Mandatory Sports Governance Principles
Australian Sports Commission Policy Statement:
National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) Governance – Mandatory Requirements for ASC large partner NSOs
Governance in Australian sporting organisations
In its new High Performance Strategy released in November 2012 (Australia’s Winning Edge), the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) noted that there was a compelling case for change in Australian sport. A key area of focus highlighted was governance — the time is now here to raise the bar, recognising that organisations that are managing public investment and member interests must have structures in place that reflect a greater level of professionalism. This is true whether a national sporting organisation (NSO) is focused on high performance or participation. Good governance is a necessary condition for success.
It is uncontested that governance structures significantly affect the performance of sporting organisations. Where they are present, ineffective governance practices not only impact on the sport, but also undermine confidence in the Australian sports industry as a whole.
The role of the Australian Sports Commission
The ASC is the Australian Government body responsible for the Government’s funding to Australia’s NSOs to develop sporting excellence and increase participation in sport. It is therefore important that the ASC has a clearly stated position with respect to the governance of NSOs to which it provides taxpayer monies.
Governance — the critical elements
In 2012, the ASC revised the Sport Governance Principles (the Principles), which are based on best practice in Australian corporate governance. The Principles contain guidelines within which the ASC believes a sporting organisation’s Board members should operate and enact their role. The Principles form part of a suite of information, including a template constitution, Board evaluations and an organisational development framework.
To date, the Principles have been promoted as guidelines and NSOs are encouraged to comply with them on an ‘if not, why not’ basis.
For some elements of the Principles, this will no longer be the case — they will now be mandatory.
One of the key planks of Australia’s Winning Edge is to ensure that NSOs:
‘... have the structure, workforce and leadership capacity to develop successful
programs to achieve competitive results and to spend taxpayer funding effectively.’
Achieving targets for elite sport under the Australia’s Winning Edge and outcomes in participation requires a new level of accountability from NSOs:
‘Confidence in the leadership capacity and capability of sports — particularly in relation to management, governance, internal controls and business systems — is acknowledged as being critical. Sports will be required to demonstrate good leadership, governance and administration as part of the annual investment and review process.’
Within the Principles there are a number of elements that are critical to good governance and therefore to the achievement of outcomes under ASC funding. This sub-set will be non-negotiable requirements for NSOs to be eligible for full future funding from the ASC.
The ASC will assess the risk that current governance arrangements of NSOs present and agree on an implementation plan with each NSO which will be reflected in their funding agreement. Implications for not meeting the requirements will be clearly spelt out, including the risk to funding for non-compliance. Progress against the implementation plan will be considered as part of a risk assessment through the Annual Sports Performance Review process. The ASC will provide assistance to NSOs to implement required changes on a case-by-case basis.
