Based on a mixture of industry research, 'ear to the ground' listening and basic gut instinct, here is my take on some of the key trends in the fitness industry that (a) already exist and will continue to gain momentum, or (b) will emerge and expand in the next few years. [In no particular order]:
Strength / resistance training
The scientific and medical evidence for the physical and mental health benefits of strength training will become more widespread and compelling, leading to greater interest in this area.
Children's health and fitness
The trend will be to prevent the next generation of kids from becoming physically inactive and overweight. Fitness services provide kids with opportunities for activity in a fun, playful and non-competitive environment.
More services for 'baby boomers', 50+ market
The trend towards quick services for the time poor will continue for those in the workforce, but retiring and semi-retiring baby boomers will want to spend more time on their health and fitness. They will also use fitness services and facilities as places for social connection and to receive information and advice on how to stay healthy, fit and active as they age. This generation will be completely different to the people that we now refer to as 'seniors'. Baby boomers are generally well educated, have access to superannuation, like to have fun, are demanding and have a strong desire to remain fit, healthy, active and youthful.
Greater collaboration between the fitness and health sectors, in local communities.
More GP's will refer patients into exercise for chronic disease prevention / management, weight management etc. The 'exercise is medicine' message will start to become more compelling as the costs of lifestyle-related chronic disease spiral out of control. A new generation of GP's will take a more holistic approach to wellness and medicine, that includes disease prevention strategies for their patients.
Personal and small group training, outdoor fitness, online communities
Personal and small group activity will continue to grow as the trend towards tailored products and services increases. Links with social media and online fitness advice services will also grow in popularity. Individuals will continue to seek out places (both physically and online) where they can be part of a community and feel socially connected.
Growth in social enterprises bringing fitness into the community
I believe that the growth in social enterprises is linked to the start of a major community back-lash against the last few decades of excess and unhealthy behaviour that has led to unacceptably high levels of chronic disease. More and more people will join communities to discourage behaviours such as inactivity and unhealthy eating as well as positively promote activity and healthy eating. Organisations that peddle fat and sugar-laden, nutrient poor foods and beverages will come under increasing pressure from social & health activists.
Emphasis on health and fitness in the workplace
More and more employers will begin to see the advantages in offering health and fitness services to their workforce for improved productivity and as a workforce retention tool.
Data collection on fitness and health indicators
The rise in the use of personal electronic health records will lead to the inclusion of personal health and fitness data. Currently, personal e-health records in Australia are restricted to the fundamentals of allergies and prescription medicines but expansion of the system is inevitable and a smart thing to do.
Monday, 17 December 2012
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Meetings with Federal Government Ministers
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with ten
Federal Government Ministers at the Australian Labor Party Business Exchange
Program in Sydney over two consecutive days.
The format of the meetings was similar to ‘speed dating’ where business leaders were able to meet with Ministers across various portfolios for between 15-20 minutes each. The Ministers were well briefed by their advisors as to the purpose of each meeting.
Fitness Australia CEO, Lauretta Stace meets with the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard (October 2012).
The format of the meetings was similar to ‘speed dating’ where business leaders were able to meet with Ministers across various portfolios for between 15-20 minutes each. The Ministers were well briefed by their advisors as to the purpose of each meeting.
In between meetings, I was able to network and share
discussions with other association and business leaders from various industries
including Clubs Australia, the Pharmacy Guild, and industry sectors such as
pharmaceutical, information technology, mining, banking and finance.
Lunches were held on each day and keynote speakers
included the Hon. Wayne Swan MP (Treasurer & Deputy PM) and the Hon. Tanya
Plibersek MP (Minister for Health).
As the representative for Fitness Australia, my
objective was to provide each Minister with a briefing on the contemporary
fitness industry and highlight the important role that the industry plays in keeping
over 3 million Australians active, fit, strong and healthy. Each Minister was
provided with the Australian Fitness Industry Report 2012. Click to download AFIR 2012.
