Sport in Australia: An overview

Shiftingpatternsofworkandleisure,togetherwithdemographicchanges,anincreasinglydiversearrayofsportandleisureopportunities,commodification,commercialisationandglobalisationhavehadadistinctimpactonleisureandrecreation/sportinmanywesterncountries,includingAustralia.ThisshortpaperoverviewssometrendsinsportincontemporaryAustraliaanddiscussesthequestionaboutthefutureofsportinthiscountry.

Australiansport；volunteers；sportparticipation

1 Introduction

Australia has long been known as a country that loves its sport. This reputation has been built on success in international sport arenas and perpetuated through the media and embedded in government policy. Tourism Australia (2016) purports that “Sport is something of a national obsession in Australia”. This claim refers to playing, competing, watching and betting on sport. More recently, government polices have focused not only on increasing sport participation and elite athlete success, but also on sport as a means to facilitate social inclusion[1-3], improve psychological and social health[4], to help older people maintain their independence and improve their general quality of life[5], to support community-level health[6]and as a tool for social change and personal improvement[7].

A closer look at sport in Australia reveals some interesting trends and ‘mythbusters’. Recent ‘crises’ have called into question the very integrity of sport and the country’s ability to ‘punch above its weight’ in winning medals and world championships.Worryingly, there has been a large increase in the number of sedentary adults and children, and there are growing issues with obesity and other health problems related to inactivity[8].

2 Sport participation

The Australian Sports Commission[9], claims that, ‘Australians love sport.… and sport is good for Australians’. Despite this long-standing rhetoric of Australia as a ‘sport mad nation’ recent data indicates that there has been a decrease in the number of Australians participating in sport and physical recreation[10]. Overall, 60% of Australians aged 15 years and over participated in sport and physical recreation in 2013-14, compared with 65% in 2011-12. Participation in organised sport activities are also in decline, and membership based sport and recreation clubs have seen a drop in memberships[11]. In recognition of the crisis in traditional Australian club based sport, the Australian Sports Commission’sMarketSegmentationStudy[11]was commissioned to look at why sporting club membership has stagnated across Australia and suggest strategies to arrest this decline. However, studies of youth participation reinforce the shift away from formally organised sport activity.

An ABS[12]study of participation in sport, cultural activities and use of technology for children aged between 5-14 years found that 60% of Australian youngsters participated in organised sport. More boys participated in sport than girls, although the gap is narrowing, with two thirds of boys (66%) involved in at least one organised sport compared with just over half of all girls (54%). Participation was higher for children born in Australia (61%) compared with those born overseas (52%). This is notable given that 24% of the country’s population is overseas born. In terms of leisure behaviour, the study showed that there has been a large increase in the number of children spending time on the internet, computers and games consoles. In general, young people are increasingly more interested in less structured, non-mainstream lifestyle pursuits such as skateboarding, surfing and bicycle motocross or BMX[13].

3 Making Australian sport sustainable

In trying to better understand how to make sport sustainable into the future, a number of national trends and demographic/lifestyle changes were highlighted in the MegaTrends study funded by the Australian Sports Commission. The research provides details on six trends and how these might impact the future of Australian sport and its seemingly precarious sustainability. These are listed below in Figure 1.

These six trends are the result of a complex interplay of societal change, political decisions, economic conditions and demographic shifts. A critical component in this mix is the changing nature of the sport volunteer.

Figure 1 Hajkowicz et al 2013 - Sport Mega Trends

4 The volunteer workforce

Volunteers have long been the lifeblood of non profit community sport and recreation bodies in Australia. However, changing demographics (aging population, migration patterns), employment patterns and stakeholder expectations have impacted the volunteer workforce[14]. Volunteer hours per individual are decreasing and this is having significant implications for the longer term sustainability of community sport organisations[15]. The Australian Sport Commission’s research on volunteers provides an informative overview of the segmentation of this market and identifies ten segments among the Australian adult population 14-75 years old: five volunteer segments - Happy Helpers, Community Committed, Overcommitted, Opportunists and Altruists; and five non-volunteer segments - Self Servers, Sidelined, Occupied Observers, Well Intentioned, and Uninvolved.

Some of the changing nature of volunteering has been linked to the intensifying professionalisation of sport[16]and its increasing formalisation[17]. In Australia, the move from the ‘kitchen table to the boardroom’ has been evidenced over the past 20 or so years and in some sports there is an increasing divide between the ‘grass roots’ which are still largely volunteers, and the ever increasing paid workforce.

Interestingly Australian volunteers for sport and physical recreation organisations were found to have higher rates of actual participation in physical activities for exercise or recreation (90%) and physical activities for sport (74%) compared with volunteers for other organisations only (80% and 30% respectively). They were also more likely to have attended a sporting event than volunteers for other organisations only (90% compared with 60%)[18].

5 Commodification and Corporatisation

The Australian government has progressively positioned the sports industry as a driver of economic growth and a source of foreign investment and export income[19]. More than $10.7 billion was spent by Australians on sport or physical activity in 2015, mainly on gym/fitness/leisure centres[18]and over 90% of people working in sport and physical recreation occupations were employed within the private sector[12].

The government has also become more interventionist/strategic in linking funding for national sporting organisations to their good governance, and performance related targets.Australia'sWinningEdge(2012-2022) defines performance targets and provides a model for collaboration for the high performance sports sector (Australian Institute of Sport, 2015). Sports are also under mounting pressure to secure non-government funding, sponsorship and corporate philanthropy; and to run their organisations in a more ‘business like’ fashion.

Critics of the intervention of corporates into the sport domainsuggest that sport’s commercial sponsors see sport as an efficient and convenient way of lifting awareness and goodwill. For example, Dionigi and Litchfield forthcoming opine that masters sport is “a place where the market can use the ‘sport for all’ and ‘active and healthy ageing’ dogma to exploit and regulate financially comfortable middle-aged and older adults who have a desire for sport performance, travel, consumption and socialising”. Perhaps a cynical statement but one that is not out of line with other critiques related to sports ever growing commodification.

6 Closing comments

This brief paper suggests that Australian sport is at a cross roads. As the country changes its leisure preferences - sport as we have traditionally have known it may also have to change to survive into the future.

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[17] NICHOLS G, WICKER P, CUSKELLY G et al. Measuring the formalization of community sports clubs: findings from the UK, Germany and Australia[J]. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 2015,7(2): 283-300.

[18] AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION. AusPlay Participation data for the sport sector,2016.

[19] HAJKOWICZ S A, COOK H, WILHELMSEDER L, et al.The Future of Australian Sport: Megatrends shaping the sports sector over coming decades[R]. A Consultancy Report for the Australian Sports Commission, 2013.

特雷西·泰勒，世界體閑體育協(xié)會副主席，悉尼科技大學商學院副院長，教授。

University of Technology Sydney，Australian 悉尼科技大學，澳大利亞

2017-04-16

2017-05-09

Tracy Taylor