Our Plan for Sport

Key points

Sport brings out the best in Australians, whether that’s on the world stage or the local netball court or footy park. That’s why the Coalition Government will continue to invest strongly from the grassroots through to high performance sport – and more.

Sport 2030 – Australia’s first national sports plan – sets out our vision to become the world’s most active and sporting nation, recognised for our integrity as much as our success.

Each year, nearly 12 million Australians participate in organised sport helped out by another 3 million volunteers.

Only a strong economy can invest in a stronger and healthier future for all Australians.

Investing in sport improves physical and mental well-being, strengthens communities and builds an even stronger economy, with an investment return of $7 for every dollar spent.

The Coalition wants Australians of all ages and abilities to have the opportunity to be engaged in sport and physical activity. We want local communities to benefit, socially and economically.

Our Sport 2030 plan is growing participation in sport and physical activity and enhancing our performance and reputation in international sport.

We’re strongly focused on our sports and athletes as we prepare for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics in South East Queensland.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

Increase children’s participation in sport with $79.6 million to extend the Sporting Schools program, which has reached 12 million children since 2015, for a further two years.
Invest $20.2 million to expand the Sporting Schools program and make it available to up to 700,000 secondary school students in Years 9 and 10.
Grow participation in community sport with $10.3 million to continue the Participation Grant program, which has supported over 500,000 people in community sport since 2018.
Provide $10.3 million to promote leadership and professional development for women in sport, particularly community sport.
Extend high performance sport funding to the 2024 Paris Games, enabling sports to plan ahead with greater certainty.
Invest $10.6 million on top of existing high performance funding for Paralympics Australia to support and prepare Australia’s Paralympics Team for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
Support an unprecedented green and gold decade, with Australia hosting the world’s biggest international sporting events including: the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, Commonwealth Games 2026, Netball World Cup 2027 and Rugby World Cups in 2027 and 2029.
Support the planning and delivery of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics – funding critical Games infrastructure 50/50 in partnership with the Queensland Government.
Leverage major international sporting events to increase participation in community sport, including funding legacy initiatives for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022, UCI Road World Championships 2022, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Provide $27.2 million to continue the important work of Sport Integrity Australia.
Continue support for Sport Diplomacy 2030, including the PacificAus Sports program to support the growth and development of the Pacific sports community.
Provide Surf Life Saving Australia with an additional $4.8 million to support surf life saving clubs to purchase vital life saving equipment.
Continue the Water and Snow Safety Program, including $25 million already committed over the next two years for Surf Life Saving Australia, the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia, AUSTSWIM, Lawrie Lawrence’s Kids Alive program and the Ski Patrol Association.
Continue to invest in high performance and community sport infrastructure.

Our Plan

1. More sport for more kids

Sport across all levels and abilities boosts individual and community health and wellbeing, improves physical and mental health and builds stronger and more cohesive communities.

Each year, 8.5 million Australian adults and 3.4 million children take part in organised sport and many more engage in physical activity.

The Coalition is committed to investments that increase sport participation and promote the benefits of physical activity.

Extending and expanding Sporting Schools

The Sporting Schools program, established by the Coalition Government in 2015, partners with 35 National Sporting Organisations to provide free sport-based activities to students of all abilities, helping schools increase participation and make connections with community sport.

There are currently two programs: for primary schools, and Year 7 and 8 secondary school students.

Since its launch in 2015, more than 8,000 schools have benefitted from the program, which now reaches more than 2.2 million students every year.

The Coalition is investing $79.6 million to extend the Sporting Schools program for an additional two years to the end of 2024. This is an important decision as we emerge from the pandemic - helping children and their families to bounce back by reconnecting with safe and healthy sport.

As well as the extension, the Coalition will provide $20.2 million to expand the Sporting Schools program to secondary school students in Years 9 and 10. We’re aiming to help address the significant decline in sport participation, physical activity and social connectivity in children aged 12 to 16, particularly girls. These students are also the prime age for talent identification in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.

Including Years 9 and 10 will increase the reach of the program to 1,800 secondary schools, with an additional 700,000 students, taking overall Sporting Schools participation to 2.9 million students every year.

