ADULT PARTICIPATION
Characteristics of participants
During the 12 months prior to interview in 2005-06, 66% of Australians aged 15 years and over participated in physical activities for recreation, exercise or sport. Overall, males (66% or 5.2 million) and females (66% or 5.3 million) showed similar participation rates for sport and physical recreation. Three-quarters (75%) of persons aged 15-17 years and 25-34 years participated in sport and physical recreation while the lowest participation rate was for persons aged 65 years and over (49%).
Persons living in capital cities participated in sport and physical recreation at a similar rate to those living in other areas of Australia (66% compared with 65%). Participation rates varied among the states and territories, ranging from 58% in the Northern Territory to 80% in the Australian Capital Territory.
The participation rates for full-time and part-time employed persons were 72% and 73% respectively while the participation rate for unemployed persons was 66%. For persons not in the labour force, the participation rate was particularly low at 55%. However, this was largely because a substantial proportion of this group are aged 65 years and over.
3.1 ADULT PARTICIPATION IN SPORT AND PHYSICAL RECREATION(a), Selected characteristics - 2005-06 |
|
 | | NUMBER | PARTICIPATION RATE |
| | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons |
| | '000 | '000 | '000 | % | % | % |
|
| Age | | | | | | |
| 15-17 | 307.8 | 302.8 | 610.5 | 77.3 | 72.1 | 74.6 |
| 18-24 | 735.2 | 671.3 | 1 406.4 | 73.3 | 71.8 | 72.6 |
| 25-34 | 1 054.5 | 1 033.9 | 2 088.3 | 76.3 | 74.0 | 75.1 |
| 35-44 | 975.4 | 1 035.9 | 2 011.2 | 66.7 | 69.1 | 68.0 |
| 45-54 | 871.8 | 923.4 | 1 795.2 | 63.5 | 65.7 | 64.6 |
| 55-64 | 670.1 | 716.3 | 1 386.5 | 60.4 | 64.6 | 62.5 |
| 65 and over | 591.0 | 652.9 | 1 243.9 | 50.8 | 48.2 | 49.4 |
| State or Territory | | | | | | |
| New South Wales | 1 726.8 | 1 711.6 | 3 438.4 | 65.3 | 62.9 | 64.1 |
| Victoria | 1 254.6 | 1 357.4 | 2 611.9 | 63.6 | 66.1 | 64.8 |
| Queensland | 1 033.5 | 1 037.1 | 2 070.6 | 67.6 | 66.7 | 67.1 |
| South Australia | 390.8 | 415.0 | 805.8 | 64.8 | 66.7 | 65.8 |
| Western Australia | 547.2 | 553.1 | 1 100.2 | 70.7 | 70.3 | 70.5 |
| Tasmania | 120.8 | 128.2 | 248.9 | 64.6 | 65.7 | 65.2 |
| Northern Territory(b) | 34.1 | 30.6 | 64.7 | 60.4 | 56.1 | 58.3 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 97.9 | 103.6 | 201.5 | 79.5 | 79.5 | 79.5 |
| Region | | | | | | |
| Capital cities(c) | 3 322.6 | 3 343.5 | 6 666.1 | 67.3 | 65.4 | 66.3 |
| Rest of Australia(d) | 1 883.1 | 1 992.9 | 3 876.0 | 63.8 | 66.3 | 65.0 |
| Labour Force Status | | | | | | |
| Employed | 3 907.4 | 3 298.2 | 7 205.6 | 70.8 | 73.5 | 72.0 |
| Full-time | 3 343.4 | 1 772.7 | 5 116.2 | 70.2 | 74.2 | 71.5 |
| Part-time | 564.0 | 1 525.5 | 2 089.5 | 74.2 | 72.8 | 73.2 |
| Unemployed | 193.8 | 168.3 | 362.1 | 68.4 | 63.7 | 66.1 |
| Not in Labour Force | 1 104.4 | 1 869.9 | 2 974.3 | 53.0 | 55.5 | 54.5 |
| Total | 5 205.7 | 5 336.4 | 10 542.1 | 66.0 | 65.7 | 65.9 |
|
| (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) Comprises predominantly urban areas only. |
| (c) Comprises the six state capital city statistical divisions. |
| (d) Includes all of ACT and NT. |
| Source: Participation in Sports and Physical Recreation, Australia, 2005-06 (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). The table also shows participation in non-organised activity. 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 10.5 million participants in sport and physical recreation, a large majority (82% or 8.6 million) had undertaken at least some non-organised activity, while about half (42% or 4.4 million) had participated in some activity which was organised.
In the 12 months prior to interview in 2005-06, 28% of the population aged 15 years and over had participated in some organised sport or physical recreation. The participation rate was similar for males (29%) and females (26%). There were also similar proportions of males and females participating in some non-organised activity (53% and 54% respectively).
3.2 ADULT PARTICIPATION IN SPORT AND PHYSICAL RECREATION(a), Type of participation - 2005-06 |
|
| Organised only | Non-organised only | Both organised and non-organised | Total organised | Total non-organised | Total participation |
NUMBER ('000) |
|
| Males | 1 004.8 | 2 916.0 | 1 280.5 | 2 285.3 | 4 196.5 | 5 205.7 |
| Females | 918.6 | 3 213.0 | 1 194.8 | 2 113.4 | 4 407.7 | 5 336.4 |
| Persons | 1 923.4 | 6 128.9 | 2 475.3 | 4 398.7 | 8 604.2 | 10 542.1 |
PARTICIPATION RATE (%) |
|
| Males | 12.7 | 37.0 | 16.2 | 29.0 | 53.2 | 66.0 |
| Females | 11.3 | 39.6 | 14.7 | 26.0 | 54.3 | 65.7 |
| Persons | 12.0 | 38.3 | 15.5 | 27.5 | 53.7 | 65.9 |
|
| (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. |
| Source: Participation in Sports and Physical Recreation, Australia, 2005-06 (cat. no. 4177.0). |
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