Charitable Status for Community Sport
The Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) is working with the Australian Government to attract new sources of philanthropic funding to community sport across Australia.
Community sport in Australia is severely underfunded. In 2023, one in four small community sports clubs were contemplating closing and 1 in 4 athletes considered leaving their sport.
Charitable status for community sport and amateur athletes will unlock significant additional philanthropic funding, and increase the number of individual and corporate donors to sport. Modelling shows this change could unlock over $103 million in philanthropic giving a year for the sector by 2030.
This potential solution will strengthen participation in grassroots and community sport across Australia. Charitable status for community sports has the potential to attract over 190,000 new participants to community sport across Australia by 2028.
Our proposal
We propose that ‘Community Sport and Amateur Athletes’ is included as a charitable purpose under section 12 of the Charities Act (C’th) 2013.
Charitable status for ‘Community Sport and Amateur Athletes’ will allow Ancillary funds to make philanthropic donations to support community sports for all projects, not just a narrow number of projects as currently restrained by the Charities Act.
Discussion Paper – In June 2024 we launched a discussion paper for the sector to learn more about the proposed change, understand how it may affect community sports clubs and discuss how best to engage clubs in your sport. We welcome formal submissions to the paper.
Timeline for the proposal
Stage 1 Consultations
Early 2024
Project Steering Group – The Project Steering Group provides strategic advice to the ASF regarding the proposal for Charitable status for ‘Community Sport and Amateur Athletes’. For more information about the PSG’s membership see the member list here.
Targeted consultation – Targeted consultation across sport and philanthropic sectors involved 24 independent interviews, covering national and state perspectives to ensure a sector-guided approach to consultation.
Stage 2 Consultations
June-July 2024
Capital City Roadshows – ASF visited every capital city to talk to National and State Sporting Organisations about the proposed change.
Virtual Webinar – We hosted a virtual webinar on 9 July 2024. View the recording here.
Stage 3 Consultations
July-September 2024
National consultation with community clubs and athletes – Broad sector consultation to ensure sport perspectives are captured.
Industry Events – ASF have attended a number of sporting industry events to talk to the Sport Sector about the change.
Stage 4 Report to Government
October 2024
Report prepared – ASF will prepare a report for consideration by Government using the consultation findings.
Stage 5 Report back to Sport
2025
Sharing the outcomes: ASF will continue to communicate with the sports, philanthropic sectors to share updates about the proposed legislative change.
Supporting sport: ASF will support the sport and philanthropic sectors through transitional periods and enable them to navigate its implications and realise its benefits.
Your feedback can make sport stronger
No matter whether we play, watch or volunteer, we all have a stake in ensuring our community sport continues to play a vital role in building healthy and cohesive communities.
Your participation in this consultation process is crucial. We invite sports clubs, athletes, and the public, to provide your valuable feedback on the proposal from July to September 2024.
Your input will help shape the future of community sports funding in Australia. The data that we collect will be reported back to the Australian Government in late 2024 with our findings and recommendations from talking with you.
Thank you for your engagement
in the consultation process.
Resources & Documents
Access your copy of key resources and documents relating to this consultation below.