The Federal Government will invest almost $500 million in high-performance sport over the next two years, as preparations for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics ramp up.
An extra $283 million has been committed, in addition to the $102.8 million annual grant funding provided, bringing the Government’s total high-performance investment to $489m over two years.
Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells said the new money would flow to elite athletes, coaches and support staff.
“This investment represents a 50 percent increase on the 2021- 2022 high performance funding,” Minister Wells said.
“It also represents a doubling of the investment the made for Paralympic athletes.”
Minister Wells said the funding package for Paralympians was the biggest ever and looked to addresses systemic and structural barriers to performance for para-athletes.
She said the investment was a boost for Aussie spirits ahead of the Paris Olympics next month and would strengthen Australia’s hopes for gold at LA in 2028, Brisbane in 2032, as well as winter and Commonwealth Games events.
“The funding will create more opportunities and better development pathways for high performance athletes to thrive while inspiring the next generation of Australians to be more active.”
The investment includes:
- $54.9 million in additional funding for Paralympic athletes and sports.
- An increase of $17.6 million to the Direct Athlete Investment Support Grants program to address cost of living pressures for athletes.
- A major uplift in direct sport funding.
- Access to more domestic and international competitions to regularly compete against the world’s best in preparation for major sporting events.
- Extra training, well-being and preparation support, including access to world-leading coaches and performance support staff.
