Paralympians, athletes from the sports of sailing, canoeing and rowing, and many women’s sports are some of the key beneficiaries of the Australian Sports Commission’s investments in national sporting organisations announced today.

Minister for Sport Kate Lundy welcomed the ASC’s announcement of $120 million of Australian Government funding for high performance and community sport.

“This is a big shake-up in how sports are funded with a focus on moving Australian sport from world class to world’s best with an emphasis on accountability and transparency.

“The largest single increase is for our Paralympic athletes – a $1.1m funding boost from last year. Paralympic funding has now more than doubled over the past 7 years.

“It’s exciting to see funding boosts for sports like sailing, canoeing and rowing. All of these sports have demonstrated their long-term planning and potential to get athletes on the podium.

 “This funding heavily backs Australia’s successful sporting women, with new funding for women’s sport in basketball, football, rugby 7s, water polo, badminton and cricket.

“While recognising the importance of our performance at international competition, the Government continues to be a strong supporter of community sport.

“Since 2007, Labor has almost tripled grass roots sports funding and this funding and support from the Australian Sports Commission has helped sports innovate to provide new programs like Netball’s NetSetGo, Tennis Hot Shots and Surfing’s SurfGroms.”

Minister Lundy explained this year’s funding allocations by the Australian Sports Commission have been made in line with the Australia’s Winning Edge 2012-2022 strategy launched last year.

“We have asked that sports be more accountable to the Australian community by encouraging best practice governance and commercial performance to maximise outcomes from investment in high performance and participation initiatives.

“We are supporting sports that have provided evidence of their potential to be successful and meet the targets we have set.

“I’d like to thank the Chair of the Commission, John Wylie AM, his board and the management of the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport for their astute decision making and leadership in Australian sport.

“I would also like to congratulate our national sporting organisations on the quality of their submissions to the ASC and I look forward to working with you as we continue to make Australian sport a valuable part of our communities.”

This announcement comes off the back of a $3 million funding boost announced yesterday for Direct Athlete Support for Australia’s top athletes, including potential medal winners at the next year’s Commonwealth Games.