The Chairman of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), Mr Peter Bartels, today congratulated the Australian Olympic team on its outstanding achievements in Beijing, but threw down the gauntlet in an article that looks at the many challenges facing the Australian sport system.

‘Our performance has generally been in line with our anticipated results, with a few exceptions, and well done to all athletes, coaches and support staff,’ Mr Bartels said.
 
‘There is no doubt a number of our key competitor countries have lifted their game in recent years.  Some have benefitted from increased resources being made available for their high performance sport systems, while others have targeted specific sports and events and channelled their programs and resources accordingly.

‘However, one of the fundamental issues confronting Australian sport is that we have had to spread our limited resources too thinly across too many sports.

Mr Bartels is disappointed at a number of uninformed comments made about the Australian sports system during the Beijing Games. 
‘Comments made suggesting that Australian sport lacks strategic planning and direction are laughable,’ Mr Bartels said.  ‘The suggestion that there has been no strategic and co-ordinated approach in the Australian sports system since the early 1990s is wrong.
‘With the financial support of the Australian Government, the Commission works closely with national sporting organisations on a four-year planning and funding cycle, reviewed annually.  Each sport is assessed against the criteria of excellence, relevance and effectiveness.  Their individual strategic plans and national athlete development pathways are examined and refined.  This process has been in place for two Olympic cycles.

‘The Government must now decide to substantially increase funding or target funding.  It also is time to consider our sports system as a whole, which the Government has foreshadowed in its plans for an independent review, which we welcome.

‘One of the things I believe the review will conclude is that contrary to some general and sweeping statements that have been made, there is little in the way of wide-spread duplication in the Australian high performance sport system.  The system is not perfect, and there is room for some clarification and delineation of roles played by some stakeholders, Bartels noted, ‘but with one exception I don’t think major structural changes to the system are warranted—certainly not at the national level.’ 

‘The single major change I believe that is needed is for the genuine amalgamation of the various programs and activities of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the State and Territory Institutes and Academies of Sport into one integrated system.

‘This needs to be complemented by increased spending on talent identification, sports science and sports medicine, and support for coaches. We need to sharpen our funding focus on highly ranked athletes and sports at the expense of non-performers, and grants for national sporting organisations need to be increased and indexed. 

‘At the community sport end of the national sport system we need to increase opportunities and support for participation. Particular attention needs to be paid to physical activity in the school system and school sports overall. The success of our sport system has been the community club structure and the hundreds of thousands of volunteers that support our athletes.

‘Any changes need to be made based on evidence and full information, not change for change’s sake.  Sport in this country is at the cross-roads, and the next few months provide the Government with the opportunity to make its mark on the system and to leave a legacy of sporting success into the future.’

Mr Bartels’ full article is attached, and is also available at www.ausport.gov.au .

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Media contact: Rachel Parry, 0409 227 620