Sport Australia has renewed its partnership with Volunteering Australia (VA) with the aim of securing the future of the nation’s sport volunteers.
The two peak industry bodies entered a formal partnership in November 2020 to build on their cooperation and identify ways to promote and positively impact sport volunteering in the community.
Now, under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the partnership is set to evolve from its current focus on the promotion of volunteering to explore further opportunities for collaboration between sport and volunteer organisations across the sector and to examine ways to enhance the volunteer experience.
Acting Chief Executive of Sport Australia, Rob Dalton said volunteers played a critical role within the Australian sporting landscape with more than three million contributing across all levels.
“With approximately 72 per cent of sport and recreation roles held by volunteers, the sector depends on them to coach our players, manage our community clubs, and provide positive sporting experiences for participants at all stages of life,” Mr Dalton said.
Chief Executive of Volunteering Australia, Mark Pearce said the continuing partnership with Sport Australia acknowledged the vitally important role volunteers played enabling sport and building communities.
“We now take our partnership to a higher level with a strategic focus on increasing participation through cross-sector collaboration,” Mr Pearce said.
“In order to develop a consistent, inclusive and transformative national volunteering strategy, the involvement of peak bodies such as Sport Australia will be essential,” he said.
“I’m particularly excited to see our strong relationship continue to evolve.”
