Australia

Country Insights

Repositioning for Growth, Health Impact and Policy Alignment

By Ken Griffin, CEO, AUSactive Industry Performance and Market Dynamics

Industry Performance and Market Dynamics

Australia’s fitness and active health sector closed 2025 in a position of measured recovery and strategic repositioning. Consumer expenditure reflects this engagement, with Australians spending approximately AU$3.7 billion (US$2.39 billion) annually on fitness clubs and gyms, alongside broader fitness-related spending exceeding AU$8 billion (US$5.16 billion) across the sector. While the industry continues to navigate economic pressures and post-pandemic structural shifts, its underlying fundamentals remain strong: sustained consumer demand, growing recognition of exercise as preventive health, and an increasingly diversified service offering.

The defining characteristic of the Australian fitness market in 2025 was divergence across segments rather than uniform growth. Low-price and 24/7 gym models continued to expand their footprint, while boutique and specialist segments experienced strong growth, particularly in reformer Pilates, functional training, and recovery-based services. Consumer behavior also continued to evolve, with high engagement levels, diverse participation across formats including personal training and group fitness, and growing expectations for hybrid digital and in-person experiences.

Policy, Advocacy, and Public Health

2025 marked an escalation in advocacy to enable the sector to act as an adjunct to Australia’s health system. A key step was the reintroduction of private health insurance rebates for selected therapies such as Pilates.

AUSactive continues to advocate strongly for embedding physical activity and active health into national health policy and positioning the sector as a core component of Australia’s preventive health strategy.

Economic and External Context

Cost-of-living pressures and workforce challenges continued to affect operators throughout 2025. Participation nevertheless proved resilient, and demand remained strong, reinforcing the sector’s underlying stability despite a more difficult operating environment.

Outlook and Key Drivers

The outlook for Australia’s fitness and active health sector in 2026 and beyond remains positive. The principal drivers of growth are expected to include increased demand for fitness programs for older adults, continued expansion of Pilates, greater recognition of exercise as a tool for supporting mental health, sustained interest in traditional strength training, and wider adoption of wearable technology. Together, these trends reflect broader demographic change, growing health awareness, demand for specialised fitness services, and continued digital innovation.

Closer integration with the health system also represents a significant opportunity. Increased formal funding through private health insurance, together with the longer-term prospect of the sector working as an adjunct to Australia’s health system, could support further growth and strengthen the industry’s contribution to preventive health.

At the same time, changes to fair trading and consumer protection legislation over the coming 12 months will require business operators to adjust their compliance practices. However, these reforms are unlikely to materially affect membership growth and may ultimately strengthen transparency, consumer trust, and long-term confidence in the sector.

Australia’s fitness industry is evolving into a critical enabler of preventive health outcomes. AUSactive remains committed to leading this transformation and supporting all Australians to be more active.