Sport NSW launches - Playing Catch Up Report
Published Sun 27 Nov 2022
The Report calls all sides of politics to properly fund NSW Sporting Organisations, which have not received an increase to their core funding since the year 2000.
With the help of some of sports biggest stars, the peak advocacy body representing the state’s sporting sector, Sport NSW, has launched a new report ahead of the NSW state election in March 2023
Despite the significant and welcome government investment in elite sporting facilities in recent years, the stark report reveals that NSW is a laggard when it comes to supporting its grassroots participants, administrators and volunteers.
The fresh report, comprising input from more than 40 different sports, found organisation support payments to sports in NSW – often referred to as ‘core funding’ – are in some cases 8 times less than similar payments made to the same sport in other states.
The meagre payments to NSW sports have not changed since the year 2000 – despite the pressures placed on community organisers drastically increasing.
The upshot of all this, is that NSW sports are way behind the other states, with less capacity to run competitions, attract talent in pathways programs and keep up with stringent safety and governance requirements.
Sport NSW is asking for about $8 million to remedy this.
Additionally, the report highlights a sports facilities crisis, with sports failing to find enough space to run their competitions. As a result, kids and families who want to participate in sport in NSW are often travelling vast distances to play or are even being turned away completely.
