Talent Program (STEMM)

Overview

The AIS Talent Program (STEMM) is on offer to all women who work in high performance sport and specialise in science, technology, engineering, maths or medicine disciplines and are looking to progress to that next level in their career.

The leadership program aims to increase the depth, diversity and representation of women in Australian sport.

The six-month program includes three face-to-face modules as well as online training focused on leadership, personal brand and advocating for change.

The program is supported by the Australian Government’s Office for Women, with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and AIS together delivering several initiatives aimed at helping women in sport reach their full potential.

Objectives

• Provides opportunities for personal and professional development
• Support, retain and progress talented women in STEMM roles
• Help advance women into STEMM leadership roles within Australian sport
• Strengthen the connection and collaboration between women who work in STEMM

Program content

The program will cover a range of topics such as leadership presence, professional networking and how to turn barriers into opportunities. Furthermore participants will learn how to:

• Name, claim and leverage their key strengths
• Consciously influence change
• Turn their experiences into valuable lessons
• Implement effective communication strategies
• Build a supportive and conscious network

Program schedule

• Module 1: 29th April - 1st May 2025 (Melbourne)
• Module 2: 17th - 19th June 2025 (Canberra)
• Module 3: 19th - 21st August 2025 (Gold Coast)

Please note participant flights and accommodation to and from the modules will be covered by the AIS.

Applications are now closed.

APPLICATIONS CLOSED, opens in a new tab

Testimonies

"Gave me the confidence to be a leader in my own style, understanding that we don’t have to conform to stereotyped leadership models."

"Apply! This program will assist you in learning more about yourself, why you do things the way you do, and understand more about your own strengths and weaknesses, whilst amongst like-minded women, who will end up being part of your own peer group cheer squad. Life changing!"

"The connection and acceptance of the group allowed me to explore my skills and my role and learn from others. A secondary gain is that I now know a lot of fabulous women in the network who I can share a challenge with."

"Apply now and without hesitation! The connections that you make will be invaluable as a support to work in the sporting industry. You’ll learn a lot and have a bunch of experts on tap."

Diversity of applicants

The AIS welcome applicants who reflect the diversity of the Australian community and encourages women who identify as the below to apply:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
• Culturally and linguistically diverse
• LGBTIQ+
• Person with disability

Eligibility criteria

• Identify as a woman
• Aged 18 years or over
• An Australian citizen or has been granted/in the process of attaining permanent residence status
• Employed or contracted by an NSO/SSO, NSOD, NIN or Games Delivery Partner (noting that clinical professions are often engaged as sole traders / consultants)
• Engaged in a science, technology, engineering, maths or medicine (STEMM) role or has a STEMM background and currently managing / overseeing STEMM personnel (employees, contractors, or delivery network).
• Is available to attend all the face-to-face modules (support for childcare will be considered)

Letter of support

Applicants will need to provide a letter of support from a sponsor (someone more senior who works within high performance sport) that can confirm their role and advocate on their behalf.

How to apply

1. Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria
2. Read the Terms and conditions below
3. Confirm a sponsor
4. Complete the application form, opens in a new tab

Additional information

Conflict of interest

There may be a conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest, if any member of the Selection Panel or applicant:

• Has a professional, commercial or personal relationship with a party who is able to influence the selection process, such as an Australian Institute of Sport officer, or an external selection panel member.

Applicants will be asked as part of their application to declare, any perceived or existing conflicts of interests or that, to the best of their knowledge, there is no conflict of interest.

If you later identify an actual, apparent, or potential conflict of interest the ASC/AIS must be informed in writing immediately.

Conflicts of interest regarding ASC and AIS staff will be handled in accordance with the ASC’s Conflict of Interest Policy.

Assessment panel members will also be required to declare any conflicts of interest.

Marketing and Promotion

The Australian Institute of Sport encourages all successful program participants to promote their achievements via social media. Please reference the ‘AIS Talent Program’ and tag the AIS.