Supporting community sport participation

Getting involved in sport and physical activity leads to a healthier and more connected Australia.

In particular, sport bonds the local communities of millions of Australians every year.

The Coalition established the Participation Grant program to support community sport programs that help more Australians enjoy the social, personal and health benefits of sport and physical activity.

So far, the program has helped more than 500,000 people to participate in sport.

It has supported a broad range of peak bodies, including:

AUSTSWIM – to address a shortage of swimming and water safety teachers.
Deaf Sports Australia – to partner with the AFL to improve access for deaf and hard of hearing Australians to play football.
Basketball Australia – to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to take up basketball.
Surfing Australia – to encourage more women to be active in the ocean.

The Coalition will invest $10.3 million to continue the Participation Grant program. We’re alsobuilding on the Government’s core participation funding that will allocate $17.3 million to 31 sports next financial year.

More leadership opportunities for women and girls in sport

While women’s sport has grown strongly, women remain under-represented in leadership roles across community and elite sport.

We need to do more to create opportunities for women and girls in sport, especially in leadership and employment.

That’s why the Coalition will invest:

$6.3 million for an expanded Women Coaches Program to identify, develop and empower more than 600 female coaches in community and elite sport.
$4.1 million for women’s leadership programs to support women in community sport to take on leadership roles. We’re helping community sports to meet the needs and reap the rewards of diverse participation

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

increase children’s participation in sport by providing $79.6 million to extend the Sporting Schools program by two years.
invest $20.2 million to expand the Sporting Schools program to make it available to 700,000 secondary school students in Years 9 and 10.
grow participation in community sport by providing $10.3 million to continue the Participation Grant program.
provide $10.3 million to create more leadership opportunities for women and girls in sport, targeting community sport.

2. Supporting our Olympians and Paralympians

The Coalition is extending high performance sport funding to the Paris 2024 Games.

For the first time, funding has been allocated for a full Games cycle, enabling sports to plan with confidence and certainty as we build on the success of the Tokyo Games.

Our athletes at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics inspired us all. We’re now launching an even stronger platform for Paris 2024 and laying the foundations for a successful home Games in Brisbane in 2032.

The 2021-22 Budget provided a boost to 56 high performance programs in Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games competition, supporting more than 2,600 athletes and hundreds of staff.

The Australian Institute of Sport will commit $257 million across the Paris cycle, with the majority of sports to receive grants from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2024.

The Coalition will provide an additional $10.6 million for Paralympics Australia to prepare and support our team for the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

Australia’s para-athletes represent us with great distinction and pride. In Tokyo, our team’s performances raised the spirits of Australians during the tough times of the pandemic. Our Paralympians are also an enormous inspiration to the many adults and children who have dreamed of trying para-sports.

Funding for Paralympic high performance programs has increased by 40 per cent since 2012.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

Deliver certainty for high performance sport, funding a full Games cycle for the first time.
Provide an additional $10.6 million for Paralympics Australia to support our Paralympic Team’s preparations for Paris 2024.

3. Green and Gold decade for major sporting events

The Coalition will support an unprecedented green and gold decade of major international sporting events, culminating in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.

We’ve worked hard to help secure many of these events and a coordinated investment approach across government will maximise the economic and social return from their successful planning and delivery.

There are huge opportunities for Australian businesses and communities, creating jobs and inspiring participation. Exposure to billions of people across the world will drive tourism, trade and investment.

For example, it is estimated the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 will deliver $2.5 billion of economic benefits and attract more than 200,000 international visitors. The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympics Games will be worth around $8.1 billion for Queensland and $17.6 billion for Australia and create about 120,000 jobs, including 90,000 jobs for Queenslanders.

Major events to be hosted in Australia include:

FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022
UCI Road World Championships 2022
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022
VIRTUS Oceania Asia Games 2022
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
World Transplant Games 2023
World Cross Country Championships 2023
ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships 2025
Commonwealth Games 2026
UCI BMX World Championships 2026
Netball World Cup 2027
Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029
Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games 2032

We will continue working closely with state and territory governments, event hosts and national sporting organisations on the planning and delivery of safe and secure events. As well as maximising our investment returns, we’ll be looking to identify the next big sporting events for Australia.

