Quick Guide, 2024-25

Funding for major sporting codes: a quick guide

Culture Arts and Recreation Economics and Public Finance

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Nell Fraser

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Funding for major sporting codes: a quick guide

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.