Government funding to major sporting codes and teams is
distributed through both sports-specific programs and broader programs,
including infrastructure funding. This complexity makes it difficult to trace
the total government funding provided to sporting codes and teams each year. Further,
these organisations’ annual reports do not always identify government income.
This Quick Guide provides an overview of various government
funding sources available to major sporting codes and clubs, at both the
federal and state and territory level. It is intended as a practical resource
to assist with tracking government expenditure in this area.
The focus is on national sporting organisations and their
associated premier leagues, rather than local clubs. However, many of the
funding sources mentioned will be relevant to sports organisations at all
levels. State and territory programs most often relate to state-level
organisations.
Federal funding
Funding from the
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports
Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government agency responsible for
supporting and investing in sport at all levels. The ASC provides annual
funding directly to many national sporting organisations (NSOs) and national
sporting organisations for people with disability (NSODs). The Australian
Sports Directory provides a list of NSOs and NSODs.
The ASC’s annual reports
provide a breakdown of funding provided to each NSO and NSOD each year. Annual
allocations are also published on the ASC’s
website. Funding is generally divided into ‘high performance’,
‘participation’ and ‘other’ categories.
Table 1 shows total funding provided to NSOs and NSODs in
the 10 years since 2015–16, as reported in the ASC annual reports. Figures for
2023–24 and 2024–25 reflect budget allocations rather than actual expenditure.
There may be some discrepancy between allocations and final budget outcomes.
Table 1 Funding to NSOs and NSODs from the Australian Sports Commission,
2015–16 to 2024–25
| Year |
High Performance (incl. Para) ($) |
Sport Participation ($) |
Other ($) |
Total ($) |
Total (2023-24 prices) ($) |
| National Sporting
Organisations (NSOs) |
| 2015-16 |
99,126,709 |
17,700,000 |
3,809,996 |
120,636,705 |
154,183,929 |
| 2016-17 |
99,583,644 |
22,313,200 |
850,700 |
122,747,544 |
153,905,683 |
| 2017-18 |
108,606,231 |
19,236,291 |
2,850,800 |
130,693,322 |
160,533,036 |
| 2018-19 |
118,458,479 |
18,741,124 |
19,161,812 |
156,361,415 |
189,050,213 |
| 2019-20 |
131,816,396 |
15,662,500 |
12,047,402 |
159,526,298 |
193,551,138 |
| 2020-21 |
133,983,147 |
18,337,500 |
11,888,783 |
164,209,430 |
191,854,115 |
| 2021-22 |
125,157,183 |
12,950,000 |
17,199,648 |
155,306,831 |
170,948,360 |
| 2022-23 |
127,923,829 |
15,725,000 |
18,292,059 |
161,940,888 |
168,118,140 |
| 2023-24 |
157,069,691 |
15,725,000 |
18,679,859 |
191,474,550 |
191,474,550 |
| 2024-25 |
186,694,862 |
22,932,500 |
6,691,100 |
216,318,462 |
210,528,917 |
| Total NSOs: |
1,288,420,171 |
179,323,115 |
111,472,159 |
1,579,215,445 |
1,784,148,079 |
| National sporting
organisations for people with disability (NSODs) |
| 2015-16 |
3,288,921 |
1,310,000 |
445,000 |
5,043,921 |
6,446,558 |
| 2016-17 |
3,417,448 |
1,295,000 |
318,100 |
5,030,548 |
6,307,498 |
| 2017-18 |
3,719,780 |
1,442,000 |
1,300,000 |
6,461,780 |
7,937,124 |
| 2018-19 |
12,819,780 |
1,535,000 |
2,778,600 |
17,133,380 |
20,715,271 |
| 2019-20 |
8,334,280 |
1,535,000 |
1,319,500 |
11,188,780 |
13,575,198 |
| 2020-21 |
7,987,808 |
1,535,000 |
857,500 |
10,380,308 |
12,127,835 |
| 2021-22 |
5,843,148 |
1,535,000 |
2,216,255 |
9,594,403 |
10,560,691 |
| 2022-23 |
4,645,000 |
1,535,000 |
3,324,200 |
9,504,200 |
9,866,739 |
| 2023-24 |
6,519,500 |
1,535,000 |
5,151,300 |
13,205,800 |
13,205,800 |
| 2024-25 |
14,389,370 |
2,362,500 |
4,135,000 |
20,886,870 |
20,327,854 |
| Total NSODs: |
70,965,035 |
15,619,500 |
21,845,455 |
108,429,990 |
121,070,569 |
| Overall total: |
1,359,385,206 |
194,942,615 |
133,317,614 |
1,687,645,435 |
1,905,218,648 |
Note: The Australian Paralympics Committee and Boccia are
sometimes listed as an NSO and sometimes as an NSOD. For consistency, funding
allocated to these organisations is included here under NSOD funding. From
2024–25 funding allocated to the Combat Institute and the Olympic Winter
Institute was classified as payments to ‘Other Partners’ rather than to NSOs,
as had previously occurred. For consistency, funding to these organisations is
included in the above figures.
