AUSactive takes account of the diversity of traditional body building, yoga, Pilates, spin, dance, aqua classes, wellness and complementary health.
A bold new vision for the
health and wellbeing of Australia Fitness Australia’s Barry Elvish reveals the peak body’s rebranding
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lmost two years ago, Australians first became aware of a new ‘virus’ emerging from Asia; Coronavirus. A few months later and the renamed Covid-19 appeared for the first time in Australia, quickly causing health authorities to swing into action with community messages to wash our hands, cough into our elbows and maintain a safe distance. Then, in March 2020 our sector, along with all other indoor physical activity and exercise modalities, was shut down with no consultation and only 24 hours’ notice. Understanding how and why such drastic decisions with devastating impacts could be made caused significant reflection within our membership base and at Fitness Australia from the Board down. It quickly became clear key stakeholders were making decisions often based on outdated perceptions, erroneous information, overseas experiences and the need to respond to Covid expeditiously; all factors that contributed to the health and fitness sector initially being treated without due consideration or meaningful engagement. Over the following months and through numerous discussions with all State and Territory Health departments, relevant ministers, police and other government agencies several key messages emerged. Firstly, few government departments in the past have fully understood how and where to categorise exercise, physical activity and fitness resulting in every government jurisdiction placing all three regimes under Departments of Sport and Recreation. Although there are clear pathways between exercise, fitness and sport, we are not sport. Secondly, and despite all government messaging during the various lockdowns emphasising exercise as one of the only four reasons to be able to leave your home, highlighting its essential purpose for the maintenance of a healthy body and mind, the same messages were not linking exercise with our member’s services and/or facilities. This was also regardless of the fact 50% of Australians who claim to exercise use fitness, Pilates, Yoga and group class facilities as their preferred venue or program of choice. Thirdly, and much to the initial chagrin of the other modalities, 40 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 147
we learnt the government not only did not comprehend where to categorise fitness and exercise, it effectively lumped all indoor physical activity and exercise programs including yoga, Pilates and dance under the generic classification of ‘gyms’. Accordingly in March 2020, all were closed simultaneously with gyms and since then Fitness Australia has been collaborating with, and supporting the relevant Associations through government advocacy, members support and media statements. This experience has identified a demand from several complementary modalities for new membership categories offering support for both Pilates and yoga facilities and professionals. A potential obstacle to becoming more inclusive was the label ‘fitness’, a word that has connotations of exclusivity rather than inclusivity, elitist rather than accommodating. Concurrent with the ongoing negotiations with government, Fitness Australia late last year completed two sector surveys one industry wide and one for members only. The former was designed to assess the appetite for regulation in the industry - the lack of which was a constant reason given by Health authorities as to why we were closed when Allied Health was not. The responses received indicated a strong desire for increased standards, industry oversight and governance and ongoing professional development.
