Australia’s team of athletes and others preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have received a funding boost of $50 million.
Announcing the funding, which will be directed to high performance sport, Minister for Sport, Bridget McKenzie said the money would enable the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to support initiatives, programs and resourcing aimed at achieving positive Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games outcomes.
She said the AIS already distributed about $100 million annually in direct grants to high performance sports.
“This additional investment is about giving the AIS and Australian sport an overall boost that will have broad and lasting impact,” Senator McKenzie said.
“High performance athletes are role models for our younger athletes and their success encourages more Australian kids to participate in sport.”
She said the AIS had launched a new strategy that aimed to ensure Australian sport was at the forefront of ethical performance and was helping athletes inspire the nation through their international success.
“This investment is not just about the immediately foreseeable results at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, but also the long-term development of Australian sport’s pipeline of emerging athletes and leaders,” Senator McKenzie said.
Chief Executive of Sport Australia, Kate Palmer said the AIS, in partnership with individual sports, would invest in new and expanded programs that were critical to Australia’s international competitiveness.
“The AIS Applied Technology and Innovation Team will focus on solving the big problems confronting Australian sport with research, engineering and data analytics,” Ms Palmer said.
