| Other sports and fitness workers nfd(h) | 519 | 278 | 797 | 761 | 543 | 1 304 |
| Total sport and physical recreation occupations(i) | 37 977 | 23 295 | 61 272 | 44 443 | 30 712 | 75 155 |
| Total employment | 4 546 783 | 3 751 823 | 8 298 606 | 4 911 129 | 4 193 055 | 9 104 184 |
|
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| na not available |
| (a) ASCO was used for the collection of ABS occupation data. |
| (b) ANZSCO was used for the collection of ABS occupation data. |
| (c) Includes Dog handler or trainer, Horse trainer, Animal trainers nfd and Animal trainers nec. |
| (d) Includes Outdoor adventure guides nec and Outdoor adventure guides nfd. |
| (e) Swimming instructors and teachers were included with Fitness instructors in 2001. This category only included Swimming coaches in 2001. |
| (f) Includes Sportspersons nec and Sportspersons nfd. |
| (g) Lifeguards were included with Other sportspersons in 2001. |
| (h) Includes Sports and personal services workers nfd, Sports and fitness workers nfd and Sports, Coaches, Instructors and Officials nfd. |
| (i) Small cells or census data are randomly adjusted to protect confidentiality. There may be minor discrepancies between column and row total in tables containing similar data. |
| Source: Employment in Sport and Recreation, Australia, August 2006 (cat. no. 4148.0). |
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