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Organising sport in NSW - 2004

One in 12 people in NSW aged 15 or over (415,000 people) were involved in a support role such as a coach, referee or committee member in an organised sport or physical activity in the year ended April 2004.

The most common roles were:

  • committee member or administrator (170,400 in NSW),
  • coach, instructor or teacher (178,300),
  • scorer or timekeeper (144,300), and
  • referee or umpire (107, 000).

Among those involved in a support role, about a third reported involvement in more than one role.

These data indicate a rise in the number of persons involved in such roles from 8.0% in 2001 to 8.6% in 2004.

Most of the people involved in organising and running sport and physical activities volunteered their time. In 2004, of the 686,000 support roles undertaken, only 11% of these roles attracted any kind of payment (either in dollars and/or goods and services).

The survey also provides information about people who played or participated and the results indicate that 1.2 million people (22% of those aged 15 years and over) had played organised sport and physical activity in the previous 12 months.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No. 6285.0 "Involvement in Organised Sport and Physical Activities" 2004 survey.