Planning and building for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics

Our Government has worked closely with the Queensland Government, the Brisbane City Council, the Council of Mayors for South-East Queensland, the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia to secure the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics for South East Queensland.

While the bid was initiated by the Council of Mayors for South-East Queensland, we helpeddrive the momentum that ultimately saw Australia achieve the right to host the Olympics for the third time and Paralympics for the second time.

In anticipation of the Games, businesses right across the nation will benefit from opportunities over the next decade as a wave of economic activity kicks in.

These Games would not be possible without the Coalition’s funding commitments with the Queensland Government.

This includes a 50/50 split for critical Games infrastructure, and a commitment to deliver key services such as immigration and security.

Our critical infrastructure investment not only provides certainty for transport and venues across the Games, but most importantly supports the rapid growth of South-East Queensland.

Funding is already underway with significant commitments on rail infrastructure for the Sunshine Coast ($1.6 billion) and the Gold Coast ($1.1 billion) in the Budget. The Budget also included $150 million for the Gabba Brisbane Metro Station as part of the South-East Queensland City Deal.

The bid forecast the use of 35 new, upgraded and temporary venues across Queensland, including a Gabba upgrade and construction of a new Brisbane Arena.

We will continue to work with Games partners to determine the scope and timing of venue infrastructure projects that serve the Games and the future needs of Queensland.

Our commitments include:

$4.4 million for Cricket Australia to support multicultural participation programs following the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
$3.1 million for Football Australia towards the legacy of the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup 2023: supporting women and girls to play football through the Miniroos for Girls Program and the Girls 12+ Football Your Way Engagement Program. This builds on our $12 million commitment last year to support the Matildas and national youth teams, as well as community engagement activities, to increase football participation among women and girls.
$2.6 million for Basketball Australia to support programs that promote diversity and inclusion as a legacy of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022. This builds on our $5 million commitment last year to support events and other programs that increase female participation and leadership in basketball.
$400,000 for Transplant Australia to leverage the World Transplant Games 2023 to promote the importance of organ and tissue donation.

The Coalition will also support the delivery of Rugby World Cup legacy programs across Australia and the Pacific following Australia’s successful bids for the men’s and women’s World Cups in 2027 and 2029.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

invest in the planning and delivery of a green and gold decade of major international sporting events that will deliver significant benefits for the Australian economy and communities.
fund critical venue and transport infrastructure for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics in partnership with the Queensland Government.
provide more than $10.5 million of additional funding to leverage major sporting events to inspire participation and drive community engagement.

4. Keeping sport fair and safe

Australians deserve assurances that sport is safe, fair and inclusive – with opportunities for all.

Trust and confidence in a level playing field is essential for the return on high performance investment.

The Coalition has established Sport Integrity Australia and the National Sports Tribunal to provide sports and participants with the resources to maintain high standards of integrity.

A re-elected Coalition Government will invest $27.3 million to promote and maintain the integrity of sport, including:

$19.8 million for Sport Integrity Australia to continue ensuring sport in Australia is safe and fair, focusing on the National Integrity Framework, anti-doping measures, anti-match-fixing regulations and education of participants.
$7.5 million to the WADA-accredited Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory to conduct anti-doping sample analysis.

5. New equipment for our surf life savers

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is one of Australia’s largest volunteers organisations, supporting more than 180,000 members and 314 affiliated Surf Life Saving clubs across the country.

SLSA and it’s volunteers play a critical role keeping us safe at our beaches, promoting water safety and preventing drownings.

Tragically, there were 294 drowning deaths over the past year across Australia’s coastline, inland waterways and pools - 20 per cent higher than last year and 8 per cent higher than the 10-year average. Far too many families are impacted by drownings and near-drownings each year.

The Coalition will provide an additional $4.8 million to SLSA for the Beach Safety Equipment Fund to help surf life saving clubs buy vital life saving equipment

Our commitment will provide every club with an extra $5,000 each year to purchase life saving equipment.

