The Australian Labor Government understands the importance of sport to our communities and to our nation. Australia is known the world over as an outstanding sporting nation and sport is a central part of our cultural identity.

The Government recognises the importance of supporting our high performance athletes but also acknowledges the central role that sport can play in building a healthier nation.

Upon coming to Government it was clear that Australian sport faced a series of challenges and we made a commitment to take action. Through working with sporing organisations and the community, the Government has provided sport with leadership and direction by releasing a new vision for sport, Australian Sport: Pathway to Success 

Australian Sport: Pathway to successdelivers on the Government’s commitment to ensure the Government is a strong financial partner to Australian sport, by injecting a  record $195 million in new funding - the biggest single injection to Australian sport in our nation’s history.

The Government is taking to a holistic approach to Australian sport by providing funding to boost participation and support high performance sport. Specific initiatives to be delivered under ‘Australian Sport: The Pathway to Success’ include:

• Bringing a new focus on the delivery of quality sport in schools to boost the number of our children participating in sport

• Requiring National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) to have an increased focus on participation outcomes as part of their funding agreements with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and boosting funding opportunities for NSOs to grow grassroots participation through direct grants to community clubs

• Doubling the Local Sporting Champion program to support 8,000 junior athletes to participate in competition; and boosting opportunities for up and coming athletes to compete in domestic competition

• Doubling our talent identification programto support 10,000 aspiring Australian athletes and employ more talent scouts

• Additional coaching and officiating training opportunities for up to 45,000 community coaches and officials, and subsidise the costs associated with training for 5,000 new community coaches and officials

• Boosting funding to identify, attract, develop and retain our high performance coaches including support forincentive packages and professional development.

• Expanding funding support to our high performance athletesto support their training and participation in international competition

• Providing a dedicated pool of funds through the Australian Sports Commission 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.

• EstablishingWomen in Sport Awardsto recognise exemplary initiatives, which provide special support for women’s and girls’ participation in sport, whether as players, coaches, administrators or officials and recognise and to reward fair and extraordinary media reporting.

• Setting up theWomen in Sport Registerto 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.

• Boosting funding to identify, attract, develop and retain our high performance coaches including support for incentive packages and professional development.

This significant suite of reforms represents the largest reform of Australian sport in three decades. It will boost the number of Australian participating in sport, especially our children, while positioning Australia to continue to shine on the international stage.

The Government’s vision for sport not only brings a new strategic focus, but also helps equip our community to tackle the health and ageing challenges we face in the 21^st century.