Federal government

Office for Sport, opens in a new tab. The Office for Sport is responsible for providing the Minister for Sport with policy advice across an array of sport related issues. Responsibilities include policy development and implementation, appointments, program administration, development of legislation, supporting Australia’s international obligations and engagement, Commonwealth and state relations, and coordinating Australian Government support for the staging of major international sporting events. ⁴

Key documents

• Sport Horizon - National Sport Strategy 2024-2034, opens in a new tab, Commonwealth of Australia, (2024). Developed with and for the sport sector, this Strategy sets the priorities for sport in Australia over the next decade. It provides a framework to align our focus, efforts and resources, to realise our shared vision of healthy, active, connected communities and a thriving sport system.
• Australia's Sport Diplomacy 2032+, opens in a new tab, Commonwealth of Australia, (2025). Australia must draw on all available tools – including sport – to help shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Sportspeople and people-to-people connections are key components of national power. This document, Australia’s Sports Diplomacy Strategy 2032+, outlines how sport can be used to advance Australia’s national interests and contribute to shaping the region and the world.

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government agency responsible for supporting and investing in sport at all levels.

The ASC is a Commonwealth entity within the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care portfolio. The ASC was established in 1984 and operates under the Australian Sports Commission Act 1989, opens in a new tab . It is governed by a board of commissioners appointed by the Australian Government. The board determines the overall direction, decides on allocation of resources and policy for delegated decisions, and is accountable to the Minister for Sport and the Australian Parliament.

The ASC's role is to increase involvement in sport and enable continued international sporting success through leadership and development of the sports sector, targeted financial support, and the operation of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

The AIS works in partnership with National Sporting Organisations (NSOs), the National Institute Network (NIN), and peak bodies (Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympics Australia, and Commonwealth Games Australia) to deliver international sporting success.

Strategic vision

• Sport has a place for everyone and delivers results that make Australia proud.

Strategic goals

• Lead and enable the world’s best sport system.
• Involve more Australians with sport at all levels.
• Drive innovation in sport.

Key documents:

• ASC Strategic Vision to 2034 (2022), Australian Sports Commission, (2022)
• Australian Sports Commission Corporate Plan 2023-2027 (2023), Australian Sports Commission, (2023)
• Australia's High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy: Win Well, Australian Sport Sector - led by the Australian Sports Commission, (2022)
• Australia's Participation Sport Strategy: Play Well, Australian Sport Sector- led by the Australian Sports Commission, (2023)

The Australian Sports Foundation, opens in a new tab (ASF) helps Australian sporting clubs and individuals raise funds for their sport.

The ASF was established by the Federal Government in 1986 with the mission to raise money for Australian sport. It is Australia’s leading non-profit sports fundraising organisation and the only organisation to which donations for sport are tax-deductible. A subsidiary organisation, the Australian Sports Foundation Charitable Fund, was established in 2017 in order to access philanthropic funding from Private and Public Ancillary Funds to distribute to sporting beneficiaries.

Sport Integrity Australia, opens in a new tab (SIA) is the agency responsible for addressing all sport integrity issues. Legislation to create SIA was introduced to the Australian Parliament in response to the 'Review of Australia's Sports Integrity Arrangements, opens in a new tab' (Wood Review, 2018). The organisation incorporates the functions previously performed by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the National Integrity of Sport Unit (NISU), and the national sports integrity functions of the Australian Sports Commission.

SIA's role is to provide advice and assistance to counter the:

• Use of prohibited substances and methods in sport.
• Abuse of children and other persons in a sporting environment.
• Manipulation of sporting competitions.
• Failure to protect members of sporting organisations and other persons in a sporting environment from bullying, intimidation, discrimination, or harassment.

The agency focusses on policy development, intelligence, investigations (primarily of doping cases), education, outreach, and capability building, and is Australia's National Anti-Doping Organisation.

• Sport Integrity Australia Act 2020, opens in a new tab. The object of this Act is to establish Sport Integrity Australia to prevent and address threats to sports integrity and to coordinate a national approach to matters relating to sports integrity in Australia.

Purpose - Protection of the integrity of Australian sport and the health and welfare of those who participate in sport through the coordination of a national approach to all sports integrity matters. Vision - Safe and fair sport for all.

Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee (ASDMAC)

The ASDMAC, opens in a new tab performs its functions in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs), the Sport Integrity Australia Act 2020, and the National Anti-Doping (NAD) scheme. Members of the Committee are directly appointed by the Federal Minister for Sport, and it operates independently of SIA. The members are senior specialist doctors who are all trained in sport and exercise medicine and have broad experience in professional, Olympic, and Paralympic sports as well as anti-doping medicine. This group is responsible for the assessment of TUEs and provision of anti-doping related medical advice to SIA, sporting bodies, and doctors.

The National Sports Tribunal, opens in a new tab (NST) provides independent, cost-effective national-level dispute resolution services to sporting bodies, athletes and support personnel. Tribunal Members can act as independent third parties to help resolve first-instance disputes or appeals. They offer a range of dispute resolution options – arbitration, mediation, conciliation and case appraisal – to help national level sporting bodies and their participants resolve disputes efficiently and affordably.

The NST has 3 divisions:

• Anti-Doping Division – deals with breaches of the anti-doping rules of a sport.
• General Division – deals with other disputes under the rules of a sport (e.g. disputes that might arise under a sport's Member Protection Policy).
• Appeals Division – deals with appeals from the Anti-Doping or General Divisions, as well as appeals from decisions made by ‘in-house’ sport tribunals.

Legislation to create the National Sports Tribunal was introduced to the Australian Parliament in 2019 in response to the 'Review of Australia's Sports Integrity Arrangements, opens in a new tab' (Wood Review, 2018).

• National Sports Tribunal Act 2019, opens in a new tab. An Act to establish the National Sports Tribunal, and for related purposes.
  • National Sports Tribunal Bill 2019, opens in a new tab. Introduced with the National Sports Tribunal (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2019 to implement certain recommendations of the Report of the Review of Australia's Sports Integrity Arrangements (the Wood review), the bill provides for the establishment and operation of the National Sports Tribunal as an independent specialist tribunal for the hearing and resolution of sporting disputes.