Participation

The latest figures published on cycling in the Northern Territory come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report Participation in sport and physical recreation 2005-2006 (Catalog 4177.0).

The report showed that on average 8.6% of Territorians aged 15 and over had cycled during the last 12 months. Cycling included BMX and mountain bikes.

The following is an extract from the report.

The number participating in non-organised activities (8.6 million or 54%) was almost double that for participation in organised activities (4.4 million or 28%).Walking was the most commonly reported physical recreation activity for both males and females, with 4.0 million people (25%) participating. This was followed by aerobics/fitness (2.0 million or 13%), swimming (1.4 million or 9%) and cycling (1.0 million or 6%).

There were over 1.0 million (6%) people aged 15 years and over who had been cycling in the 12 months prior to interview, with more than twice as many males (9% or 691,000) reporting having cycled than females (4% or 320,700).

The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest participation rate for cycling (12%), with New South Wales and Victoria recording the highest numbers (298,300 and 256,100respectively). The highest number of people (281,500) who went cycling were aged 35–44 years.The majority of people who went cycling participated only in a non-organised capacity (90%), with only a very small number involved solely in organised cycling (2%). More than three quarters (79%) of the estimated 1.0 million people who cycled participated in this activity for 53 times or more in the 12 months prior to interview. A further 12% undertook cycling from 27 to 52 times in the same period.

Note:

No information was collected about the duration of participation, i.e. how many hours people participated in each reported activity. For example, walking participants may have taken short walks for exercise of less than half an hour, or they may have walked for longer periods. Similarly, no information was collected regarding the intensity in which the sport or physical activity was undertaken. For example, a cycling participant may have undertaken this activity at a leisurely pace or vigorously.