Amid calls for more funds for SSOs the Sport NSW Industry Conference returns for 2023

Sport NSW, the peak advocacy body representing sport in NSW, has announced that its Industry Conference is returning for 2023 - being held at the Australian College of Physical Education on Friday 24th February.

Set to deliver a full day of personal development, knowledge sharing and education - aimed directly at those working on the ground in sport in NSW - the conference follows Sport NSW’s launch of the Playing Catch Up - 2023 Election Platform report in November, which called on all sides of politics to provide more funding for sporting organisations.

Released ahead of the state election in March, called on all sides of politics to “properly” fund NSW sporting organisations, which have not received an increase to their organisational support payments - known as ‘core funding’ - since the year 2000.

It also revealed that NSW community sports are facing a facilities crisis, with some sports turning away potential participants or curbing their growth because of a lack of places to play.

Speaking at the time of the launch, Sport NSW Chair, Chris Hall stated “our population in NSW continues to grow, people are returning to sport post the pandemic, and sports need facilities to match demand.

“Playing Catch Up highlights the situation in basketball in where 10,000 children are turned away from playing every year because they simply don’t have enough courts.

“Football is crying out for more fields, while water sports are in desperate need of more facilities and non-swimming water sports are fighting for useable waterways and facilities.

“Sport and recreation is crucial to our wellbeing, our mental health and the strength of our community, and we want to make sure the sector can deliver for participants throughout NSW.”

The Playing Catch Up report was compiled after six months of consultation with Sport NSW members which include 80 SSOs.

It calls for an $8 million uplift in ‘core funding’ for sports, and also recommends continuing and expanding the successful Active Kids vouchers by also making them available for adults and pre-schoolers.

Explaining this, Hall added “we want to acknowledge the success of the Active Kids voucher program as well the significant investment in infrastructure made by the NSW Government in recent years, but the reality is even though those investments are welcome, there is still more to do to support healthy, active and growing communities across NSW.

“We believe an $8 million increase in funds for community sport could be found from the underspend in Active Kids which is about one dollar per person in NSW. In return we will get a more vibrant sport sector able to foster healthy communities.”

The Playing Catch Up report also reveals the need for the transparent reporting of government data that would reveal where sports facilities are most needed, as well as the establishment of a new sport and recreation infrastructure unit to spearhead the facilities push.

Click here for more information on the 2023 Sport NSW Industry Conference in the Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar.

Click here to view the Playing Catch Up report.

Lower image shows the cover of the Playing Catch Up - 2023 Election Platform report.