Minister for Sport announces Australia’s 2030 sport plan

The Australian Government recognises that Australia and the role of sport and physical activity in society have changed and to address this change the Minister for Sport, the Hon Bridget Mckenzie, has released the 2030 sport plan.

The 2030 sports plan is broken down into four main categories, as follows:

PARTICIPATION

To encourage more Australians to be involved in sport and physical activity, from childhood through to senior years, whilst also providing infrastructure to bring people and communities together and provide opportunities for social inclusion.

Goal – By 2030, 15% more Australians participating in at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each week.

HIGH PERFORMANCE

Elite athletes will have increased support as the AIS will undergo a full restructure to support able-bodied and para-sports athletes across Australia. Through research, testing, training, injury prevention and rehabilitation facilities athletes will have a genuine competitive edge for international success.

Goal – Sport Australia will develop a measurement of sporting excellence and success in line with Sport 2030.

INTEGRITY

The world of sport, both internationally and locally, is currently facing external threats on an unprecedented scale. These include sophisticated doping practices, illegal and unregulated sports wagering, infiltration and exploitation of the sports sectors by organised crime and corruption in sports administration.

Goal – To create reliable systems for deterring, detecting and dealing with threats to integrity.

INDUSTRY

The global sports industry is estimated to be worth between $480 and $620 billion and in Australia, more than $12 billion is spent on sport and sports infrastructure each year, supporting a workforce of more than 220,000 people and accounting for two to three per cent of Australia’s GDP — comparable to our tourism industry.

Goal – Monitor and report on economic and employment growth across the wider sport and physical activity sectors.

IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING

EVALUATION AND REVIEW

The Australian Government will evaluate, review and update Sport 2030 every four years.

Key facts to understand:

• The Australian Sports Commission will now be known as Sport Australia.
• Sport provides an estimated $83 billion in combined economic, health and educational benefits each year, with a return on investment of $7 for every dollar spent.
• In 2008, it was estimated physical inactivity costs Australia more than $13 billion each year in healthcare costs, lost productivity and reduced premature mortality.
• If nothing is done to curb the growth of obesity, one study predicts Australia will face $88 billion of extra health and social costs over the next 10 years.
• 81 per cent of Australian children are not meeting the recommended Australian guidelines.
• Nearly 70 per cent of adults are either sedentary or have low levels of physical activity.
• Two-thirds of adults and one-quarter of children are overweight or obese.
• The Australian Government has invested more than $600 million in sports infrastructure nationwide in the period 2013-2018 and Sport Australia will lead the development of best-practice sport and physical activity infrastructure, facility design and use as a measure to ensure sporting infrastructure is accessible to all.
• The Australian Government is supporting the Australian Water Safety Council’s goal of zero preventable drowning deaths and will work with state and territory Education Ministers to ensure that all children have access to a learn to swim program in primary school.
• Following the agreement of the Meeting of Sport and Recreation Ministers the Ministers will promote the removal of barriers to enable the use of school sporting infrastructure for sport and physical activity organisations and the wider community.
• Sport Australia will work with national sporting organisations and physical activity stakeholders to decrease the cost of participating in sports and physical activities, including registration fees, insurance costs, uniform costs.
  

An interview with the Minister for Sport, the Hon Bridget McKenzie, will be published tomorrow; To download a copy of the Sport 2030 plan, click here.