Activity type

Specific activities at time of injury are only available for hospital admitted patients. The grouping of activities presented in this analysis are based on the sports reported in the Clearinghouse for Sport's AusPlay survey and are consistent with those in Sports injury hospitalisations in Australia 2019-20. Further information about the number and rate of injuries by activity type is available in this report.

The specific activity with the highest spending for hospital admissions was cycling ($52 million), followed by wheeled motor sports ($40 million) and soccer ($36 million).

Spending varies by hospital type. In public hospitals, spending was highest for cycling, wheeled motor sports and soccer, while in private hospitals spending was highest for soccer, Australian rules football, and cycling. These differences likely reflect varying admission modes and composition of injuries.

Figure 9: Spending on public and private hospital admissions by type of physical activity, 2018-19

This bar chart shows injury spending by type of activity at the time of injury for public and private admitted patients.

The types of activities contributing to admitted patient injury costs varied for males and females. For males, the most spending was associated with cycling ($42 million), wheeled motor sports ($37 million) and soccer ($30 million). For females, this was equestrian activities ($13 million), netball ($12 million) and cycling ($10 million).

Figure 10: Spending by type of physical activity for males and females, 2018-19

This bar chart shows injury spending by type of activity at the time of injury for males and females.

Activities with the highest participation rates were recreational walking, fitness and gym, and running, athletics and track & field. These activities were associated with very low levels of admitted patient injury spending, all around $2 or lower per participant in 2018-19. Along with swimming and diving, these activities had the lowest per participant cost of all specified categories.

Activities with the highest admitted patient spending per participant were wheeled motor sports ($170), roller sports ($127), and rugby ($70).

Figure 11: Injury spending per participant, by type of activity, 2018-19

This bar chart shows injury spending per participant for males and females by type of activity at the time of injury.

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