Volunteers at the heart of Australian sport

They get less fanfare, but hundreds of thousands of Australians continue to make an impact on Australia’s sporting landscape every day. 

Since 2022 these club champions have been the focus of the nation’s first-ever Sport Volunteer Coalition. 

The Coalition was established ten years out from the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games to ‘transform the experience for volunteers’ and strengthen sports clubs across the country.   

“We know that one of the biggest barriers to volunteering is people’s lack of time,” Chief Executive Officer of Surf Life Saving Australia and Coalition member Adam Weir said.  

“We’ve been working hard to reshape the volunteer experience so that clubs can tailor roles to better suit peoples’ needs, availability and priorities.”  

The Coalition has just released its Year 3 Sport Volunteer Coalition Report, and will soon be launching a new and improved resource hub to help clubs attract, support and celebrate their volunteers.   

“We’re tackling the big issues together – rather than in silos – and better supporting volunteers,” Sport Volunteer Coalition Chair, Dr Lindsey Reece from the Australian Sports Commission said.   

“In the last year, the Coalition’s work has led to almost several national sports launching their own Volunteer Action Plan and a further 21 sports forming their own Volunteer Leaders Network.”  

Volunteering is one of the central pillars of Australia’s first Participation Strategy: Play Well which aims to ensure that everyone- including every volunteer- has a place in sport. 

There are sports volunteer opportunities in every Aussie suburb. Active volunteers are encouraged to add their name to Australia’s Sport Volunteer Map., opens in a new tab