2010-11 Sport Budget

By now you should all be familiar with the Australian Government’s new sports vision Australian Sport: The Pathway to Success which was released last month by the Minister for Sport Kate Ellis MP.

This new direction delivers on the Australian Government’s commitment to boost funding to both community and elite sport, and also, for the first time, delivers significant investment to the all important development pathway, the vital link that connects grassroots participation and high performance sport.

Since the release of this new agenda, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has commenced work with states and territories, National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) and other stakeholders around both high performance and participation planning and programs. This collaboration is essential to inform the ASC Board in setting NSO funding allocations for 2010/11 and the next four years.

I’ve been extremely pleased by the positive response to the new funding package. We will work closely with you as we move to implement the changes in a timely way.

Women in Sport

The Government’s new direction for sport makes particular mention of bolstering the involvement of women in sport at all levels.

Minister Ellis recently released new research by the ASC that reveals the achievements of women in sport continue to be under represented in the Australian media.

The Towards a Level Playing Field: sport and gender in Australian media report provides a picture of how little coverage there is of women’s sport and female athletes in Australian radio, television, magazines and newspapers.

Importantly the Minister also further detailed the Government's policy strategies to increase the participation and leadership opportunities for women in sport, including:

• Providing a dedicated pool of funds through the ASC to provide women’s sport with additional resources to break into the media cycle and boost the media coverage of women’s sport in Australia. 
• Establishing Women in Sport Awards to recognise exemplary initiatives. 
• Setting up the Women in Sport Register to enable women to register their skills and interest in being involved in sport so that sports can readily access potential candidates and find a match to their needs. 
• Requesting that the ASC work with NSOs and other key bodies, such as the Butterfly Foundation, to develop strategies to tackle body image issues which affect women’s - and particularly girl's - participation in sport.

Homophobia in sport

Another issue to attract media attention recently is homophobia in sport.

The ASC recognises the importance of tackling homophobia and I’m pleased to say we have formed an important partnership with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) to address homophobic attitudes and behaviour in sport.

To address these concerns, the ASC and the VEOHRC are trialling a 12 month anti-homophobia project to reduce the experience and impact of homophobia in a national sporting code, which will form the benchmark strategy for other sporting codes and their governing bodies.

Good luck to the Socceroos World Cup squad and well done to the Matildas

Finally like all Australian’s I’d like to wish the Socceroos good luck at the 2010 FIFA World Cup which starts in South Africa this month. It’s great to see that almost 50 per cent of the preliminary Australian squad were former Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holders, which is testament to the quality the Institute’s football program in producing elite level athletes. Go the Socceroos!

I also want to recognise the fantastic achievement of the Matildas in winning the Asian Cup. This is a great achievement made even greater given the context of injuries to two of our key players in the lead up matches. Well done to the players, coach and all the support team.

Until next time

Matt Miller
CEO
ASC