Theme: Cohesive
Dimension: Having time for family and community
Metric
Average time spent on recreation and leisure, and on social and community interaction
Why does this matter
Recreation and social interaction enrich people’s lives. Activities including sport, music, socialising and leisure contribute to social cohesion.
Has there been progress
In 2020-21, most Australians (96 per cent) spent on average 5 hours 27 minutes of their day on free time which was used for activities including watching television, sport and exercise, social interaction and reading.
How does this differ across cohorts
Women had 31 minutes less free time on average per day than men — 5 hours and 12 minutes compared with 5 hours and 43 minutes. The gap is largest for people aged 15 to 24 years, with women having 1 hour and 17 minutes less free time than their male counterparts.
People aged 65 years and over had the most time for recreation and leisure, with an average 5 hours and 58 minutes a day. People aged 35 to 44 had the least time for recreation and leisure with an average of 3 hours and 14 minutes per day. The average time spent on recreation and leisure activities is consistent across major cities and regional areas 4 hours and 25 minutes.