Swimming, cycling, athletics, rowing and basketball will be some of the first sports subject to possible financial sanctions if they can’t comply with new governance principles over the next 12 months, the Minister for Sport Senator Kate Lundy announced Tuesday.
National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) currently receiving more than $5 million a year from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) have been told to get their governance in shape – including the gender make-up of boards – or miss out on up to 20% of their funding. The ASC released the new governance principles this week as the body that distributes and administers funding for sports programs on behalf of the government.
Speaking at the Business of Sport Summit via video address, Lundy gave an update of the Winning Edge program launched last year, which she said should remind sporting organisations that funding for high performance sport is “not an entitlement”.
Lundy said that while the renewed threat of funding restrictions by the ASC should be motivation enough for sporting bodies to get their governance in order, there’s also the opportunity to compete for funding – including up to $5 million in new money allocated for the first time.
The Australian Government currently invests around $170 million a year in high performance sport.
Recent independent reviews into Swimming Australia and Cycling Australia cited governance shortcomings as being partially to blame for failures at the competitive and business levels, as well as slips in ethical standards.
“Just as sports need to make a business case to justify a sponsorship investment, the Winning Edge makes it clear that sports must also make a business case to Government,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ASC has also established a Women in Sport unit to assist NSOs in obtaining advice on the promotion of women’s sport and gender equality.
Lundy said high quality governance and leadership within sporting organisations is essential, which covers getting the appropriate boards structures, level of experience and administration right.
“If sports don’t have the right systems in place in their back offices, how can we expect them to properly support high performance athletes competing against the world’s best?” she said.
She believes many sports have made progress on the governance guidelines for sporting organisations released when she first became minister but “much more needs to be done”.
“The beefed-up Governance Principles announced today by the Australian Sports Commission will also see some of our national sporting organisations better equipped to manage their grass roots programs, which are – after all – the lifeblood of Australian sport,” said Lundy.
“And finally, the governance principles do not shy away from some of the integrity issues that sport is facing right now. The requirement for board responsibility for sports science practices, as well as improved organisation structures and zero tolerance for any lack of transparency, means that sports will be better equipped than ever before to protect the integrity of Australian sport.”
The key reforms to the governance principles outlined by the ASC include:
- Improved organisation structures
- Improved board election processes and gender balance
- Zero tolerance for any lack of transparency by sports on how they spend money
- Public company level requirements for sports financial reporting practices
- Proper supervision by boards of sports science practices.