Expert Independent Sport Panel Appointed

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28 August 2008

The Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis, today announced the appointment of the independent expert panel that will investigate the reforms required to ensure that Australia’s sporting system remains prepared for the challenges of the future.

“From helping to tackle obesity and preventable disease, through to preparing our elite athletes for the growing challenges of international competition, I am determined to ensure that Australia’s sporting structure remains ahead of the pack,” Ms Ellis said.

The expert panel will look at sport at both the elite level and at the grassroots community level, as part of a top-to-bottom examination of Australian sport and will leave no stone unturned in the search for better ways to run, promote and manage sport in Australia.

The panel will be chaired by highly-regarded businessman David Crawford, who has previously modernised and driven change at the Australian Football League and Football Federation Australia. He is also chairman of Foster’s Group Ltd and a director of BHP Billiton Ltd, as well as holding other senior corporate positions.

Mr Crawford will head a team that includes:

• Mark Bouris – leading businessmen and creator of Wizard home loans. Sydney Rooster Rugby League Club board member
• Sam Mostyn – extensive background in law and corporate affairs, and AFL commissioner
• Pam Tye – Hockey Australia President and former Australian Sports Commission board member
• Colin Carter – a senior adviser to the Boston Consulting Group and a director of a number of companies including Wesfarmers and World Vision

The panel will explore advances in sport science, the new emerging international sporting trends, and the best methods to retain and build upon Australia’s international standing in sports of all codes.

Ms Ellis said there were other important issues for the expert panel to consider beyond elite and international sport.

“Sport plays an important role in health and education, as well as the social and cultural life of communities throughout Australia, and we need to build on this tradition,” she said.

“Engagement in sport and physical activities by the wider community is also vital in helping to build a better and healthier Australia, and we want it to play a leading role in delivering on the Government’s preventative health agenda.

“David, Pam, Colin, Mark and Sam bring a wealth of experience and expertise and I am confident they will do a great job. I look forward to working with them to safeguard Australia’s sporting system.”

Terms of reference and details of panel members follow.

Media contact: Greg Doolan – 0433 345 323

Independent Expert Panel – Terms of Reference

In recognising the importance of sport and the significant emerging challenges to Australia’s sustained success in elite sport, the Minister for Sport outlined in the Commonwealth Government’s directions paper Australian Sport: Emerging Challenges, New Directions the need for widespread and continuing reform of Australia’s sporting system.

An independent expert panel will be appointed to make recommendations on the specific structures, programs and reform required to ensure the continuing robustness of the Australian sport system.

The panel, in reporting on these terms of reference, will take into account the growing challenges to Australia in the global sporting environment in the post-Beijing environment, note scientific advances and international sporting trends, and make particular recommendations about the best way to retain our international standing.

They will pay particular attention to the most effective manner that sport and physical activity can play a strong role in building a healthier Australia and forming part of the Commonwealth Government’s preventative health agenda. They will also assess the structure and capability of the Australian sports system as a whole, to achieve competitive advantage in delivering nationally desirable sport outcomes from social and community level right through to the highest levels of elite performance. Recommendations will be particularly directed towards the following Terms of Reference:

1. Ensure Australia’s continued elite sporting success

• Identify any areas of duplication within Australia’s sporting system and recommend ways to build a more efficient system
• Examine the relationship between the Australian Sports Commission, Australian Institute of Sport, State and Territory Institutes, academies of sport and regional institutes and how this relationship could deliver better athlete pathways
• Recommend opportunities to ensure maximum returns from talent identification programs

2. Better place sport and physical activity as a key component of the Government’s preventative health approach

• Examine Government frameworks to ensure an on-going focus on grassroots and community sport and physical activity
• Examine Government programs to increase participation rates in sport and physical activity, including analysis of existing programs
• Identify and recommend opportunities to break down barriers to participation at junior, adult and senior ages with a view to making it simpler and easier for Australians to participate in the sport or physical activity of their choice, including for women, the disabled and Indigenous people
• Recommend strategies to increase the effectiveness of the promotion of sport by the Federal Government to better communicate positive health and activity messages to the broader community