Assessment and approvals

All applications will first be assessed against the eligibility criteria and then all eligible applications will be assessed by an internal assessment panel at the Australian Institute of Sport.

The decisions are final and there is no appeal process.

Assessment criteria

• How are you currently demonstrating leadership within the high performance sports system? (150-word limit)
• What are your leadership aspirations? (150-word limit)
• How will the program support your leadership ambitions? (150-word limit)

Child Safety

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is committed to Australian sport environments that are safe, supportive and friendly for children.

The ASC Child Safe Policy outlines our commitment to child safeguarding, and the obligations and responsibilities of our people and stakeholders to protect children.

All Talent Program recipients will be bound by the ASC Child Safe Policy.

The ASC has adopted the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework, including the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

All funded organisations will be expected to adopt and implement the National Principles for Child Safety and ensure that all child related personnel are compliant with legislation relating to the employment or engagement of people working with children, including Working With Children Checks and mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.

Funded organisations must provide evidence to the ASC, upon request, of compliance with child safety requirements.

The ASC is a participating organisation in the National Redress Scheme and has adopted the Australian Governments Grant Connected Policy.

An organisation will not be eligible to receive funding if it is named by the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, opens in a new tab on its list of “Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme, opens in a new tab”.

Enquiries & Feedback

If you have any questions regarding the program please email talentprogram@ausport.gov.au

If you wish to lodge a complaint regarding the program this can be done via the Australian Sports Commission’s complaints form.

Notification

All applicants will receive an email from talentprogram@ausport.gov.au notifying them of the outcome of their application.

Disclosure of information

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) will treat any personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.

Personal information can only be disclosed to someone for the primary purpose for which it is collected unless an exemption applies.

Personal information submitted via the online application is collected by the ASC for the purpose of considering applications for the Talent Program (STEMM).

The personal details of successful applicants (including name, home state, sport, and a brief description on the purpose of the program) may be released by the ASC/AIS to the public and the media for the use of promotional and educational purposes.

For more information please read the ASC Privacy Policy.

Terms and conditions

If the Australian Sports Commission (referred to in these terms and conditions as the ‘Australian Institute of Sport’) decides to offer the applicant the opportunity to attend the Talent Program, the offer (Offer) will be made subject to these terms and conditions.

1. These terms and conditions, together with the notification from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) providing details of the Offer (Successful Email), will constitute an enforceable agreement between the AIS and the successful applicant (Recipient) upon the Recipient accepting the Offer, as required by the Successful Email.
2. The Recipient agrees to attend all components of the Talent Program as detailed in their Successful Email (Activity).
3. The Recipient declares and warrants, at the date of agreeing to these terms and conditions, that they have not at any time been found to have breached any anti-doping rule or policy applicable to the Recipient and has not engaged at any time in any conduct that constituted a breach of any anti-doping rule or policy applicable to the Recipient.
4. The AIS seeks to maximise the benefit of its Talent Program to women in high performance sport. Failure by the Recipient to complete the Activity, without the prior agreement of the AIS, may negatively impact on any future application that the Recipient makes to the AIS.
5. Other than in exceptional circumstances, the personal details of Recipients (including name, home state, sport, and any photo or video footage of them produced in connection with the Talent Program) may be released by the AIS to the public and the media for the use of promotional and educational purposes.
6. The Recipient must, if requested by the AIS, cooperate with the AIS in relation to reasonable publicity initiatives regarding the Talent Program.
7. The AIS retains absolute discretion in the final selection of Recipients for the Talent Program.
8. The AIS may terminate this agreement by notice in writing, in the event that: the Recipient fails to comply with any of its terms, or that the AIS, at its discretion, deems it inappropriate that the Recipient attend the Talent Program.
9. The AIS reserves the right to cancel, suspend, postpone or vary the nature of the Talent Program at any time and for any reason. The AIS will not be liable to any person for any loss, damage or claim arising from the Talent Program or such variation, cancellation, suspension or postponement.
10. This agreement is governed by the law of the Australian Capital Territory.