The meetings also provided an opportunity to remind the
Ministers of the importance of the health of the nation’s citizens in building
a strong future for Australia, both economically and socially. This includes moving
from the current health model that is primarily focused on acute care and
treatment of health conditions to one that proactively addresses primary care
prevention and ‘wellness’ of the community. I was also seeking a response from
the Ministers on a number of suggested policy reforms that will assist
government with their stated preventative health objectives.
Fitness
Industry Role in Preventative Health
Using the Lift
for Life strength and resistance training program information and data, I
was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the delivery of grass-roots,
practical exercise and lifestyle improvement programs directly into the
community, especially in areas of socio-economic disadvantage and/or where the
majority of participants are at risk of chronic disease. The physical and
mental health benefits reported by the participants of this particular program
made a compelling argument for a greater share of preventative health funding
to be directed into these types of programs, which are delivered by accredited
exercise professionals.
The Health Minister has acknowledged the failure of
costly social marketing campaigns such as ‘Measure
Up’ to influence behaviour change at the population level and funding for
these campaigns has been cut back. Fitness Australia will now advocate strongly
for more targeted and effective use of the government’s preventative health
budget funding in a follow up meeting with the Health Minister in November
2012.
The
Preventative Health Strategy
The Australian National Preventive Health Agency
(ANPHA) is tackling three main health priorities – smoking, alcohol and
obesity. The Government has experienced considerable success in reducing the
incidence of smoking and is now focused on strategies to reduce excessive
alcohol consumption. Other preventive measures such as cancer vaccines and
bowel cancer screening programs have also received considerable government
investment. It appears that obesity-related prevention is proving to be a
challenge for government and much of the federal funding in preventive health
is being provided to the State and Territory Governments for development and
implementation of a range of different programs and strategies. Part of Fitness
Australia’s campaign will be to continue to lobby for investment in initiatives
that encourage more Australian’s to be active and actually enable them to
participate in exercise and lifestyle improvement programs that deliver
positive health outcomes.
Proposed
Legislative Reforms
Just prior to the event, the Treasurer launched the
Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). The objective of the Labor
Government is to continue to deliver a budget surplus and so, any proposed
reforms that impact on the budget either as an additional cost or as a
reduction in tax revenues will be difficult to achieve. Fitness Australia has
been lobbying the government for reforms to the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)
legislation as a way to provide greater access to structured and supervised
exercise programs for millions of Australian workers, especially those engaged
in the small business sector who generally do not have access to onsite fitness
and recreation facilities where an FBT exemption for the provision of fitness
services to employees is allowed. Given the current fiscal climate, this type
of reform will be difficult to achieve, but it is worthy of continued focus as
it will tackle inactivity in the workplace, improve productivity and save
millions of dollars in avoidable health-care costs in the future. A further
submission on FBT reform will be made by Fitness Australia to the Treasury for
the 2013-2014 budget.
Perceptions
of the Fitness Industry
The Ministers all had a positive perception of the
fitness industry and of Fitness Australia as the peak industry association and
were genuinely interested in and appreciative of the work that is being done to
improve the health and wellbeing of the community. Government regulation of the
fitness industry is not being considered at present as the government is
satisfied with the self-regulatory mechanisms that are currently in place and
the balance between the ‘public good’ and ‘public harm’ that the industry may
generate is tipped in favour of the public good i.e. the industry has a good
reputation. The government is aware of and encourages the continued development
and implementation of consistent industry standards and quality improvement,
especially with regard to professionalism, professional education, risk
management, client care and injury prevention. These are the areas of industry
development that Fitness Australia will continue to invest in.
E-Health
opportunities
The fitness industry has an opportunity to have an
important place in the national e-health strategy. The implementation of the
National Broadband Network (NBN) across Australia and e-health records for
individuals creates a potential platform for integration of health and fitness
related client data into personal e-health records. This will also enable
greater connection between fitness industry service providers, medical and
allied health professionals and the client/patient. Some more research will
need to be done in this area in order to understand the potential opportunities
and to develop an action plan.