3. Strengthen pathways from junior sport to grassroots community sport right through to elite and professional sport

• Examine the capacity of the system to ensure optimal and efficient delivery of the athlete and coach pathway for any given sport
• Recommend the most effective support and recognition for the coaches, officials, umpires, administrators and volunteers who keep our community clubs alive
• Examine how relationships between the Commonwealth Government and National Sporting Organisations, State Sporting Organisations and Australia’s peak representative bodies at key multi-sports competitions may be strengthened to deliver better performance outcomes

4. Maintain Australia’s cutting edge approach to sports science, research and technology

• Examine the capacity of the system to ensure provision of cutting edge technology, innovation, sport science, sports medicine, applied research to underpin sport performance and development, including ways to maintain Australia’s position as leaders in anti-doping
• Examine the current partnerships in place within these fields and recommend any potential partnerships

5. Identify opportunities to increase and diversify the funding base for sport through corporate sponsorship, media and any recommended reforms, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the Australian Sports Foundation.

Independent Expert Panel – Membership

David Crawford has had an illustrious corporate career, with a focus on risk management and business reorganisation.

He has been Director of BHP Limited since May 1994; Director of BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc since June 2001; Chairman of Foster's Group Limited (since November 2007) and Director of Foster's Group Limited (since August 2001); Chairman of Lend Lease Corporation Limited (since May 2003) and Director (since July 2001), as well as experience with National Foods, Westpac and KPMG.

The AFL commissioned David Crawford to restructure the game. Since that time, AFL has expanded into the Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide markets with plans for further expansion. The AFL’s success was driven by Crawford’s independent commission free of club affiliations, charged with growing the game.

David Crawford also chaired the Independent Soccer Review Committee into the structure, governance and Management of Soccer in Australia.

The 2003 Crawford Report is credited with establishing the blueprint for the sport of football that has seen it achieved unprecedented success over the past few years, including qualification of the Socceroos for the 2006 World Cup, membership of the Asian Football Federation and the establishment of the A-League.

Mark Bouris is the dynamic businessman who created Wizard, brought in the Packer family as equal partners and within a few years sold the company to American giant General Electric Corporation through its subsidiary GE Money for over $400 million.

Mr Bouris is Executive Chairman, Wizard Home Loans, Partner, BBB Capital Pty Ltd, since 2005; Adjunct Prof. in Banking and Finance Faculty Committee and Econs UNSW 2005; and Executive Chair, Aust. Fin. Investments Group (wholly owned sub. GE Corp).

While it is business that's made him so recognisable, it is his passion for his family and his humble beginnings that inspire him. Bouris is a Board member of Sydney Roosters Rugby League Club.

Sam Mostyn (BA, LLB) has an extensive background in law, corporate affairs, human resources, sport and politics. In 2005 Ms Mostyn was appointed as the AFL's first female Commissioner.

Ms Mostyn also serves on the Academic Advisory Board of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) and is on the Board of the Sydney Festival, the Australian Museum Trust and the Centenary Institute.

Previously, she was the Director of Corporate Development and Acting Human Resources Director at Cable & Wireless Optus. Prior to joining Cable & Wireless Optus, she was a senior adviser (communications) to the Prime Minister, The Hon. P J Keating.

Pamela Tye had a long association with the Australian Women’s Hockey Association before her appointment as the inaugural President of Hockey Australia.

Until December 2004 she was Vice-president and member of the Executive Board of the Federation of International Hockey and was the recipient of the Federation of International Hockey Award of Merit in 2001.

In 2004 Ms Tye was awarded the Women and Sport Diploma by the International Olympic Committee, ‘in recognition of her outstanding contribution in promoting the development and participation of women and girls in sport’.

Ms Tye was a Director of the Board of the Sydney Paralympic Games and a member of the Sydney Youth Olympic Festival Committee. She was recently a member of the Australian Sports Commission.

Colin Carter a senior adviser to the Boston Consulting Group and a director of a number of companies including Wesfarmers and World Vision.

Colin is chairman of the AFL Foundation, Chairman of Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships and a member of the Board of The Cape York Institute.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Melbourne University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Colin has had extensive experience advising on corporate strategy and corporate governance and his consultancy career has included major projects in Australia and overseas.

ENDS

 

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