The Participation Branch is responsible for getting more Australians moving more often. By taking a holistic approach, the branch will utilise insights and data to influence and lead the sector.  The branch will seek to partner and collaborate with key partners, including sporting entities, to get Australians of all ages moving.

Through partnerships, the branch will advance physical literacy through schools, communities and families and deliver the Sporting Schools program across Australia.  The outcome of the work will deliver positive health, education and community outcomes.<

Physical Literacy Leadership

Director: Pierre Comis

Leads and influences a national approach to ensure physical literacy standards become the consistent language of education, government and sporting bodies. The section will serve as a unifying force – leading and influencing national sport and physical activity policy and partnerships that enable more Australians to move more often. The team drives change and presents outcomes from the positive influence of education bodies, NSOs and community sector groups – all of which look to Sport Australia for its leadership position in presenting outcomes in physical literacy through positive behavioural change. For more information please visit the Sport Australia website

Sporting Schools Program

Director: Rob Bennett

Maximises the Sporting Schools program leading the movement for sport and physical activity in schools. Sporting Schools is Sport Australia’s key influencer to ensure teacher engagement, recognition of exemplary sporting environments in schools and shared investment models. Sporting Schools ensures NSO programs deliver education outcomes for the federal government and seamless links to ongoing community sport involvement. Sporting Schools is highly valued as the mechanism for access to skilled, quality and knowledgeable sport and physical activity delivery in schools and developing school staff to teach sport. For more information or general enquiries please visit the Sporting Schools website.

Participation and Pathway Advisory

Director: Lisa Nugara

Creates a knowledge centre for each customer life stage focusing on how all Australians engage with sport and physical activity throughout their life. This will be achieved by breaking the population into age segments, gathering data, information and knowledge that will inform the development of customer segment plans. These plans will inform the development of industry strategy and lead a behaviour change approach to inform where we invest, who we partner with and the outcomes we seek to impact. Team members will use their expertise in translating research to activate insights, contribute to the development of the movement campaign and to lead the development and funding of customer-centred products and pathways.

The Sport Advisory Branch will lead, enable and invest in NSO business performance through a system approach in key focus areas for industry growth; governance, financial advisory, workforce capability and NSO engagement. The branch will shift from addressing individual symptoms to a collective systems approach.

The focus will be on advancing NSOs through nationally aligned management structures with optimal financial systems and best-of-class workforce capability building. The outcome this branch wants to see is a sporting sector with a multi-skilled and flexible workforce, NSOs demonstrating strong and sustainable leadership with clear accountability to strategic plans.

One Management

Director: Matthew Treglown

NSO Engagement

Director: Susan Garrido

Works closely with sport partners to forge mutually beneficial partnerships that contribute to the future of Australian sport and the objectives of Sport Australia’s Corporate Plan. We will develop a program of activities to:

• Share knowledge about our work and areas of focus, along with best practice industry examples and insights
• Connect and facilitate relationships among stakeholders - bringing together seemingly disparate partners to create shared solutions
• Initiate conversations with stakeholders to ensure a more collaborative approach to current and emerging issues; enabling better planned and more informed policies, projects, programs and services
• Ensure a customised and coherent approach to stakeholder engagement across Sport Australia
• Partner with stakeholders for the development/delivery of jointly agreed initiatives or programs of work
• Facilitate effective communication and information exchange that allow the industry to tap into opportunities that exist across the sector

The section will also oversee the management and communication of the Sport Business Investment Framework, working across Sport Australia to identify key strategic priorities and areas for collaboration.

For general enquiries please contact the NSO Engagement team.

Sport Workforce Advisory

Director (Acting): Dana Assenheim

Building the workforce capability across the sector, with a priority on increasing the diversity in all roles, particularly for coaches, officials and administrators. Through engaging with the sector, we will co-design the development of a workforce strategy and framework. There will be a focus on providing innovative solutions and enhanced development opportunities. By partnering with universities, learning and development businesses and other key organisations, we will help create a world-class approach to identifying, recruiting, developing, retaining and recognising our workforce.

For general enquiries please contact the Sport Workforce Advisory team.

Strategy and Governance

Director (Acting): Beth Rider

Sport Financial Advisory

Director: Andrew Macfarlane

Promotes and fosters improved financial oversight and capability across the sector, as well as protecting and enhancing Sport Australia’s financial investment in NSOs through oversight, analysis and reporting on NSOs financial performance. The team uses data analytics to identify weaknesses across the sector and helps develop strategies to address these; maintains a finance network across the sector; facilitates resources and guidance to upskill and improve capability; as well as providing support to individual NSOs around financial matters.

For general enquiries please contact the Sport Financial Advisory team.

The Integrity branch leads and enables the sector to provide safe, ethical and inclusive sport.  This branch supports the sector to develop and implement integrity frameworks that include policies, procedures and practices to facilitate safe, ethical and inclusive sporting experiences.  Collaborating across the sector, the Integrity branch is uniquely placed to ensure a robust culture reform to ensure safe, healthy, fun environments for the whole sport sector. This branch leads in the areas of child and athlete safety, diversity and inclusion encouraging efficiencies, best practice and innovation.

The branch supports the wider remit of integrity by assisting Australia Sports Anti-Doping Authority with anti-doping and the National Integrity of Sport Unit with corruption in sport. As an advocate for safe, ethical and inclusive sport, this branch engages and collates industry expertise and research to inform and support the sector. The branch will advise on critical sport integrity issues faced by Sport Australia.

Finally, the branch has a dual role in the organisation, with the development, implementation and coordination of integrity initiatives for Sport Australia as well as a sector role of building capability and capacity for sport.

Sector-Wide Safe & Ethical Sport

Director: Merrilee Barnes

Developing, implementing and evaluating solutions for sport and physical activity programs and policies that promote safety and inclusion across all abilities and life stages, including women and girls, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, those with culturally & linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, LGBTI people and those economically disadvantaged.

Contribute to national policy on safe, ethical and inclusive sport, by aligning the sport and physical activity sector with key industry partners for shared value, outcomes and impact. This will include developing and implementing policies, programs and resources that will build awareness, understanding of safe, ethical and inclusive sport, and improved capability within the sport sector.