Australian Sports Foundation creates new charitable fund

The Australian Sports Foundation has established a new charitable fund which has been awarded Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status by the Federal Government, allowing sport to benefit for the first time from more than $550 million distributed annually by Public and Private Ancillary Funds.

Ancillary Funds currently hold over $4.4 billion in philanthropic assets and are required to distribute a minimum of 5% of assets held every year.

The Sports Foundation, which itself has Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status, has raised almost $150 million for sport via tax deductible donations over the past four years.

The new Charitable Trust is expected to help the Sports Foundation raise an additional $25-$30 million a year for charitable community sports projects by 2022, rising to over $50 million per year within 10 years.

The Trust’s charitable purpose is to help those with a social disadvantage to benefit through sport.

The Sports Foundation intends to use this new status to inject monies into regional and rural sports facilities, to promote and assist gender equality through sport, and to provide funding for multi-cultural, diversity and inclusion sports programs.

Sports Foundation Chief Executive, Patrick Walker (pictured below), said the establishment of the Charitable Trust is the Foundation’s most significant step since it was created by the Federal Government in 1986.

Walker explained “we believe that every Australian should be able to enjoy the benefits of sport, irrespective of culture, gender or economic circumstances.

“Up until now, sport has been unable to access distributions from most Ancillary Funds, despite around 30% of the programs we support meeting charitable criteria. The Federal Government’s decision will now allow tens of millions of dollars to be injected annually into under-funded community and grassroots charitable sports projects.

“Sport is at the heart of every Australian community and has a unique ability to bring people from different cultures and backgrounds together. At a time of alarming rises in levels of obesity and its associated health issues, this additional funding will improve physical and mental health outcomes for disadvantaged Australians, get more kids and adults active and provide significant community benefits.

“Arts and cultural organisations currently receive over $50 million per year from Ancillary Funds, and we believe that sport should benefit to the same level within a decade.

“Despite its benefits to physical and mental health, and the central role it plays in our communities, sport has not typically viewed itself as a philanthropic cause.

“The establishment of our Charitable Trust will help us promote the benefits of active sports participation and build relationships with Ancillary Funds to help build a healthier and more active and more inclusive Australia.”

For learn more about the Sports Foundation, go to www.asf.org.au