It is with much excitement that I inform you of two highly significant developments for Australian sport. On Friday the 11 February, the Commonwealth and State and Territory Ministers for Sport and Recreation unanimously endorsed the first National Sport and Active Recreation Policy Framework (the Framework), and also endorsed a proposed National Institute System Intergovernmental Agreement (the Agreement) to guide high performance sport.

This is significant because it means we now have the basis for continued collaborative work, including further clarification for the role of each layer of Australian sport.

The Framework (NSARPF) gives government’s the basis for clear alignment of Australia’s national sport and active recreation system. It will guide the future development of policies, strategies, and programs to deliver benefits to all Australians through sport – from grassroots participation through to national and international success.

Specifically, the Framework:

• provides a guide for the development and alignment of policies, strategies  and programs for Governments; 
• defines the roles and responsibilities of each level of government and sets out governments understanding of the contributions of the sport and active recreation organisations at national state and local level; and
• identifies priority areas for cooperation including participation, international performance, system sustainability, alignment and collaboration, and research and data collection and review. These priority areas are supported by underpinning objectives and target measures.

While the Framework will provide whole-of-sport guidelines, the proposed ‘Agreement’ (NISIA) will specifically focus on high performance sport in Australia delivered through our National Institute System (the Australian Institute of Sport in collaboration with the state  and territory institutes and academies of sport). This agreement will ensure that our National Institutes of Sport and national sporting organisations work hand-in-hand to achieve common national goals as identified in the Framework – maximising resourcing and expertise to develop world class athletes and achieve international.

Specifically, the Agreement will:

• articulate objectives and measures of success in relation to Australia’s national and international success; 
• define the roles and responsibilities of Governments and the National Elite Sports Council (NESC) as well as the leadership role of the AIS in the national institute system;
• guide the establishment of national priorities, and maximise collective investments to achieve these priorities through whole-of-sport partnership, planning, and resource-allocation principles;  and
• use these collective national priorities as a guide to establish the pre-eminence of national sporting organisations high performance plans and provide appropriate support to develop, monitor, and review these plans and provide the best-possible system to deliver on them.

On 28 January, the Minister for Sport announced that the AIS would be taking a greater leadership role within Australia’s high performance sport system. In the context of the Agreement, and the National Institute System, we now have some clarity on this leadership role. It means the AIS will:

• assume a leadership role for the development of high performance coaches and high performance managers;
• have a more visible contribution within high performance planning led by the Sports Development Division in the ASC;
• have a greater level of visibility and engagement with network partners (including the National Institutes) in the development of solutions to high performance issues;
• drive a national applied research effort in collaboration with the National Institutes and other relevant external agencies (CSIRO, ISEAL, NICTA) to enhance athlete performance; and
• utilise its expertise and resources  to lead the development of strategies to maximise Australia’s collective effort to achieve international success. As with each pillar of the Agreement, these will be developed in partnership with the National Institutes, peak bodies (including the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee and Australian Commonwealth Games Association), and other agencies. These strategies will build organisational capacity and capability in the following areas:
  
• • applied sport science
  • clinical services
  • high performance coach development
  • athlete development /daily training environments
  • applied high performance sports research.

The ASC, through the Sports Development Division, will still lead the relationship brokering, funding allocation and national high performance planning, monitoring and review process with national sporting organisations in partnership with the NESC, the AOC, APC and ACGA. The ASC will also still be a member of the NESC.

Of further interest from Friday’s meeting was the Ministers’ recognition of match-fixing as a national issue, reaching an agreement to develop a National Framework to address match-fixing in sport. Additionally, they recognised the fundamental contribution that sport and physical activity make to the development of children, and have agreed to continue work with the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and Education Ministers to continue to emphasise this.

The Commonwealth and State Ministers will now take the Framework and Agreement back to be passed through their respective Government Cabinets before a formal launch of both documents in the near future.

The ASC will be organising staff and partner briefings and engagement over the coming weeks to fully discuss the intent of both the Framework and the Agreement and what this means for specific sporting organisations and the sport system collectively.

I would like to acknowledge the work of ASC staff, the Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport members and NESC members who, in collaboration with the Office for Sport in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to develop the Framework and Agreement. I would also like to thank the national sporting organisations, the AOC and the ACGA who were involved in the Reference Group discussions for your valuable feedback on the draft Framework and Agreement.

I look forward to sharing more news with all of you in the future as we continue to work together towards the implementation of the Framework and the Agreement.

Until next time –

Matt Miller
CEO, Australian Sports Commission