Source: Australian Sports Commission annual reports, 2015–16 to
2022–23; Australian Sports Commission, ‘NSO
Investment’.
Table 2 shows total funding provided to the 10 highest
funded NSOs and NSODs since 2015–16. Funding to these organisations represents 56%
of all funding provided to NSOs and NSODs.
Table 2 NSOs or NSODs with the highest total funding from the Australian
Sports Commission, 2015–16 to 2024–25
| NSO/NSOD |
High Performance (incl. Para) ($) |
Sport Participation ($) |
Other ($) |
Total ($) |
| Swimming |
130,976,720 |
6,987,000 |
2,324,491 |
140,288,211 |
| Cycling |
107,579,565 |
5,945,698 |
4,434,206 |
117,959,469 |
| Athletics |
103,434,882 |
4,920,000 |
1,778,450 |
110,133,332 |
| Rowing |
101,839,305 |
2,134,266 |
1,578,100 |
105,551,671 |
| Sailing |
88,423,324 |
6,106,400 |
935,278 |
95,465,002 |
| Basketball |
68,784,363 |
9,745,000 |
4,888,529 |
83,417,892 |
| Paralympics Australia |
63,411,873 |
1,950,000 |
14,785,150 |
80,147,023 |
| Paddle (Canoeing) |
73,055,828 |
2,055,000 |
2,041,404 |
77,152,232 |
| Hockey |
67,126,460 |
7,314,530 |
2,594,149 |
77,035,139 |
| Netball |
25,587,068 |
9,360,000 |
15,530,450 |
50,477,518 |
| |
|
|
Total: |
937,627,489 |
Note: 2016–17 Cycling
funding includes BMX High Performance funding. This is the total nominal funding provided to each organisation;
figures have not been adjusted for inflation.
Source: Australian Sports Commission annual reports, 2015–16 to
2022–23; Australian Sports Commission, ‘NSO
Investment’.
The ASC also provides funding to
individual athletes, sporting clubs other than NSOs and NSODs, and other
recipients such as schools. Grant outcomes are published in the online
grant funding report.
Funding from other
government agencies
Major sporting codes and sports teams may receive grants
from government agencies or departments other than the ASC for specific
programs or initiatives, including infrastructure projects. This may include
funding from the Office
for Sport, within the Department of Health and Aged Care.
GrantConnect is the
best available record of government grants. It is searchable by recipient name, although
to account for inconsistencies or differing business names, best practice is to
search by both name and ABN.
GrantConnect can also be searched by grant category, which
includes the category ‘sport and recreation’. This will capture sporting grants
awarded to all organisations, not just NSOs and NSODs – for example, local
sports clubs or city councils. However, searching by this category will not
include funding to sports organisations for grants that are not specific to
sport and recreation, for example infrastructure projects.
Reporting of grants awarded on GrantConnect became mandatory
for many major Commonwealth agencies from 31 December 2017. The mandate was
created under the Australian Government grants policy framework, which applies
to all non-corporate
Commonwealth entities subject to the Public Governance, Performance and
Accountability Act 2013. This includes all government departments. GrantConnect
reports grants made since at least 19 November 2017.
Table 3 shows the total grant funding received by NSOs and
NSODs as reported in GrantConnect at 31 December 2024. Table 4 shows the total
grants received by the top 10 funded NSOs and NSODs over this same period.
GrantConnect is a dynamic database; details of awarded
grants may be input well after their decision date, and grant amounts may also be
updated over time. There are also occasional errors in the input data, which may
affect results. For these reasons, the tables below may not be comprehensive. However,
they provide an indication of the level of government funding provided over the
last 7 years.
Table 3 Grants received by NSOs and NSODs, December 2017 to 31 December 2024,
as recorded in GrantConnect
| |
Total awarded grants ($) |
| NSO Total |
213,388,804.58 |
| NSOD Total |
13,511,752.48 |
| OVERALL TOTALS |
226,900,557.06 |
Note: For the purpose of this table, NSOs and NSODs are
organisations listed in the Australian
Sports Directory.
Source: GrantConnect,
data extracted 2 January 2025.