Follow
up plans
Several key Ministers have expressed interest in
continuing a dialogue with Fitness Australia and following up on some of the
strategic initiatives that are planned or underway. A private meeting with the
Health Minister is scheduled for mid-November 2012. Fitness Australia will also
meet with Opposition Leaders and the Shadow Ministers in the lead up to the federal
election year.
Sunday, 9 September 2012
Fitness Training Services in Public Areas | Blog #2
In my Blog #1 last week, I mentioned that I would be posting about Fitness Australia's structure and how it operates. However, in the meantime, we were recently asked about how things were going with respect to advocating for fair and reasonable policies on the provision of fitness training services in public areas. So here is a quick update on this issue instead.
Fitness Training Services in Public Areas
The provision of personal and group fitness training services in public areas has expanded rapidly over the past few years. Undertaking physical activity and exercise in the great outdoors has always been popular with Australians owing to the great climate, environment and sense of space. The fitness industry is catering to this demand by providing an increasing range of personal and group training services in public areas, such as beaches, parks, public gardens, sports fields etc.
Accordingly, with the increase in supply of fitness training services in public areas, in response to consumer demand, Local Government Authorities have sought to develop and introduce permits and licence schemes to manage and regulate these services and activities, particularly in areas of high impact.
Across the eight States and Territories of Australia, there are hundreds of Local Government Areas, and therefore, the potential for a vast array of different types of local government policies and regulatory schemes that have already been developed and may emerge in the future. Obviously, this makes individual consultation and lobbying efforts with Local Government extremely challenging.
In order to provide a reasonable and workable basis for the development of policy and regulation in this area, Fitness Australia has developed a Position Statement that is used to assist consultation with Federal, State and Local Government Authorities on this issue. The Position Statement contains six guiding principles and five policy recommendations. The six guiding principles are:
1. Maintenance of professional standards in service delivery;
2. Access for all;
3. Protection of the physical space;
4. Risk management;
5. Realistic, consistent, coordinated regulation; and
6. Maintenance of outdoor physical activity options for Australians.
Fitness Australia has also developed a series of recommendations for the provision of fitness services in public areas. This document includes examples of a number of Local Government policies and regulations that are generally in accordance with these recommendations and appear to work well for the local fitness industry service providers.
By creating these policy recommendations, Fitness Australia is seeking to influence government to introduce consistent, fair and reasonable policies and regulations with associated licence or permit schemes that are affordable for small businesses and easy to administer. Ideally, to achieve greater consistency, we believe that these policies and regulations should be administered by the State and Territory Governments. However, this is not always the best scenario. For example, in the case of Victoria, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) introduced state-wide regulation on the use of Crown Land by commercial operators in July 2011. Unfortunately, prior to the introduction of this legislation, the fitness industry was not adequately consulted on this issue and the legislation, although developed to cover ‘commercial tour operators’, also ended up including recreation providers including personal and group training service providers.
Fitness Australia has since met with the Deputy Director General of the DSE and the Chief Advisor to the Minister on this matter. As a result of these meetings, the DSE has agreed to commission and fund an independent regulatory impact study on the effect that this legislation may have on fitness training service providers in Victoria. The study is being conducted by accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers. We anticipate a response before the end of September 2012.
Fitness Australia has incorporated this issue as a major government advocacy initiative in its current strategic plan, but we also need the fitness industry to be alert to policy or regulatory developments in their local area.
Registered Personal trainers and other fitness service providers who become aware of or who are concerned about Local or State Government policy or regulation in this area should contact Fitness Australia on 1300 211 311 for advice and assistance.
Although lobbying efforts take time and are not always immediately successful, a united, professional and determined approach by the fitness industry to this issue is very important and an effective way to build relationships with government and influence their decision-making processes. Fitness Australia can assist registered PT businesses and professionals to have their say in this debate at the local level.
