Page 733 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 29 March 2006
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It went on to say:
It is unlikely that Government has dealt with any other recognised industry sector in the ACT in such a fragmented way. To assist the sport and recreation industry to grow, build cohesion and look for greater synergies it needs to be recognised by Government as a significant industry sector and deal with it as a whole rather than in disparate parts.
The industry wants and needs one point of contact within Government which understands and responds to all facets of their business.
ACTSPORT went on to say:
Sport and recreation is primarily managed by state sport and recreation organisations that have responsibility for all facets of their activities that require them to:
• run community competitions,
• deliver social inclusion programs,
• convey health messages,
• select and develop state teams,
• host national and international events,
• compete in national leagues,
• develop commercial and business opportunities, and
• own, lease, manage or use facilities.
These organisations, in managing this complexity of functions, want to engage with one Government agency and not the four or five they currently have to negotiate with. They should be able to work with one single agency.
The document goes on to state how, for example, the ACT Rugby Union Association, which manages the Brumbies, deals with the Stadiums Authority, SRACT for performance fees and triennial grants, tourism, Healthpact, and Urban Services for the hiring of grounds. That is under the current system. There is real concern through the ACTSPORT paper, and indeed with the other sporting organisations, that the small Sport and Recreation ACT bureau, which, I think, includes probably 20 staff or thereabouts, is possibly going to be split amongst four or so government departments, which would needlessly further complicate the problems. They have already highlighted a number of problems.
On a positive note, rather than looking at splitting up the area further following this functional review, the Chief Minister and the government might like to look at ensuring that there is one single point of call and perhaps some of the disparate agencies already could be put under one banner. I do not think, having talked to people in the sport and recreation industry, it is particularly relevant which government department it is in, as long as it is in one government department and the component parts are there.
The ACTSPORT paper goes on to make a number of other points in relation to just how difficult it will be for national bodies such as the Australian Sports Commission to make agreements with the ACT government on various sports if they have to ask, “To which government department do we go here?” They will only make an agreement with one
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