Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The benefits of sport in Australia are widely understood. The benefits of participating in sporting activity are unquestioned in Australia. One of the greatest things that are probably unremarked and, in some cases, unreported is the benefit of sport to older Australians. I want to talk particularly about the great sport of golf. According to AusPlay figures released in 2018, there are 980,000 people, or approximately five per cent of the population, participating in golf in any 12-month period. More than 50 per cent of the players are 55 years and older. A recent study by the Deakin Health Economics team identified that, if there were a 20 per cent increase in regular older golfers, there would be an estimated drop in new cases of physical inactivity related diseases of 670, deaths would significantly reduce and the effect of disability on end-of-life years would be vastly reduced.

Australia has nine golf courses ranked in the top 100 according to the US GolfDigest magazine. I know Senator Colbeck's probably familiar with Barnbougle Dunes, a great drawcard in Tasmania. According to a 2015 study from the Australian Golf Industry Council, more than 1.6 million golf trips are taken annually, so, in addition to the obvious discernible health benefits, the impact on both domestic and international tourism is abundantly clear. In 2013, there were 174,000 international tourists who played golf when visiting Australia, some 3.2 per cent of all international visitors. The total number of international golf visitors to Australia has grown by 41 per cent in a recent measured period. The average length of stay for golfers is almost twice as long as that of the average tourist. The average consumer spend on international golf trips is $7,380. The expenditure on golf tourism in Australia, where golf is the primary motivation for travel, is estimated to range between $820 million and $1.09 billion. International golf tourism equates to 20 per cent of this total value. It's worth considering making golf—I can't say compulsory—more visible and more attractive for older Australians to participate. It comes back in a multitude of ways in both domestic tourism and better health outcomes. We have clear and unequivocal evidence pointing in the obvious direction, that the measurable health outcomes and the measurable effects on the economy are sufficient. Tourism Research Australia reports that 1.575 million golf trips were undertaken in Australia in a single year. This has generated a significant number of nights accommodation at golfing resorts.

The real point is that golf participation is incredibly valuable to the individual. It is physical activity in the later years of your life and improves your physical and mental health outcomes. It's clear that it increases muscle strength, general fitness and the ability to reduce minor trips, slips and falls. Being physically active will also slow the onset and progression of certain dementias, reduce depression and manage anxiety. It generates up to five years more of disability-free life and increases the likelihood of people living independently. This is a critically important thing. We cannot just leave sport to the young. People need to learn sport when they're young. They need to continue to play sport and be active in a reasonable way for eight or nine hours per week for all the days of their lives if they're going to avoid the onset of early disability; take up the advantage of living an independent, free life; and avoid the necessity for in-home care until later years.

A graphic example of the benefits of golf is a study by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, which found the death rate amongst golfers to be 40 per cent lower than in the rest of the population. That equates to five years of increased life expectancy. The data was based on a study of 300,000 Swedish golfers. It's clear, unequivocal and unsurprising evidence; it's basically common sense.

I belong to a golf club, as you may well have gathered from my contribution here tonight. The people I look up to are the ones in their 80s who are playing two or three rounds of golf a week. They are articulating all of the things that make their lives go reasonably well. They have a carriage, muscle strength and fitness level which would put a lot of younger people to shame. This investment, if you like, of eight hours physical activity a week pays back tenfold. Australia would do well to put a bit more emphasis on participation by the older category. There is not enough money in any state or federal health budget to take care of people who are basically inactive and don't take responsibility for themselves by investing in their own wellbeing and health.

Golf is one of those ways to do that in a fairly sociable manner conducive to a real outcome. You have camaraderie across all sectors. Golf courses are beautiful places. Whether they're cold and wet or sunny and green makes no difference. You meet good people. There are good outcomes. Australia would do well to put a lot more funding into these areas, which take more mature active people and contribute to a much better health outcome and a greater economic benefit. There is absolutely no downside to supporting this area of the Australian way of life. There is no more beautiful place in the whole of Australia than a new golf course. I commend golf to each and every senator and to anyone else who may be listening.