Frequently asked questions

To be eligible to nominate athletes, NSOs must meet the National HP Sport Eligibility framework. The ASC will prioritise funding based on the HP2032+ Sport Strategy outcomes to ensure the right support gets to the right athletes to deliver medal-winning success at future Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games.

If you have received dAIS in the past, your future grant amount might differ from the amount you used to receive. The new amount aligns with your Athlete Categorisation level that is determined by your National Sporting Organisation.

More frequent payments (e.g., monthly) would impact the tax class-ruling to the detriment of losing the tax-free benefit of dAIS.

dAIS nominations will occur once a year in line with the Athlete Categorisation process timeline specific to each NSO.

dAIS nominations will take place only once a year and athletes will receive payments twice a year, in line with the ATO tax-class ruling. More frequent payments (e.g., monthly) would impact the tax class-ruling to the detriment of losing the tax-free benefit of dAIS.

The ASC has secured additional funding to support athletes who are transitioning out of competitive sport (retirement or non-selection resulting in non-categorisation).

NSOs will implement clear sport-specific guidelines defining transition out from competitive sport (retirement or non-selection resulting in non-categorisation), and only athletes who meet these criteria are eligible for nomination for this support.

Retiring athletes who have a history of contributing to their sport outcomes may be eligible for up to half an allocation of dAIS (at the level they were last categorised at) on the recommendation of the NSO.

Athletes who fall into this category may still be eligible for dAIS for a period of 6 months if they meet the following minimum criteria:

• prior to transitioning out of competitive sport, the athlete was categorised as podium, podium ready or podium potential within the sports athlete categorisation matrix AND be receiving dAIS support in the past 12 months
• the athlete has developed a transition plan with a member of the sport specific AW&E team (or equivalent) and meets regularly focussing on maintaining their wellbeing during the transition
• the NSO may require that the athlete contributes to the sport in a specific way as part of being nominated for dAIS e.g., speaking at camps, promo material for upcoming events, inclusion in formal or informal mentoring programs, developing a plan to transition to sport specific coaching/administration/support services etc.

• For the benefit of athletes, dAIS is tax exempt.
• The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a class ruling for dAIS. The ruling states that grants received by an athlete under dAIS are not assessable income provided that the athlete is not carrying on a business as a sportsperson. The dAIS class ruling is available on the ATO website, opens in a new tab.
• Grants amounts that are periodical, regular or recurrent, and relied upon by the recipient for their regular maintenance and paid to them for that purpose are likely to be ordinary income which will be an assessable income.
• Therefore, NSOs are required to submit new nominations for each round. There is no guarantee that an athlete who receives dAIS in a particular round will be offered dAIS in a subsequent round.

• There is no restriction on how athletes should spend the dAIS funding.
• Usually, athletes use dAIS to cover basic living costs so that they can focus on training and preparation to compete in the next world championships or equivalent events.

• The standard government grant processes request recipients to acquit grants received.
• The AIS does not request this of all dAIS athletes.
• Instead each round only a small sample of dAIS athletes will be selected to go through the audit process.