Last updated: 11 Nov, 2019
This research summary provides a picture of participation in organised community sport in Victoria.
Download: Sport participation in Victoria, 2017 - Research summary (PDF, 8 MB)
Download: Sport participation rates: Victoria, 2017 (PDF, 649 KB)
This summary outlines key findings and insights from the third year of VicHealth and Sport and Recreation Victoria’s joint research into organised community sport participation in Victoria across 12 popular sports including Australian football, basketball, bowls, cricket, football (soccer), golf, gymnastics, hockey, netball, sailing, swimming and tennis. It illustrates participation across age, sex and location in 2017 and compares this with participation in 2015 and 2016.
Key findings from 2017
- The overall participation numbers increased each year from 2015–2017, with 125,765 more sports participants in 2017 compared to 2015. This corresponds to a participation rate increase of approximately 1%.
- The largest growth in participation rates 2015–2017 were within the 10–14 year age group with an increase of 4.6%, followed by 15–19 years with an increase of 3.1%.
- The largest growth in participation rate for females were within the 5–9 year age group with an increase of 6.4% followed by 10–14 year age group with an increase of 5.5%.
- The largest growth in participation rate for males were within the 15–19 year age group with an increase of 4.3% followed by the 10–14 year age group with an increase of 3.7%.
- The profile of sport participation in Victoria changed little between 2015 and 2017. However, the highest participation rate increase was for participants aged 5–19 in 2017 compared to 2015.
- There was a considerable increase in female participation in some traditionally male-dominated sports such as AFL, soccer and cricket, mainly within the 5–19 year age groups.