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Submission by Bronwyn Marshall on 04 November 2008.
1. Ensure Australia's continued elite sporting success
If an Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports is not an AIS program and does not receive significant funding from the ASC then it is nearly impossible to achieve elite sporting success. The most obvious inconsistency within Australia’s sporting system occurs between the State Institutes and the AIS. Each State Institute has its own charter which may or may not align with AIS programs. Some States retain a total State development focus whilst others cater to National programs and to professional sport. It is very difficult for a sport that does not have an AIS program to ensure consistency at a national level when some players can gain State Institute scholarships and some can’t. Some players can gain regional institute scholarships and some can’t. It is then up to the NSO to “plug the gap” – for which it has no money to do so. This leads to a total inconsistency within programs and ability to compete well in international competition. It also adds another layer of complexity to just trying to run a program. Recommendation: Total review of the charters of all Institutes of Sport (from AIS to regional) with the outcome to be a clearly defined alignment to the various levels of sport in Australia. Within this review clearly define who the AIS services. Is it the role of the AIS to support the development of sport that provides a professional tier at the top? Should all Olympic sports become AIS programs? Should the AIS be providing more of a leadership role to the Institutes at State and regional level? The Talent Identification Programs that have been implemented traditionally in Australia in the past seem only to have achieved outcomes for those closed sports that rely on a predominately physical component e.g. rowing and cycling. Identifying talent for the more open type sports that also rely on decision making, skill acquisition and tactical knowledge is far more difficult and has not been achieved by the current system. The TID programs have been hugely beneficial to a small number of sports (which is reflected in Olympic medals) but has been of no real benefit to the vast majority of sports. Recommendation: If Australian sport is only going to focus on winning Olympic medals in individual sports then resources should continue to be pumped into this program. If not, then this program should become the responsibility of the individual sports already using it successfully, with the appropriate funding. The ability of underfunded sports to fund international competition is another factor. An average international two week trip costs between $35,000 and $50,000. This does not allow for much international competition. Recommendation: Funding made available to assist sports to entice the competition to come to Australia. Sports are funded by the ASC on a four year basis. The timing of the funding is not meeting the needs of sport. For example, the current four year cycle will finish at the end of June 2009. The ASC will be announcing the amount of funding for the next four year cycle (starting in July 2009) in June 2009. This means that staff members do not know until June if they have a job in July. One sports’ National Head Coach recently resigned because he was offered a long term job in another country. Our sport could not offer him any security. Additionally, the time disparity between the four year ASC cycle and the 4 year Olympic Games cycle means there is a “dead” period of 10 months. The Olympics finished in August 2008 but the new funding cycle of the ASC does not start until July 2009. It is impossible for sports to start their new preparation cycle until they know of their funding so 10 months preparation time is wasted. The amount of funding does not usually increase over the four years but costs do. Recommendation: The ASC four year funding cycle finish in June of the Olympic year. Recommendation: That ASC grants be increased by CPI over the four year period.
2. Better place sport and physical activity as a key component of the Government's preventative health approach
In the past the Government has targeted many different sections of the community (e.g. indigenous, women) but the “Veteran” (50+) age group has never been targeted. Australia’s population is aging and there is a strong link between sports for older people with preventative health outcomes. Recommendation: Government fund NSOs that have the capacity to run grassroots programs for older people.
3. Strengthen pathways from junior sport to grassroots community sport right through to elite and professional sport
The capacity of the system to deliver the athlete and coach pathway is being threatened on many fronts. The loss of volunteers (many factors – mostly lifestyle) and the required expertise of people wanting to be volunteers are eroding the very basis of sport. In time people may have to pay the true cost of sport which has for so many years been underwritten by the free time and expertise of the volunteers. Volunteering has to be made attractive and real. Recommendation: The concept of tax deductions for volunteers should be re-examined.
4. Maintain Australia's cutting edge approach to sports science, research and technology
No response
5. Identify opportunities to increase and diversify the funding base for sport through corporate sponsorship, media and any recommended reforms, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the Australian Sports Foundation
It is almost impossible for any small sport, female only sport or non-professional sport to attract any media attention. There have been numerous reviews by Government into this and so far no-one has been able to come up with a solution. The only option is for the NSO to provide fully edited and commentated packages to either the ABC or SBS at their own cost. When money is so tight for these sorts of sports it is nearly impossible. The dilemma for under resourced sports, with low profiles, is to decide between focussing on running sport or raising money. It is a chicken and egg type question and in the end the core business is sport. There needs to be a general alignment within Government of funding of elite sport with Australia’s trade partners. For example, if a sport was subsidised to compete with China and Australian businesses operating (or wanting to operate) in China were offered some sort of tax concession to partner that sport then there would be many winners. Could the role of Austrade be expanded to include this sort of partnership promotion?
Page last updated: 04 November, 2008