Governance, Leadership & Culture

Sport Governance Principles developed by Sport Australia

In August 2020, Sport Australia showcased nine Key Principles around governance in sport. Throughout the creation of these Principles was the clear understanding that despite the size or maturity of any sporting organisation, in order for good governance to be achieved, educational and accessible principles had to be made. These Principles are applicable throughout the Australian sporting sector, from grassroots and community clubs all the way through to large national organisations, however the details and explanations tend to be more of relevance to national sporting organisations and state/territory sporting organisations.

"It is important to remember that good governance is never static of fully achieved. As the leaders governing sport, we have an ongoing opportunity to change, to transform and to be better, but we need to be selfless, determined and focused on our purpose. These are attributes we expect of our elite athletes. They are also the attributes we see in our volunteers, grassroots participants and supporters." - Sport Australia

Each Principle summarised below will contain relevant resources such as templates, guides and case studies for further understanding around the specific Principle. These can be accessed through each principle available on the Sport Australia website.

A Brief Overview of the 9 Sport Governance Principles

	The Startline Understanding what 'good' governance is and the make-up of The Governance Team.
	Principle 1: The Spirit of the Game An organisation's culture and behaviours should be underpinned by values which are demonstrated by the board and embedded in its decisions and actions.
	Principle 2: The Team Across a sport, boards should work together to govern collaboratively and create alignment to maximise efficient use of resources and implement whole sport plans.
	Principle 3: The Gameplan The board is responsible for overseeing the development of the organisation's vision and strategy as well as determining what success looks like.
	Principle 4: The Players A board should be a diverse group of people who collectively provide different perspectives and experience to facilitate more considered decision-making.
	Principle 5: The Rulebook An organisation should clearly define and document its structure and duties, responsibilities and powers of members, directors, committees and management.
	Principle 6: The Playbook Through effective proccesses and continual review of its performance, the board is able to demonstrate accountability and transparency to its members and stakeholders.
	Principle 7: The Defence To proactively protect the organisation from harm, the board ensures the organisation has and maintains robust and systematic processes for managing risk.
	Principle 8: The Best and Fairest An organisation should have measures and protocols to ensure integrity of the sport and safeguard its participants.
	Principle 9: The Scorecard The board must have an appropriate system of internal controls to enable it to monitor performance, track progress against strategy and address issues of concern.

Read the 9 Sport Governance Principles PDF Version here

Source credit: SportAUS, 2020, Australian Sports Commission.

Sport NSW is proud to run The Governance Foundations for Not-for-Profit Directors course, in partnership with Sport NSW partner the Australia Institute of Company Directors. Learn more about the AICD Course here.