4147.4.55.001 - Culture and Recreation News, 2009  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 18/03/2009   
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Director's note

Welcome to the first newsletter for 2009. While the next few months will see a number of releases, the latter part of 2008 saw a flurry of activity that resulted in the release of several statistical publications as well as the release two publications that address conceptual issues within their respective sectors.

Following the release in early 2008 of the Discussion Paper: Defining Sport and Exercise, a Conceptual Model (cat. no. 4149.0) feedback was sought from experts in the field of sport and physical activity policy. This input allowed us to refine the model which led to the release in November of the final version, titled Information Paper: Defining Sport and Physical Activity, A Conceptual Model (cat. no. 4149.0.55.001). The presented model examines the relationships between the overlapping concepts of sport, exercise and physical recreation. If you have any comments about the model we would be pleased to hear them.

November also saw the release of the Information Paper: Towards Comparable Statistics for Cultural Heritage Organisations, 2008 (cat. no. 4916.0) which is aimed improving the quality and comparability of key data collected by Australia’s cultural heritage sector including archives, galleries, libraries and museums. We look forward to these measures being adopted by the sector in the near future.

Since the last newsletter there has been a new edition of both the sports compendium (Sports and Physical Recreation: a Statistical Overview, Australia, 2008 (Edition 2) (cat. no. 4156.0)) and the culture compendium (Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2008 (second edition) (cat. no. 4172.0)). These publications provide a wealth of information about all aspects of the sport and physical recreation and culture and heritage sectors.

The National Centre for Cultural and Recreation Statistics (NCCRS) has also released several articles through its new Perspectives on Sport (cat. no. 4156.0.55.001). The first issue, released last October contained three articles including one that looks at persons involved as a coach, instructor or teacher or as a referee or umpire. The next issues will be released in late April. Similarly the last culture compendium contained several feature articles, including one on archives and another that examined how much time we spend on cultural activities. I hope that you find these articles of interest.

The NCCRS is also in the throes of developing a new survey to collect information about adult creative participation in selected cultural activities. It is anticipated that the survey will collect information about people aged 15 years and over regarding their 'hobby' participation. This survey is intended to expand our knowledge about creative participation beyond a person's main job or through volunteering.

I hope you find this newsletter informative and, as always, if you have any comments about any aspects of the program please feel free to contact us.

Andrew Middleton
Director