2023 participants

Alice Mae

Brumbies ACT Rugby

Career ambitions

Long term, I would like to be a leader within the profession for women's sport and attain a lead role at a national level. This would provide me with the opportunity to influence programs and development of associated organisations to ensure that the best level of care is offered to all.

I would also like to continue to have a positive influence on community level sport to ensure that individuals have positive experiences and can continue to develop and engage in sport.

Further, having experienced some of the unique difficulties that women face whilst working in elite sport, I also aspire to one day be positioned to create a positive environment with improved support and mentorship opportunities to young women beginning their careers.

Helen Byrne

WAIS

Career ambitions

I aim to become an authentic leader, utilising my experience to have a positive influence on systems and people that support athletes in achieving sporting success.

Kathleen Sakadjian

Melbourne Demons AFL

Career ambitions

My favourite motto is that I have never let a “title” define me. Yes I am a Sports Physiotherapist, but greater than that I am a person with an expansive and transferable skillset. I am so open minded and excited about the potential pathways to my leadership goals.

Ultimately, I’d like to see myself in a role where I can use my holistic approach to enhance health, wellbeing and development strategies within high performance sport, promote diversity and inclusion within our workforce and leverage my innovation and creativity to effect cultural change. I aspire to develop others to fulfil their potential and contribute in their own unique way to our industry.

Krystle Tate

ACTAS

Career ambitions

Short term goal is to continue to build my knowledge and skills set in my current role as I feel there is always room for improvement.

Medium term goal is that I would like to continue to work in HP sport and would like to one day be a National Lead for a Sporting Organisation.

Long term goal would be to move into a Performance services lead role.

Kylie Andrew

VIS

Career ambitions

My aspiration is to be the best leader than I can be.

Leading a department that has grown from 2 casual reports to six full time equivalents, across eight people over the last 12 months has been a great opportunity. I want to be able to lead this team to the best of my ability and feel a responsibility to them to do this at the highest possible level. Some of these people also have leadership aspirations, which I hope to be able to support and foster.

As a leader in the field of sports nutrition, I want to be able to advocate for nutrition, at every opportunity, both within the VIS and across the broader network at SSO & NSO level. As a department manager at VIS, I am included in some management level meetings.

I aspire to be able to participate with increased confidence and contribute in a more meaningful and worthwhile way, to allow ongoing inclusion in leadership activities at this level.

Kylie Holt

Swimming Australia

Career ambitions

I would like to be a passionate, inspiring and mentoring leader working in a dynamic high-performance team.

Megan Shephard

QAS

Career ambitions

I feel that I already play a leadership role within my organisation. For a long time I believed leadership was about the seniority of the position. It has only been recently that I have begun to understand the real influence that I have, and am able to have, through speaking up and voicing my opinion based on my experience and experience of others.

My leadership aspirations are to continue to influence the direction of the sport research and innovation in Queensland and play a role with the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nicole Sly

Cricket Australia

Career ambitions

I have a strong desire to leverage my current and future leadership positions to continue advocating for women and improved diversity in healthcare and sporting environments, including supporting individuals, as well as considering cultural and structural barriers to equal representation. For example, as a member of the ACSEP Women in Sports Medicine Group, we have championed a gender dashboard in the annual College report and have increased female representation across the career pipeline, as well as providing opportunities for networking, mentorship and creating a Leadership Scholarship.

I am at a stage in my career as a new Fellow, where I am focusing on building on my non-clinical skillset and gaining exposure to a variety of work environments and seeking leadership opportunities within these environments.

My passion is empowering people to participate safely in physical activity, particularly through health education and access to quality medical care, leading to improved performance and overall well-being.

In my elite sporting role, I am able to work closely with the leaders of a National Sporting Body to better understand where opportunities exist to achieve these goals within a high-performance environment and development pathways.

