The Minister for Youth and Sport has announced an allocation of $50.6 million to Australian sport over the next two years to ensure the country remains a world-leading sporting nation.
The Minister, Senator Richard Colbeck said the funding would help Australia’s sporting sector impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the Tokyo 2020 Games rescheduled to 2021, the Olympics and Paralympics are likely to be one of the first major international sporting events to take place following the COVID-19 pandemic,” Senator Colbeck said.
“This funding will support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes and coaches as they prepare for Tokyo, as well as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”
He said the allocation ensured that core funding for Australian athletes and coaches was maintained at record levels.
Senator Colbeck said it built on recent support for athletes’ wellbeing and pathways for young aspiring Olympians and Paralympians.
“The Australian Institute of Sport will distribute the high performance grants to our national sporting organisations who will identify, train and develop their most promising athletes,” he said.
“The Government is aware many national sporting organisations have had to stand down staff and reduce their hours because of COVID-19.”
He said that without the funding there was a significant risk the country’s best coaches and high performance support staff would face an uncertain future.
