Australia’s Olympic sports and athletes have received a record-breaking financial boost less than a month out from the Games in Paris with the Albanese government to announce a two-year $489 million funding package on Friday.
The Australian Olympic Committee is finalising its team of about 460 athletes, where swimming stars such as Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan will be out to lead the way.
Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariane Titmus will be out to win gold in the pool in Paris.Credit: Getty Images
As Australia bids to match or surpass the haul of 17 gold medals from Tokyo in 2021, which placed the country sixth on the medal tally, cash-strapped sports have a win as they plan for the next Olympic cycle and ultimately ahead to another Games in Australia, in Brisbane in 2032.
The beefed-up Olympic sports package, to be announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Sports Minister Anika Wells in Canberra on Friday, will feature a $283 million injection into high-performance sport over the next two years on top of an annual grant of $102.8 million, according to the federal government.
Significantly, there will be a doubling of the investment previously made for Paralympic athletes and sports, with the government allocating $54.9 million in extra funding in the biggest distribution ever to them.
There will also be a $17.6 million lift in direct athlete funding, a major increase in payments to sports, a commitment to enable athletes’ more access to domestic and international competitions and better access to top coaches and high-performance personnel.
“We’re cheering on all our athletes heading to Paris,” Albanese said. “We are so proud of them and my government is backing Aussie athletes with record funding.”
The funding escalation comes after AOC chief executive Matt Carroll warned in an address to the National Press Club last year that Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic sports were facing a $2 billion shortfall in the lead-up to the Brisbane Olympics.
The Australian Sports Commission, the government agency responsible for investment in sport, allocated $112 million in high-performance funding to able-bodied sports and $24 million to para-sports high-performance programs for the 2023-24 financial year.
The sports previously only had certainty over their support until the end of this year.
The individual allocations to sports will be determined by the ASC based on factors including their strategy and governance as well as their performance in Paris.
The raising of payments to athletes will also be a shot in the arm to many who attempt to fulfil their sporting ambitions while barely able to pay for the cost of living.
Under the existing ASC direct athlete support scheme, $16.6 million was distributed to 850 athletes across Olympic sports in 2023-24, with $37,500 the maximum one could receive.
“This is the biggest investment any government has made in our Olympic and Paralympic
sports and will help athletes achieve glory on world stages,” Wells said.
Albanese and Wells will rub shoulders with athletes and sports leaders in Melbourne on Saturday night at the Prime Minister’s Olympic dinner, which is a major pre-Games corporate fundraiser.
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