A beef has been ignited between the federal government and opposition over concerns about a possible "critical" sports funding shortfall.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The shadow minister for sport, Senator Anne Ruston, argued on Sunday the federal government's funding of national sporting organisations (NSOs) was set to "run out in just seven days".
Senator Ruston claimed as a result, the Australian Sports Commission had been "forced" to "prop up" the country's sporting codes until the end of the year.
"This in creating unnecessary stress for sporting organisations at a time when athletes are already dealing with the pressure to make our country proud at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games," a statement from the senator's office read.
"Our sporting bodies have no certainty that they will be able to pay their coaches and essential staff past the end of the year."
However, the federal government disputed the opposition's claims, with the ASC being the federal body that distributes base funding for NSOs.
The ASC's Participation Growth Funding to sport organisations totalling $8.63 million will cover the start of the next financial year from July 1, 2024, till January 1, 2025.
The government is expected to announce its funding plans beyond that point very soon.
Though the ASC and its chief Kieren Perkins did not want to comment in response to Ruston's statement on funding, a spokesperson for Sport Minister Anika Wells did provide some clarity.
"The government has already secured funding for national sporting organisations until the end of this year and will soon announce further investment so our Olympic and Paralympic athletes have even more support to achieve sporting excellence," the spokesperson told The Canberra Times.
Still, Ruston's office was adamant there was a distinction between the ASC providing funding to NSOs and funding coming from the federal government, and issued a warning.
"The opposition calls on the Albanese government to immediately announce ongoing funding certainty for Australia's high-performance sporting bodies, so that they have the resources they need to ensure Australia remains a proud sporting nation," a statement read.
"Alongside any announcement, the government must also provide certainty on the nature of the funding and whether it will be going directly to our athletes and sporting bodies, or to the Australian Sports Commission."
During Senate Estimates nearly three weeks ago Senator Ruston posed a question to Perkins about a "lack of certainty" over funding to sporting codes, and the ASC boss perceived a lack of understanding about the body's role.
He also denied there was major funding concern from a majority of NSOs, but did acknowledge some were "certainly agitated" about the federal support provided.
"I would not characterise it as no certainty," Perkins said.
"That's been one of the other elements of trying to educate the system to understand how we operate, as an organisation.
"The Australian Sports Commission has a core appropriation which rolls through every year, without fail. Over 60 per cent of that core appropriation goes directly to sport.
"That's how we were able to secure and confirm, to the end of this calendar year, the sports funding in the Paris cycle of funding for high-performance sport that occurred.
"That core funding does guarantee the ongoing operation of NSOs in their high-performance programs.
"I have made it abundantly clear to all of those sports repeatedly... that all of them should have no concern about risk in their ability to continue to employ the staff they need to employ.
"Anybody who is saying differently doesn't have the strategic risk management capability to understand what's facing them at this point in time."