May 2010 President message
Last year, SSAA National conducted an online member survey to gain insight into demographics of our membership. The survey included questions about the member; their shooting, hunting and outdoor activities; how much they spend on these activities per year; the publications they read; the websites they visit; their political concerns; and their insurance needs.
More than 3100 members took part in the survey and I’m pleased to be able to share the following results with you.
The average age of the people who responded to the survey was 44.5, with 24% aged 40-49, 23% aged 30-39 and 23% aged 50-59.
Surprisingly, more than half of the respondents said they were relatively new to the SSAA, being members for less than 5 years. 18% had been members for 6-10 years and 12% had been members for 11-15 years.
Nearly half said they enjoyed hunting and target shooting equally, while 32% preferred hunting and 20% preferred target shooting.
A whopping 81% said they had access to a SSAA shooting range or club, which is very positive.
In addition to shooting or hunting activities, 26% of the respondents said they participated in other general sports, 21% participated in bush activities and 20% participated in motor activities.
A very encouraging 85% said they had visited the SSAA National website (www.ssaa.org.au), with 18% regularly visiting the Hunting section, 16% visiting the SSAA Store, 13% visiting the Competition Information (disciplines) section and 11% equally visiting the Press Releases and Licensing & Security sections.
83% said they participated in recreational hunting, with the majority going hunting on a quarterly basis.
A vast majority (86%) of hunters said they hunted introduced species, with 17% hunting rabbits, 16% foxes, 14% cats, 13% pigs, 11% goats and 10% wild dogs.
While only 17% of respondents said they had ever written a letter to the editor regarding private firearm ownership, more than half said they had voted on online polls about shooting, hunting or firearms ownership.
The above is a small sample of the survey results, but it already presents useful information for us to better understand our members and plan future directions for the Association, our magazines, websites and services. For your interest, a more detailed write up of the results will be published in a future edition of Australian Shooter.
SSAA Insurance update
In other news, I’d like to formally welcome our new National Manager for SSAA Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd (SSAAIB), Trevor Jenkin, who will be replacing long-term broker Liz Jan. In addition to a lengthy working history in the insurance and finance industries, Trevor’s eager and enthusiastic attitude towards the SSAA and the needs of our membership is very encouraging and I’m sure we can expect great things from him.
Finally, I would also like to thank recently retired SSAAIB broker Liz Jan for her many dedicated years of service to the Association. Liz has been an integral member of the SSAAIB team and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
Bob Green
SSAA National President
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