Fitness Australia’s recommendations for the provision of commercial fitness services in public areas can be found on the website at http://www.fitness.org.au/article.php?group_id=1389
Fitness Training Services in Public Areas
The provision of personal and group fitness training services in public areas has expanded rapidly over the past few years. Undertaking physical activity and exercise in the great outdoors has always been popular with Australians owing to the great climate, environment and sense of space. The fitness industry is catering to this demand by providing an increasing range of personal and group training services in public areas, such as beaches, parks, public gardens, sports fields etc.
Accordingly, with the increase in supply of fitness training services in public areas, in response to consumer demand, Local Government Authorities have sought to develop and introduce permits and licence schemes to manage and regulate these services and activities, particularly in areas of high impact.
Across the eight States and Territories of Australia, there are hundreds of Local Government Areas, and therefore, the potential for a vast array of different types of local government policies and regulatory schemes that have already been developed and may emerge in the future. Obviously, this makes individual consultation and lobbying efforts with Local Government extremely challenging.
In order to provide a reasonable and workable basis for the development of policy and regulation in this area, Fitness Australia has developed a Position Statement that is used to assist consultation with Federal, State and Local Government Authorities on this issue. The Position Statement contains six guiding principles and five policy recommendations. The six guiding principles are:
1. Maintenance of professional standards in service delivery;
2. Access for all;
3. Protection of the physical space;
4. Risk management;
5. Realistic, consistent, coordinated regulation; and
6. Maintenance of outdoor physical activity options for Australians.
Fitness Australia has also developed a series of recommendations for the provision of fitness services in public areas. This document includes examples of a number of Local Government policies and regulations that are generally in accordance with these recommendations and appear to work well for the local fitness industry service providers.
By creating these policy recommendations, Fitness Australia is seeking to influence government to introduce consistent, fair and reasonable policies and regulations with associated licence or permit schemes that are affordable for small businesses and easy to administer. Ideally, to achieve greater consistency, we believe that these policies and regulations should be administered by the State and Territory Governments. However, this is not always the best scenario. For example, in the case of Victoria, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) introduced state-wide regulation on the use of Crown Land by commercial operators in July 2011. Unfortunately, prior to the introduction of this legislation, the fitness industry was not adequately consulted on this issue and the legislation, although developed to cover ‘commercial tour operators’, also ended up including recreation providers including personal and group training service providers.
Fitness Australia has since met with the Deputy Director General of the DSE and the Chief Advisor to the Minister on this matter. As a result of these meetings, the DSE has agreed to commission and fund an independent regulatory impact study on the effect that this legislation may have on fitness training service providers in Victoria. The study is being conducted by accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers. We anticipate a response before the end of September 2012.
Fitness Australia has incorporated this issue as a major government advocacy initiative in its current strategic plan, but we also need the fitness industry to be alert to policy or regulatory developments in their local area.
Registered Personal trainers and other fitness service providers who become aware of or who are concerned about Local or State Government policy or regulation in this area should contact Fitness Australia on 1300 211 311 for advice and assistance.
Although lobbying efforts take time and are not always immediately successful, a united, professional and determined approach by the fitness industry to this issue is very important and an effective way to build relationships with government and influence their decision-making processes. Fitness Australia can assist registered PT businesses and professionals to have their say in this debate at the local level.
Fitness Australia’s recommendations for the provision of commercial fitness services in public areas can be found on the website at http://www.fitness.org.au/article.php?group_id=1389
Sunday, 2 September 2012
What is Fitness Australia's Company Structure?
Fitness Australia often gets questions about its company structure. This is perhaps because there is some confusion about the role and purpose of the Association. Hopefully, this article will help to clarify the structure and provide the facts.
