Some sporting codes, including the UC Caps, run clinics to engage Canberra’s youngest athletes. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Means-tested vouchers and more support for Canberra’s athletes turning pro would reduce financial impacts on sporting families, a government inquiry has heard.
ACT Parents executive officer Veronica Elliott said any expansion of financial support programs should be targeted to ensure it reaches families in need, but warned a voucher-based system wouldn’t address other factors influencing participation (such as accessibility barriers affecting people with a disability) and could impact the ability of sporting clubs and organisations to raise money.
“The concern would be that providing a voucher system would essentially fund more of those for-profit services … Not saying that’s wrong, there’s a place for it, but I think what we see in the sporting clubs [from] a parent and carer perspective is it’s largely volunteer-based.
In their submission to the inquiry, ClubsACT also referenced means-tested activity vouchers and subsidies to transport costs.
Clubs ACT chief executive Craig Shannon told the inquiry the measures would encourage participation, as would events like ‘come and try’ sessions, and more collaboration around facilities access across clubs.
“Part of the problem that needs to be addressed by this committee is how you wedge some kind of a more cohesive working relationship between all these groups.”
Ms Elliott also called for ongoing support and resources beyond the application process, saying extra funding wouldn’t be enough by itself.
“If people have to apply for funding or support to engage in sport, then that is another step that parents need to take to access that.
“Sometimes the more vulnerable families in our communities actually aren’t aware of the opportunities for specific funding and may struggle with those processes in being able to apply without additional support.”
Youth Coalition of the ACT CEO Hannah Watts echoed the call to increase community awareness about the available programs to avoid “communication issues” regarding eligibility.
She said that while a range of programs exist, they often come with specific criteria, pointing to one program that requires referrals and another that only covers up to $300 in registration fees for not-for-profit organisations.
Several young Canberrans also recommended promoting the resources on social media and in places where their age group is likely to gather, to spread awareness about them.
Ms Watts suggested further financial support could be drawn from existing revenue streams.
“We know that the links between sports and gambling are pretty strong and very problematic, so perhaps diverting some of the funding that comes from gambling revenue into supporting more of these sorts of organisations and opportunities could bolster [participation].”
Weston Creek Woden Dodgers Basketball Club committee member and former president Grant Keys also raised his concern that would-be professional athletes were being locked out from higher levels of their sport.
If kids want to move into elite or representative sports, he said entry costs rose into the thousands of dollars (not including travel and equipment costs).
“There is a real barrier, particularly for those more elite juniors … who don’t have the resources for access. I think it’s great to have a more generalised [approach] of ‘we can cover the more basic fees of different community members’, but I’d also like to see some additional support for those aspiring, high-level athletes and how they can access the elite programs without the burden falling on the rest of our members.”
He also said clubs “wearing” those costs risked pushing up fees for all other participants.