In 2020-21, the Beach Safety Equipment Fund helped surf life saving clubs purchase over 100 defibrillators, 42 IRBs and 11 boat trailers, 60 outboard motors, more than 200 rescue boards, 62 radios and 922 first aid supplies.

These investments build on $39 million committed over three years from 2021-22 to leading water safety organisations to improve education and safety and reduce drownings under the Water and Snow Safety Program.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

provide Surf Life Saving Australia with an additional $4.8 million to support surf life saving clubs to purchase vital life saving equipment.
continue the Water and Snow Safety Program, including $25 million already committed over the next two years for Surf Life Saving Australia, the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia, AUSTSWIM, Lawrie Lawrence’s Kids Alive program and the Ski Patrol Association.

Our Record

The Coalition Government has increased sport and recreation funding by 32 per cent since 2013 ($403 million to more than $531 million in the 2022-23 Budget).

We’ve developed Australia’s first national sports plan, Sport 2030, with four objectives:

getting more Australians more active, more often.
driving sporting excellence and success.
safeguarding the integrity of sport.
strengthening the sports industry.

Our investment benefits all Australians, irrespective of age, gender or background. We are backing our local grassroots athletes and community sporting clubs, as well as those striving to represent our nation on the world stage.

Sporting Schools was established by the Coalition to increase child participation. It has reached more than 8,000 schools and 12 million children since 2015.

High performance investment has grown under the Coalition. We’ve allocated funding for a full Games cycle for the first time, supporting our Olympians and Paralympians to plan with certainty for the Paris Games and establishing a strong platform for the Brisbane Games in 2032.

The Coalition has strengthened the role of the Australian Sports Foundation, increasing its fundraising to more than $50 million in the past year and supporting plans for that to increase even further to in excess of $100 million a year.

Ensuring strong private sector and philanthropic funding - together with record government funding - for our sports sector will be critical as we prepare for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Australia’s first Sports Diplomacy Strategy was developed by the Coalition in 2015. Building on this success, Sports Diplomacy 2030 was launched in 2019 to drive closer collaboration between Australian sporting codes, industry and government to enhance Australia's influence and advance our national interests.

Under the strategy, the Coalition has committed $52 million from 2019-2023 to support the development of sport in the Pacific. Through the Australia-Pacific Olympic and Paralympic Partnership, our Government supported over 170 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from eleven Pacific nations to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Program has also supported the Fijian Kaiviti Silktails to compete in the New South Wales Rugby League Ron Massey Cup, the PNG Hunters to play in the Queensland Rugby League Intrust Super Cup and the Fijian Drua’s participation in Super Rugby Pacific and Super W.

The Coalition has extended the Water and Snow Safety Program to improve education and safety and reduce drownings, including $25 million committed over the next two years for Surf Life Saving Australia, the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia, AUSTSWIM, Lawrie Lawrence’s Kids Alive program and the Ski Patrol Association.

The Coalition established Sports Integrity Australia and the National Sports Tribunal to safeguard the integrity of Australian sport by confronting performance-enhancing drugs, match-fixing and other threats.

With the support of the Coalition, Australia has secured an unprecedented green and gold decade of major sporting events. We understand the enormous opportunities for communities and the economy, and we know how to work with partners to maximise the return on our investments.

The Risk of Labor

Only the Coalition Government understands the essential role that sport plays across our cities and regions, and in our economy.

We know that only a strong economy can support the strong sporting investments that lift the health, wellbeing and economic prosperity of Australians and their communities.

Labor simply does not understand how to unlock the vast potential of sport.

Labor has no plan to increase sporting participation.

Labor has no plan to support high performance sport.

Labor has no plan to attract and leverage major sporting events.

The Coalition’s Sport 2030 plan and our strong record of support is at risk from Labor.

Labor has no economic plan, let alone a sporting one.

Labor can’t manage money.

In uncertain times, Australia can’t risk Labor.

Cost

The Coalition’s Plan for Sport includes additional funding of $25 million over the next three years, including:

$20.2 million to expand the Sporting Schools program to secondary school students in Years 9 and 10
$4.8 million to support surf life saving clubs to purchase vital life saving equipment

Funding for all other policies in the Coalition’s Plan for Sport is already provided for within budget estimates.