Fairness in funding a priority as Football Tasmania releases State of Play report
Achieving a fair level of funding which reflects the World Game’s position as Tasmania’s most-played sport is a key priority for Football Tasmania in 2020, according to the annual State of Play report which has been released today.
The State of Play report takes a warts and all look at football in Tasmania and looks ahead to what can be expected in the coming year.
Football Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley said the benefits grassroots football delivers to the Tasmanian community through its huge participation base could not be ignored.
“We know football has grown to have more participants than any other team sport in Tasmania and as such, delivers unmatched health and social benefits to the state,” Mr Bulkeley said.
“However, the level of Government funding per player has not kept up with the meteoric rise of the World Game in Tasmania.
“The majority of sports bodies in Tasmania operate on a not-for-profit basis and are funded by a mix of player registration fees, support from the relevant national peak organisations, corporate sponsorship and government funding.
“While funding for capital works initiatives is generally provided through access to various competitive grant funding programs the process for funding recurrent expenditure for the administration and development of each sport, especially at a grassroots level, is comparatively ad hoc in nature.
“We are concerned that the way the Tasmanian Government allocates funding to support recurrent sport spending, particularly on grassroots competitions and talent-pathway development, lacks transparency in regard to performance-based or participation-based criteria.
“As a consequence, some sports in Tasmania are receiving disproportionately more funding from the State Government compared to others in terms of per player funding.”
Mr Bulkeley said the State of Play report also outlined Football Tasmania’s goals for the sport in 2020, which include improving football infrastructure, increasing junior participation in low socio-economic areas and pushing towards complete gender equality in football.
“In Tasmania 26 per cent of registered football players are female which is the highest proportion of any state or territory in Australia. We have set a short-term goal to increase this to 30 per cent on the way to our ultimate goal of a 50/50 participation split between males and females,” Mr Bulkeley said.
“Recent polling shows that across the state one in five households is directly involved in football and that number is even higher in the major population centres. While participation rates are high across the state, Football Tasmania analysis has shown that they decline outside of traditionally wealthier regions.
“By investing in more programs to improve access for children living in lower socio-economic areas we aim to address the current participation gap which exists between advantaged and disadvantaged children and widen the reach of benefits football brings to the Tasmanian community.
Mr Bulkeley said that Football Tasmania would be calling on all political parties to show their support for the sport in Tasmania and commit to ensuring all sports received a fair level of funding.
Download the State of Play Report here