Fitness Australia is not a government agency or a private sector organisation. It is described as a national peak industry body, or an industry association. It's legal company structure is that of an unlisted public company, with a not-for-profit status. In Australia, there are three main company/organisational sectors:
1. The public sector (government departments, agencies, statutory authorities etc.)
2. The private sector (organisations that trade in goods and services and return dividends or profits to their shareholders/owners);
3. The not-for-profit sector (organisations that offer goods and services to serve some collective purpose. These are generally governed by volunteers and no dividends are paid. Any surpluses are re-invested back into the organisation and the cause that it supports or represents.)
Organisations in the third sector (not-for-profit) include legitimate professional associations, peak bodies, industry associations, charitable organisations etc.
Before Fitness Australia became a national peak body in July 2008, it consisted of eight, separate incorporated associations in the state and territory jurisdictions of Australia. An incorporated association is required to meet state and territory-based legal requirements. Once these state and territory based associations were merged, the Fitness Australia Board of Directors decided to form Fitness Australia Ltd as a company limited by guarantee. Therefore it is an unlisted public company and subject to the Corporations Law, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). This legal structure creates a need for the organisation to operate under strict regulations and guidelines, so it encourages excellence in operational performance and governance.
As an Association, Fitness Australia was formed by the fitness industry, to represent and support the fitness industry. It is governed by volunteers who sit on a Board of Directors and several Councils. No dividends or profits are paid to the Members or the Directors. All surpluses are returned to the organisation to continue to invest in industry development, advocacy and services.
The guiding document for Fitness Australia is the Constitution. This was adopted by the Members in 2007 and can only be changed by resolution of the Members at General Meeting. Under the Constitution, the Board is made up of nine (9) Directors. Five (5) Directors are elected by their industry peers and four (4) are appointed by the Board. They each serve a two year term and can re-nominate for election or appointment.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in October each year. This is when new Directors take their positions on the Board
In the next edition of my blog, I will provide some more detail on how Fitness Australia operates and how it is structured.
Fitness Australia is not a government agency or a private sector organisation. It is described as a national peak industry body, or an industry association. It's legal company structure is that of an unlisted public company, with a not-for-profit status. In Australia, there are three main company/organisational sectors:
1. The public sector (government departments, agencies, statutory authorities etc.)
2. The private sector (organisations that trade in goods and services and return dividends or profits to their shareholders/owners);
3. The not-for-profit sector (organisations that offer goods and services to serve some collective purpose. These are generally governed by volunteers and no dividends are paid. Any surpluses are re-invested back into the organisation and the cause that it supports or represents.)
Organisations in the third sector (not-for-profit) include legitimate professional associations, peak bodies, industry associations, charitable organisations etc.
Before Fitness Australia became a national peak body in July 2008, it consisted of eight, separate incorporated associations in the state and territory jurisdictions of Australia. An incorporated association is required to meet state and territory-based legal requirements. Once these state and territory based associations were merged, the Fitness Australia Board of Directors decided to form Fitness Australia Ltd as a company limited by guarantee. Therefore it is an unlisted public company and subject to the Corporations Law, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). This legal structure creates a need for the organisation to operate under strict regulations and guidelines, so it encourages excellence in operational performance and governance.
As an Association, Fitness Australia was formed by the fitness industry, to represent and support the fitness industry. It is governed by volunteers who sit on a Board of Directors and several Councils. No dividends or profits are paid to the Members or the Directors. All surpluses are returned to the organisation to continue to invest in industry development, advocacy and services.
The guiding document for Fitness Australia is the Constitution. This was adopted by the Members in 2007 and can only be changed by resolution of the Members at General Meeting. Under the Constitution, the Board is made up of nine (9) Directors. Five (5) Directors are elected by their industry peers and four (4) are appointed by the Board. They each serve a two year term and can re-nominate for election or appointment.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in October each year. This is when new Directors take their positions on the Board
In the next edition of my blog, I will provide some more detail on how Fitness Australia operates and how it is structured.
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