I am pleased to announce a new $10 million Australian Sports Outreach Programme, aimed predominantly at Commonwealth member countries.
Sport has the ability to transcend social, educational, ethnic, religious, historical, political and language barriers. Research conducted by the Australian Sports Commission also demonstrates the important role sport plays in underpinning broader health and community development objectives.
The Australian Sport Outreach Programme will focus on increasing physical activity participation at junior levels, and providing advice on basic coaching education and club administration procedures. The programme is also designed to offer an effective vehicle for addressing broader community issues such as HIV/AIDS awareness, non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes), youth leadership and personal development.
The programme will run from July 2006 to July 2011 and will supersede discrete Australian Government sports development programmes in the Pacific, Africa and Caribbean which are due to cease from June 2006. Of the new $10 million allocation, each year $1 million will be earmarked for the Pacific and $1 million to Commonwealth countries in other regions.
The Australian Sports Outreach Programme will commence shortly after the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games in March. The Games will represent the pinnacle of sporting achievement from around the Commonwealth and will involve more than 4,500 athletes from the 53 Commonwealth members and 18 territories. The Australian Government is contributing $294 million to the staging of the event. This includes $7.5 million to assist all teams to travel to the Games, with a particular focus on smaller teams from developing countries.