The Australian Sports Commission recently released its latest AusPlay survey results to December 2024. These provide an updated analysis of participation demographics and behaviours across the country, including bushwalking and running/jogging reports for a broader, aggregated period from July 2023 onwards. (The survey does not identify trail running as a separate activity from running.)
HikeWest’s review of the AusPlay data indicates the following:
Strong participation in WA: Bushwalking continues to be one of the strongest contributors to keeping Western Australians active. 416,400 adults (17.4%, or 1 in 5.7) participated in bushwalking during 2023–24, maintaining the high level of the previous report, and above the average national level of 16.9% participation.
High ranking: Nationally and in WA, bushwalking maintains its place as the third most popular activity out of 142 sport and non-sport activities in terms of adult participation, ranking only behind walking (first place) and fitness/gym (second place). Running/jogging (with 15.4% participation) ranks just one place behind bushwalking. Read More
Participation by age: Participation by age in bushwalking in WA has remained consistent with the previous survey (within 1–2%):
| Age | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 15–34 | 35% |
| 35–64 | 53% |
| 65+ | 12% |
Gender participation: This latest survey indicates a continuing gender imbalance in bushwalking participation in WA of 59% female:41% male. This imbalance is more pronounced than the national ratio of 54% Female:46% Male.
Participation with disability: Australia-wide, 11.6% of adults with a disability participated in bushwalking compared to 18.5% without a disability.
Duration of bushwalks: Australia-wide, 70% of bushwalking participations were for walks of two hours or more. 39% were for walks of three hours or more.
Injuries: Australia-wide, only 4.1% of adult participants experienced any injury while bushwalking and a high proportion (77%) of injuries were minor, such as sprains and blisters. More serious injuries (eg head injuries/concussion) were very rare ie 0.08% of participants, or 1 in 1250; compared with 1.6% (1 in 63) for Australian football, 0.77% for Cricket (1 in 130) and 0.27% for Cycling (1 in 370).
Informal versus organised bushwalking: The survey data indicate that 90% of adults participating in bushwalking in WA do so informally – with friends or family, or solo – rather than as part of organised groups. ‘Participation expenditure’ data from the previous survey also suggested that 93% of bushwalking participation was payment-free.
Barriers to participation: Non-participants rank “poor health/injury” and “increasing age/too old” as the two main reasons for not participating in any physical activity. Walking and bushwalking are accessible activities for people of all fitness levels and ages, even those who are ageing.
Non-sports versus sports activities: In WA 32.1% of adults participated in non-sport related physical activities only, compared to 15.9% in sport-related activities only. 37.7% participated in both.
Survey margins of error: The AusPlay margins of error for the latest survey are ~2.5% (~80,000 +/-) for the national participation estimates and ~7% (~25,000 +/-) for the state estimates given above.
Reference: AusPlay National and State results released May 2025
(Posted June 2025)
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