Sports And Recreation

Support sport and recreation through the development of policy, programs and resources and the promotion of physical activity

The department, through the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI), awarded scholarships to 224 South Australian athletes across a range of sports.

SASI’s elite athletes continued to compete in top international events against the world’s best. They put on outstanding performances and came home with some impressive results:

• 69 SASI athletes competed at World Championships
• SASI athletes medalled in 7 sports at World Championships bringing home a total of 35 athlete medals across 24 events (14 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze)
• 9 SASI athletes were crowned World Champions in 2014.

The Office for Recreation and Sport (ORS) continued to enrich community life through its many sport and active recreation initiatives and programs:

• The online Sports Voucher program provides vouchers worth $50 towards sporting club fees for every primary school student in South Australia. The program’s launch was highly successful: 1095 providers registered to redeem the vouchers at 1342 venues within the first four months, and more than 21 000 vouchers were redeemed by 30 June 2015. The program has enjoyed the highest uptake among similar initiatives across Australia. The innovative Sports Vouchers online portal was recognised by a South Australian 2015 iAWARD.
• The STARCLUB Club Development Program increased its support for best practice and continuous improvement in the sector. By 30 June 2015,
  2383 organisations had registered with the program, nine clubs were awarded STARCLUB recognition, including seven in regional South Australia, and 494 clubs were on their way to achieving STARCLUB status. Thirty councils in seven regions confirmed their commitment to boost regional participation via the STARCLUB Field Officer Program, supported by an annual allocation of $400 000 through June 2018. The program was adopted by the Northern Territory Government as its primary club development tool.
• The Coloured Shirt Program aims to increase the retention, value and appreciation of officials by making beginner and inexperienced officials easily recognisable. It reached a new milestone, with 27 sports organisations, including SANFL, Basketball SA, Netball SA and the Football Federation of SA, taking the program up.

ORS also:

• distributed 801 sport and recreation grants totalling $16.6m, including $3.5m to regional areas, to support club facilities, activities, development and inclusion, and sustainability
• upgraded State-owned sporting infrastructure, including better spectator amenities at the SA Athletics Stadium (the first stage of a larger rejuvenation program), new outdoor court lighting and goal post protectors at the Netball SA facility, and upgrades to the gymnasium, recovery areas and offices at the Adelaide Super-Drome
• hosted an array of high-profile national and international events such as cycling, swimming, athletics and taekwondo, bringing hundreds of athletes, officials and spectators to the State.

Highlights of the ORS Women in Sport program to raise the profile of women at all levels of sport included:

• the Gender Diversity Project to encourage state sporting organisations to increase the diversity of their boards, workforce and volunteers
• a Women on Boards networking event that introduced more than 50 professional women seeking Board appointments to representatives of 37 leading state sport and recreation organisations
• development of Words into Sporting Action—A Practical Guide to achieve gender equity in sport and active recreation organizations (with the Premier’s Council for Women, the Office for Women and industry groups)
• sponsorship of 11 participants in the six-month Developing Future Women Sport Leaders professional development program for women aspiring to senior leadership roles in the sector
• a Steer Your Career development workshop for 40 women in the sector
• a Women and Sport Network Breakfast focused on ‘Recognising the resilience of our high achieving female athletes’.