Within the school environment, I would like to continue to expand beyond my role in direct medical care, to advocate for increasing levels of physical activity in adolescent females, as well as strengthening a comprehensive injury reduction and well-being support program. Achieving this may involve a committee position. This would build skills that transfer to a sporting or government body role, or potentially an ACSEP college board position.

As a clinician and practice director, I look forward to my role in creating a workplace culture that fosters excellence in healthcare service delivery, as well as supporting Sports Medicine Registrars to realize their potential. I have been fortunate to have been mentored by Sports Physicians who have branched out into previously underserviced communities. I aspire to pioneer a service that reaches athletes that have previously slipped through the cracks and progress the awareness of Sport and Exercise Medicine through local hospitals, schools and community clubs.

Nicole Townsend

ASC

Career ambitions

I aspire to developing and broadening my leadership skill set into organization-level strategy contexts, and exploring innovative ways to influence change and support personnel in sport and science.

Nikki Jeacock

ASC

Career ambitions

Over the twenty years of my career working as a Dietitian and Sports Dietitian I have been privileged to hold a range of roles and experiences as a health professional; clinician; sport scientist; policy writer; culture change agent; advocate; mentor; supervisor; content expert; published author (of peer reviewed journals, textbooks and a cookbook) and keynote speaker.

During my next twenty+ working years I hope to build and expand these amazing opportunities and continue to give back to my profession, the broader HP system and Australian society.  I see my ongoing leadership journey as a way to continue challenging me personally and professionally, whilst also being able to influence and impact the HP sport system to create a safe, healthy and supportive sporting environment for all Australians no matter their age, gender, ability, cultural background, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, body size and socio-economic status.

Paula Peralta

NSWIS

Career ambitions

My ambition is to hold a leadership position in the Australian sporting system that combines leadership/ managerial roles with selected clinical work (eg. consulting, mentoring, second opinion cases). To my knowledge there are few opportunities in this space.

My 'concrete goal' is to aspire to be a strong female leader for the Australian Team at the upcoming Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and beyond, at Olympic/ Commonwealth Games.

Having attended Paralympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games in team and headquarters roles, I see the opportunity for greater female representation in positions of leadership.

Very few females have been bestowed the Lead Physiotherapist honour for an Australian Team at an Olympics or Commonwealth Games in a Headquarters capacity.

I have been very fortunate to work with some fabulous leaders in these roles, have made the most of these learning opportunities and aspire to be part of the succession plan.

Renee Appaneal

Cricket ACT

Career ambitions

There isn't a clear pathway into leadership roles for psychologists within the sport system.  Perhaps we aren’t putting our hands up for the opportunities that do exist, or maybe we aren't considered serious candidates and get overlooked - most likely it's some combination… At this stage of my career, I'm at a crossroads between pursuing leadership opportunities within my profession and exploring potential roles across a sporting organisation/institute.

Sam Pomroy

Basketball Australia

Career ambitions

I enjoy identifying risks and minimising those risks at all levels of sport (professional to junior), and the ability to lead in this space would be one of my main aspirations. This could be as as a consultant to sporting organisations or to teams.

I would also like to consider myself for a Chief Medical Officer role in a national sport or institute in the not too distant future, as I you can then implement best practice on a larger scale.

Sharon Stay

QAS

Career ambitions

I am looking towards the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, in the hope of being a leader in high-performance sports medicine and delivering exceptional medical care for our Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Zara Gomes

QLD Ballet

Career ambitions

I'm keen to collaborate further with elite sporting organisations for talent identification, development, and sharing of research and clinical knowledge to improve athlete/dancer health, wellbeing and performance, as well as promote the benefits of dance and exercise throughout the wider community.

I'm passionate about enabling dancers to perform at their peak physically and mentally, thereby enhancing and prolonging their artistic careers and wellbeing.

Past participants

2022 participants