Table 4 NSOs or NSODs with the highest total grant
awards as recorded in GrantConnect, December 2017 to 31 December 2024
| NSO/NSOD |
Total awarded grants ($) |
| Surf Life Saving |
91,759,855.00 |
| Rugby Union |
34,944,370.20 |
| Rugby League (NRL) |
18,966,775.30 |
| Netball |
13,171,040.00 |
| AFL |
11,608,071.56 |
| Football Australia (Soccer) |
10,758,295.26 |
| Cricket
Australia |
10,037,500.00 |
| Tennis
Australia |
9,361,000.00 |
| Basketball
Australia |
6,647,300.00 |
| Transplant
Australia |
3,950,396.98 |
| Total: |
211,204,604.30 |
Source: GrantConnect,
data extracted 2 January 2025.
Please note that the above totals are grants awarded to NSOs
and NSODs only and not to individual clubs or teams within major leagues (for
example individual AFL or NRL teams, some of which have also received large
government grants).
State and territory funding
Overview of funding
bodies and programs
State and territory governments do not generally provide
direct operational funding to national sporting teams and codes. However, they have
historically provided significant funding to major sporting codes and teams for
infrastructure projects, and they do provide operational funding programs for
State Sporting Organisations (SSOs; for example, Netball Queensland, Athletics
West), State Sporting Organisations for People with Disabilities (SSODs) and
local sports organisations. States and territories may also expend money on agreements
with sporting codes to play fixtures in their respective states.
A 2023 election platform from Sport
NSW provides a brief overview on page 16 of the level of funding some key
sports receive from various state and territory governments.
Not all states and territories publicly report on sports
grant funding. When they do, it is not presented in a way that is easily
comparable across jurisdictions. Below is a brief overview of the funding data
available for each state and territory, as well as a list of key funding
programs.
Outside of the grant programs listed below, state and
territory governments often provide funding directly to sports teams or SSOs
and SSODs for specific projects (frequently infrastructure related), usually in
the form of budget appropriations.
Australian Capital
Territory
The ACT Government’s sports funding programs are outlined on
the Sport and Recreation
website.
Under the Sport and Recreation Investment Scheme (SRIS),
the Government provides funding to territory sporting organisations, sporting
clubs and associations, and community organisations. ACT Athlete and
National Sporting Team Support provides funding to individual athletes and
ACT sports teams.
Funding results are available for 2021,
2022,
2023 and 2024.
New South Wales
The NSW Government’s sports funding program is outlined on
the Office of Sport website.
The Organisation
Support Program provides funding to eligible SSOs and SSODs.
Funding outcomes are provided in the Office of Sports’ annual
reports.
Many major sporting codes and teams have also received
funding in various rounds of the Centre
of Excellence Fund, which primarily provides funding for elite performance
sport infrastructure.
Northern Territory
Sport,
Recreation and Strategic Infrastructure ‘invests in and facilitates the
development of sport and active recreation across the Northern Territory’. Information
on programs and grants is available on the NT Government’s Sport and recreation website.
Queensland
Information on the Queensland Government’s involvement in
sport is provided on the Government’s recreation, sport and arts
website. The Department of Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games outlines current
and past funding and grant opportunities for sport and physical activity.
The Active
Industry Base Fund 2023–2025 provides funding to state level organisations.
Funding outcomes are published on the Department’s website.
Full data on the Queensland Government’s grant commitments across
departments and functions (including infrastructure projects) is published on
the Queensland
Government Investment Portal. This data is searchable by keyword.
South Australia
The Office for
Recreation, Sport and Racing is responsible for sports policy and funding
in South Australia.
The State
Sport and Recreation Development Program provides funding to state level
organisations. While the Office publishes
information on recipients of sports grants, for the State
Sport and Recreation Development Program only the names of funded organisations
are provided, not the amount they received.
Tasmania
Active Tasmania
supports sports and recreation programs in Tasmania. Grants programs and past
funding recipients are outlined on its grants and funding
webpage.
The State
Grants program is the primary funding program for state level
organisations. Funding outcomes are published for each year from 2018 to 2023.
Victoria
Sport and Recreation
Victoria leads sports development in the state, and numerous funding
programs are outlined on its website.
Funding outcomes are published on some of the program pages – for example, the
Sporting Club Grants Program and Local
Sports Infrastructure Fund.
The Victorian Government has historically provided
substantial amounts of funding
to major sporting infrastructure projects, usually through direct budget
appropriations.
Western Australia
The Department of
Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries is responsible for supporting
sports and recreation programs and policy in the state.
Funding news and opportunities are outlined on the
Department’s webpage.
Funding outcomes are published for 2022–23, 2021–22,
2020–21,
and 2019–20.
Recipients of the Community
Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund up to 2024–25 are published
separately.