Industry insights on skills needs
According to the Sport and Recreation IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast, the following form the top priority skills required across the industry:
- Teamwork and communication
- Problem solving
- Self-management
- Technical/job-specific skills.
Additionally, other skills and knowledge gaps identified include Online and social media, Marketing, Initiative and enterprise (i.e. small business management) and Sports Administration.
The following generic skills were also identified as highest priority for the Sport and Recreation industry:
- Customer Service/Marketing
- Communication/Virtual collaboration/Social intelligence
- Learning agility/Information literacy/Intellectual autonomy and self-management
- Design mindset/Thinking critically/System thinking/Solving problems
- Managerial/Leadership.
The importance of communication skills is supported by findings from the job vacancy data, in which communication was identified as the most in demand advertised generic skill in the Sports and Recreation Activities industry, followed by energetic, organisational skills, planning and detail orientated.
According to job vacancy data the most advertised occupations were for Fitness Instructors, followed by Swimming Coach or Instructor and Other Sports Coach or Instructor, with top two employers identified as YMCA and Anytime Fitness.
It’s predicted that the release of the Australian Adventure Activity Standard (AAAS) and Good Practice Guides may impact training qualification enrolments in coming years. The AAAS has been designed to provide a national framework to help the Outdoor Recreation sector develop effective, responsible, sustainable and safe practices. Until now it has been up to individual states to develop voluntary standards, with many states presenting similar information but focusing on different activities. Although the AAAS will remain voluntary, it is expected that many operators will use the information to review operating procedures, employment and staff practices which in turn is expected to impact enrolments.
According to the Sport and Recreation IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast, the economic benefits of the Outdoor Recreation sector have largely been unquantified in past. Therefore to better understand this sector and the impacts it has on the Australian economy, a quantitative study was undertaken by SkillsIQ in partnership with Marsden Jacob Associates and Cadence Economics. The results of the study show that the estimated contribution of the Outdoor Recreation sector on the economy in one year is $11 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition, the study found that nature based outdoor recreation activities provide benefits to the economy that extend through to avoided costs on the healthcare system; in New South Wales it’s estimated the sector will provide $480 million in lifetime avoided healthcare costs.
The Australian Institute of Fitness reported Outdoor Activities as one of the top ten fitness trends for 2021, and again in 2022, noting the seismic shifts the global fitness industry has faced following the onset of COVID-19.
FutureNow’s report reveals outdoor recreation providers were immediately affected by COVID-19 due to restrictions on social distancing, the size of public gatherings, state and regional border closures preventing tourism, and by school closures shutting down Outdoor Education programs. As some state and national borders remain in place, the decline in tourist numbers is likely to continue to affect outdoor recreation businesses into the future.
