Sport Australia launches new Director Education course

Sport Australia has launched the ‘Start Line’ Director Education course which aims to help directors at all levels govern successful sporting organisations.

Aimed at support sporting directors and develop stronger sporting communities, the free online resource has been developed with input from across the sector including national sporting organisations, industry experts and state and territory agencies of sport and recreation.

Advising that the course has been created to support sporting directors and develop stronger sporting communities and is another way Sport Australia is helping to strengthen the industry, Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Chair, Josephine Sukkar stated “Sport Australia is committed to supporting sporting organisations and their leaders to continually improve their governance systems and processes.

“It is extremely important that the sport sector has the right people on boards with the right skills. Even for experienced directors, there is always more to learn and opportunities to grow – it’s this desire to learn and ability to adapt that makes us a leader on a global sporting stage.”

The course will help directors from community level to elite, improve their knowledge of the fundamentals of directorship and support their contribution and impact to their sport.

It includes contributions from high profile sporting directors and governance experts including Kieren Perkins, Liz Ellis, Margot Foster, Rob Scott, Michael Smith and Gabrielle Trainor.

With more than 25 years’ experience on boards in the public and private sectors including three years as an ASC Commissioner Trainor is urging all sporting directors to complete the course which is available through Sport Australia’s new online learning platform, the Australian Sport Learning Centre.

She explained “good directors never stop learning so it’s really important that you regard your role as a director as a learning experience as much as a contributing experience.”

Sport Australia has also updated its National Sports Directorship Register which connects new directors with opportunities to serve on the boards of sporting organisations. National and state sporting organisations are encouraged to use the register when recruiting new directors onto boards while potential new directors can register their interest to be considered for new roles.

Image courtesy of TAFE NSW.