The ABS conducted a series of surveys of the sport, recreation and gambling industries in respect of 2000-01.
At the end of June 2001, there were 7,147 employing organisations involved in the provision of sport and physical recreation activities. This total comprised: 1,034 horse and dog racing organisations; 667 health and fitness centres; 864 other sports and physical recreation venues; 756 sports and physical recreation administrative organisations; 1,937 sports and physical recreation clubs, teams and sports professionals; 1,259 other sports services; and 630 government organisations. These organisations had a total income of $8,466m and expenses of $8,608m in 2000-01. At the end of June 2001 the organisations employed 98,267 people and were assisted by 178,837 volunteers during the month of June. For additional information on sport and physical recreation industries, see the article Sports industries in Chapter 21, Service industries.
At the end of June 2001, there were 1,092 businesses operating in the gambling services industries in Australia. Of these, 10 were lottery operators, 13 were casinos, and the remaining 1,069 provided other gambling services such as bookmaking and totalisator services. The gambling services industries employed 32,591 persons, which was 7% less than at the end of June 1998, and received $9,543m in income, which was 21% higher than in 1997-98. The major source of income (90%) was the net takings from gambling (i.e. the revenue earned by businesses from gambling services, net of payouts to players or bettors). Total expenses for the gambling services industries were $8,179m, of which 37% were gambling or gaming taxes and levies.
There were 2,911 organisations (operating at 3,121 premises in Australia) in the hospitality clubs industry at the end of June 2001. These organisations employed 64,990 persons, which was marginally higher than three years earlier, and received a total income of $6,297m, which was 10% higher than in 1997-98. Of these organisations, 1,952 (67%) had gambling facilities. These organisations received 96% ($6,036m) of the industry's total income, of which 64% ($3,835m) was income from gambling. Gambling income had increased by 24% since 1997-98.
There were 4,003 businesses operating pubs, taverns and bars in 4,627 premises at the end of June 2001. Gambling services were provided by 2,566 (64%) of these businesses, The major source of income for pubs, taverns and bars was the sale of liquor and other beverages ($5,682m). This was 63% of the total income of $9,007m. Gambling was the second major source of income ($2,121m, or 24% of total income). Total income of pubs, taverns and bars had increased by 13% since 1997-98. Income from sales of liquor and other beverages had increased marginally since 1997-98, while income from gambling increased by 64%. Most of the gambling income (78%, $1,659m) was net takings from poker or gaming machines, 19% ($396m) was commission or venue share from poker or gaming machines, and 3% ($53m) was commissions from TAB.
In all, the ABS surveys indicated that there were 6,012 businesses (across a range of industries) providing gambling facilities in Australia at the end of June 2001, and that net takings from gambling in 2000-01 were $13.8b; this represented an increase of 26% since 1997-98. Almost two-thirds (63%, or $8,752m) of the total net takings from gambling came from poker and gaming machines. Net takings from poker and gaming machines increased by 39% over takings in 1997-98, and the number of poker or gaming machines in use at the end of June 2001 (185,512) increased by 19.5% from the number in use three years earlier. Most of these machines were located in hospitality clubs (60%), pubs, taverns and bars (30%) and casinos (6%).
The sections Hospitality industries and Gambling services in Service industries contain some additional information for these industries.
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