Facilities Strategy

Bowls in Australia has reached a pivotal moment in time.

With growing social participation rates, an ageing population, and rising value and demand for and, it has become crucial for Bowls Australia to ensure its significant facilities footprint is sustainable.

Due to Australia’s growing and ageing population, the potential size of the traditional bowls market – largely made up of those aged over 65, is expanding.

This trend in population growth is also increasing the demand for aged care, retirement, and lifestyle villages.

The annual revenue of the Australian Retirement Village industry is currently $3.9 billion.

This is projected to grow at over 10% per annum for the next 5 years*.

The success of casual bowls as a product has altered the traditional structure of bowls clubs, which previously focussed on high membership numbers.

Many clubs are now experiencing rising social participation rates, offset by decreasing membership numbers.

This has challenged many clubs to review and reinvent their value proposition and business model, to focus on repeat customer generation rather than membership growth.

This National Facilities and Retirement/Lifestyle Villages Strategy will provide a framework for Bowls Australia to understand and prioritise its facility needs both now and in the future.

The strategy is underpinned with a foundation of evidence, data analysis, and modelling to ensure the best outcomes for the sport of bowls, its stakeholders and the community.

It will also be a critical resource in the development of the next whole of business strategic plan for Bowls in Australia.