4156.0 - Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview, Australia, 2009

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/10/2009

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Contents >> Chapter 4 - Time spent on sport and recreation >> Time Spent by Participants

TIME SPENT BY PARTICIPANTS

While 99% of Australians aged 15 years and over had participated in recreation and leisure activity in their free time, only 25% had participated in Sport and outdoor activity.

Table 4.2 shows the average time that participants spent on selected free time activities. The information relates to the time that persons spent in participating in activities on a single day and are derived from data that take into account all days of the week and all seasons of the year. Other surveys, cited in Chapter 3 - Participation in Sport and Recreation, ask about participation in sports and physical recreation during a 12 month period.

According to the Time Use Survey, participants who spent time on Sport and outdoor activity did so for 1 hour 28 minutes per day on average. This accounted for 18% of time spent on recreation and leisure.

4.2 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON FREE TIME ACTIVITIES, All activities by sex, Participants(a) - 2006

		Males	Females	Persons
Purpose of activities		minutes per day	minutes per day	minutes per day

Social and community interaction
	Socialising	123	96	108
	Visiting entertainment and cultural venues	125	108	114
	Attendance at sports events	144	109	127
	Religious activities / ritual ceremonies	91	91	91
	Total(b)	115	103	108
Recreation and leisure
	Sport and outdoor activity	103	73	88
	Games, hobbies, arts, crafts	108	93	100
	Reading	79	74	76
	Audio / visual media	288	260	274
	Attendance at recreational courses (excluding school and university)	100	118	113
	Talking (including phone) or writing / reading own correspondence	142	153	148
	Total(b)	484	411	478

(a) Refers to persons aged 15 years and over on a single day.
(b) Total includes additional categories not shown in the table.
Source: How Australians Use Their Time, 2006 (cat. no. 4153.0).

In 2007, participants spent an average of 2 hours 28 minutes per day on formal sport - organised sport undertaken with a club or as a competition, or with a commitment to skill development, including practice and training. In comparison, participants spent an average of 2 hours 4 minutes each day on informal sport - sport undertaken for recreation or socialising rather than with the commitment needed for competitive sport.

4.3 AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON SPORT AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, All activities by sex, Participants(a) - 2006

	Males	Females	Persons
	minutes per day	minutes per day	minutes per day

Organised sport	154	135	148
Sport informal	135	97	124
Exercise (excluding walking)	57	52	54
Walking (including or exercise)	56	51	53
Hiking / bushwalking	68	78	74
Fishing	220	189	216
Holiday travel, driving for pleasure	133	119	127

(a) Refers to persons aged 15 years and over on a single day.
Source: How Australians Use Their Time, 2006 (cat. no. 4153.0).