Australia sport facing $2 billion black hole

Australia’s Olympic Committee has urged the government to make up a $2 billion shortfall in sports funding over the next 10 years or risk failing at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

AOC chief executive Matt Carroll also called on the government to give sport its own ministry, rather than remain in the Department of Health as “the forgotten poor cousin”.

“Successive sports plans for many years have not achieved their ambitions because they have been doomed,” Carroll said.

“According to predictions based on the work we have done with our 44 member sports, Australian sport is about to fall over a financial cliff. The sports compete against each other for a share of a pie that is getting smaller and smaller.

“Our analysis shows that … in the 10 years leading up to Brisbane 2032 there is a $2 billion shortfall in direct funding for sport. That’s nowhere near enough to maintain the sport’s current level of performance, let alone maximize the opportunities at Brisbane 2032.”

The country will also host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, a key stop on the way to achieving the kind of medal tally expected of a host country when the Olympics arrive Down Under for the third time.

Australia ranked third in medals behind the US and Soviet Union when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympics and fourth behind the US, Russia and China in 2000 when the Games were held in Sydney.

Carroll said a similar outcome in 2032 is unlikely without a major funding boost.

“Unless this situation is rectified, Australia will stare in the face at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games because our home teams will have been undermined by inaction,” Carroll added.

He also called for a government declaration of intent on sport, acknowledging that sport is not only gaining national recognition at the elite level, but also has an important role to play in combating social harms such as sedentary lifestyles and obesity.

The Australian Institute of Sport, once a pioneer in using exercise science to improve performance, also needs more funding, Carroll said.

“In order to bring the AIS back to its global position, the AOC calls for more investment in the AIS so that it houses the best and brightest minds in the disciplines of sports science, medicine, technology and data,” he said.

Carroll concluded that time was of the essence.

“The Olympic and Paralympic medals that Australian athletes win are years in the making,” he said.

“In all of this there is one certainty: the Olympic flame will be lit in Brisbane on July 23, 2032, whether we are ready or not.”

-Reuters