4147.4.55.001 - Culture and Recreation News, Mar 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/03/2010   
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THE FUTURE OF SPORT IN AUSTRALIA



On August 28, 2008, Kate Ellis, the Minister for Sport, appointed the Independent Sport Panel to investigate the reforms required to ensure Australia's sporting system remains prepared for the challenges of the future. The report from the Panel, The Future of Sport in Australia (also known as 'The Crawford Report') was released on November 17, 2009.

The Panel received over 650 submissions and the report from the Panel, chaired by David Crawford, recognised that it was not possible to address all, or make recommendations on the multitude of issues that had been presented from the submissions and from the community consultation sessions. The Panel identified a number of fundamental issues which, if addressed, they believe will make a difference and provide the basis to ensure the sporting system remains prepared for future challenges. The Government's response to the report is expected early this year.

One major focus of the report is that there is a need to address our goals and aspirations at both the elite and participatory level and the report recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with state and territory governments, should develop a national sports policy framework. They recommend that the framework should be supported by the availability of robust data. A full copy of The Future of Sport in Australia is available from the Independent Sport Panel website:

http://www.sportpanel.org.au