Sporting Schools funding is available to secondary, combined and special schools to deliver free Sporting Schools programs before, during or after school to students, using one of our secondary school NSO partner sports. The targeted program for students in Years 7 and 8 is offered to address the barriers that prevent teenagers from participating in sport.

Grants of between $1,000 and $3,650 (GST exclusive) are available for secondary and combined schools each term. Grants of between $1,000 and $4,150 (GST exclusive) are available for special schools with enrolled secondary school-aged students in Years 7 and/or 8.

Grant amounts comprise:

• a base funding amount calculated on the number of participants that will be engaged in Sporting Schools program/s for the term (as provided in the grant application)
• an additional funding amount of $750 (GST exclusive) for schools requesting coach delivery (as provided in the grant application)
• a potential, Additional Support funding amount up to a maximum of $500 (GST exclusive) is available to assist eligible secondary and combined schools with anticipated additional program delivery costs due to location or students with disability. Special schools can apply for up to $1,000 (GST exclusive) in Additional Support funding.

*If a school applies for and receives the additional $750 for coach delivery but only uses teacher delivery, they are required to return the $750 as part of the acquittal process.

To be eligible for Additional Support funding, schools need to satisfy at least one of the criteria below and provide reasons within the grant application for additional funding requested:

• Be a special school
• Have students enrolled with disability (and have those students involved as program participants)
• Be located in a regional or remote location, as determined by the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) category classification.

Items that can be considered under Additional Support funding include:

• Additional supervision (for students with disability)
• Additional coaches (for students with disability)
• Student transport costs (for students with disability or travel to/from a regional/remote school)
• Coach transport costs (travel to/from a regional/remote school)

Additional Support funding is not guaranteed and will be approved or declined at the ASC's discretion. Additional Support funding cannot be used for equipment, facility hire/entry, safety items, to deliver more expensive programs or additional sessions.

Supported items such as equipment and facility hire can be purchased with the school’s base funding amount, noting the equipment spending cap of $1,650 (GST inclusive) and supported items are outlined in the Spending Fact Sheet.

The basis for calculating the base and additional funding amounts is further detailed below.

Secondary school funding (Years 7 and 8)

The above amounts are GST exclusive.

Secondary school funding (Years 7 and 8) - special schools

The above amounts are GST exclusive.

Assessment criteria

Applications received from special schools with secondary school enrolments in Years 7 and/or 8 will be funded as a priority.

If, (as anticipated), remaining total applications exceed the level of available funding, applications from secondary and combined schools will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Targeting female cohorts (50%) - this will be demonstrated by the percentage of females participating (from 0-100% in 10% increments as provided in the grant application)
• Targeting inactive students (50%) - this will be demonstrated by the percentage of total students who do not meet the daily recommendation of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (from 0-100% in 10% increments as provided in the grant application)

Applications will then be ranked in order of priority for funding, by applying each of the following criteria in order:

1. Schools which have a lower Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) value will be given priority
2. Schools which as defined by the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) remoteness area categories are situated in remote locations will be given priority, followed by schools situated in regional locations and then schools situated in major cities.