4156.0 - Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview, Australia, 2012 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/12/2012  Final
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ADULT PARTICIPATION

Characteristics of participants

During the 12 months prior to interview in 2011-12, 65% of Australians aged 15 years and over participated in physical activities for recreation, exercise or sport. Table 3.1 shows that overall, men had a higher participation rate for sport and physical recreation compared with women (66% and 64% respectively) and that there was a general tendency for participation rates to fall with age. Over three quarters (78%) of people aged 15-17 years participated in sport and physical recreation, significantly higher than for people aged 65 years and over (50%).

Participation in sport and physical recreation for people living in capital cities (66%) was higher than those who lived in other areas of Australia (63%). Participation rates varied among the states and territories, with the Australian Capital Territory reporting the highest participation rate of 80%.

The participation rates for full-time and part-time employed people was 70% and 71% respectively while the participation rate for unemployed people was 64%. The participation rate for unemployed people was significantly lower compared with those employed part-time. However, there was not enough evidence to suggest that the difference between the participation rate for people employed full-time and unemployed people was statistically significant. For people not in the labour force, the participation rate was particularly low at 55%, however, a substantial proportion of this group are aged 65 years and over.

3.1 Participants in sport and physical recreation(a), Selected characteristics - 2011-12

NUMBER
PARTICIPATION RATE
Males
Females
Persons
Males
Females
Persons
'000
'000
'000
%
%
%

Age group (years)
15-17
415.1
315.9
730.9
85.1
70.3
78.0
18-24
814.7
699.7
1 514.3
76.2
66.8
71.6
25-34
1 130.4
1 141.6
2 271.9
70.0
70.4
70.2
35-44
1 083.8
1 083.1
2 166.9
69.6
67.7
68.7
45-54
918.9
1 009.0
1 927.9
61.4
65.3
63.4
55-64
788.1
832.8
1 620.9
61.8
63.5
62.6
65 and over
745.2
758.6
1 503.8
52.9
48.1
50.4
State or territory
New South Wales
1 897.9
1 911.4
3 809.3
66.1
64.1
65.1
Victoria
1 506.4
1 503.9
3 010.3
67.2
65.0
66.1
Queensland
1 145.1
1 085.9
2 231.0
64.3
59.5
61.9
South Australia
395.0
436.5
831.5
60.3
64.3
62.3
Western Australia
654.3
598.3
1 252.7
68.9
64.2
66.5
Tasmania
137.1
142.9
280.0
69.0
69.1
69.0
Northern Territory(b)
44.6
45.3
89.9
65.1
66.9
66.0
Australian Capital Territory
115.7
116.3
232.0
81.8
78.8
80.3
Area of usual residence
State capital cities
3 878.4
3 835.3
7 713.7
67.8
64.7
66.2
Balance of state/territory(c)
2 017.7
2 005.3
4 023.0
63.3
62.2
62.7
Labour force status
Full-time
3 659.6
1 968.3
5 627.9
69.6
70.2
69.8
Part-time
691.6
1 773.5
2 465.1
69.6
72.0
71.3
Total employed
4 351.3
3 741.7
8 093.0
69.6
71.1
70.3
Unemployed
190.6
200.4
391.0
67.5
60.7
63.8
Not in labour force
1 354.3
1 898.4
3 252.8
57.1
53.4
54.9
Total
5 896.2
5 840.6
11 736.7
66.2
63.8
65.0

(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) Refers to mainly urban areas.
(c) Includes all of ACT and NT.
Source: Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, Australia, 2011-12 (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) and participation in non-organised activities. 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 11.7 million participants in sport and physical recreation, a majority (53%) had undertaken at least some non-organised activity, while over one quarter (27%) had participated in some activity which was organised.

In organised sport, the participation rate was similar for men (28%) and women (27%). A higher proportion of men (54%) participated in some non-organised activity compared with women (51%).

3.2 Participants in sport and physical recreation(a), Type of participation - By sex - 2011-12

Organised only
Non-organised only
Both organised and non-organised
Total organised
Total non-organised
Total participants(b)

NUMBER ('000)

Males
1 053.4
3 398.4
1 428.2
2 481.6
4 826.6
5 896.2
Females
1 106.6
3 381.8
1 321.5
2 428.1
4 703.4
5 840.6
Persons
2 160.0
6 780.3
2 749.7
4 909.7
9 530.0
11 736.7

PARTICIPATION RATE (%)

Males
11.8
38.1
16.0
27.9
54.2
66.2
Females
12.1
37.0
14.4
26.5
51.4
63.8
Persons
12.0
37.5
15.2
27.2
52.8
65.0

(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) Includes participants who answered 'don't know'.
Source: Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 4177.0).








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