ACT government's five-year sport and recreation vision targets infrastructure upgrades

A five-year ACT sport and recreation vision was published on Thursday, which aims to increase participation levels, make sport more accessible and build the required facilities to make it happen.

Which facilities need the most urgent upgrades and finer details of funding and strategy will be determined in the coming months, with individual sports getting a chance to have their say.

The government is facing significant infrastructure pressure, particularly for indoor sports who say they are being forced to turn away participants because they don't have anywhere for them to play.

One of the biggest challenges is finding a solution to suit high-performance requirements while also providing a benefit to community competitions.

Soccer, cricket and basketball are all keen to expand in the high-performance area, but Sport Minister Yvette Berry says funding is limited.

Basketball ACT has completed a long-awaited feasibility study in the hope of expanding its Belconnen base while the University of Canberra is also keen to build a multi-court facility on its campus.

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Cricket ACT hopes to build a centre of excellence and Capital Football has been promised $33 million for a "Home of Football" at Throsby, but there are fears the project will stall even further if it cannot secure another $15 million.

"Sport is competitive by nature ... However, we need to make sure there's a balance and that everybody gets a chance at upgrades," Berry said.

"We want to hear from sports about their strategic plans in more detail and how the government can partner up with them to deliver them.

"We can deliver medium-to-elite infrastructure, but grassroots community is where it starts. We need to make sure we're investing equally there because that's where the growth is."

The government has also committed to building a new tennis facility at Gungahlin and an ice sports arena at Tuggeranong.

But there are concerns about the state of indoor and outdoor venues and their availability as demand increases in line with population growth.

Berry said the government had no plans to introduce a widespread voucher system, similar to the ones used in other states, to increase child participation rates.

NSW, for example, offers two $100 vouchers for each school-aged child to cover sport an active costs each year.

The ACT government is choosing to offer targeted financial assistance for families who need the most help. It has given funding the "Every Chance to Play" initiative, as well as offering assistance to those in public housing and a program within public schools.

"We've made sure it's targeted to the people who need it," Berry said. "We'll continue to work with sport and recreation to understand if there are any gaps.

"We'll keep an eye on making sure we reduce and remove barriers."

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