By Greg Blood

Longevity is a hallmark in the history of SIS/SAS directors and they have covered many areas of sport expertise – elite athletes, coaches, sports science/medicine professionals and sport/government administrators.

The establishment of SIS/SAS commenced shortly after the Australian Institute of Sport (1981). South Australia was first with SASI in 1982 followed by Western Australia with WAIS in 1984.  The establishment of these state institutes at the time raised concerns over duplication of scarce high performance resources and the best location of elite athletes coaching and training environments.

In 1993, the National Elite Sports Council (NESC) was established to provide a forum for communication, issues management and national program co-ordination across the high performance in Australia.  Whilst the AIS managed national sports scholarships programs up until 2013, there was always a tension regarding roles of the AIS and SIS/SAS within the high performance system. There was a time in the 2000’s where athletes were dual badged AIS / relevant SIS/SAS i.e. Jared Tallent AIS/SASI to ensure both the AIS and SIS/SAS received recognition.

Post 2000 Sydney Games, cooperation between the ASC/AIS, SIS/SAS, Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympics Australia and Commonwealth Games has significantly improved and highlighted by the recent Australia’s High Performance Strategy 2032+

State institute / academy of sports are largely funded by state governments. However, the Australian Government through the ASC and AIS have a times provided significant funding in areas such as intensive training centres and talent identification in lead up to 2000 Games and athlete career and education support. A recent example is the funding of Para Unit’s in all SIS/SAS.

In reflecting on the Australian sport system since 1980, in many ways having the AIS and SIS/SAS eventually made the Australian high performance system stronger even though there were periods of friction and duplication.

A list of directors has been compiled to highlight the stability and background of  SIS/SAS leaders since the 1980s.

Background of Directors

Many of those listed have backgrounds in more than one grouping listed below. List aims to highlight a variety of sport backgrounds.

• Notable athletes: Olympic athletic silver medallist Rick Mitchell (TIS), Olympic athletics gold medallist Ralph Doubell (NSWIS), Olympic diver Elizabeth Jack (TIS),  Canadian Olympic swimming gold medallist Alex Baumann (QAS), Olympic swimming medallist Nicole Livingstone (VIS)
• Notable coaches: Olympic water polo player and coach Charles Turner (NSWIS), Australian netball player and coach Wilma Shakesdpear (QAS),  Australian footballer and coach Mike Nunan (SASI), Queensland cricket coach Bennett King (QAS).
• Notable sports science/medicine professionals/academics: Dr Frank Pyke (VIS), Steve Lawrence (WAIS), Wes Battams (SASI), Jenny Roberts (ACTAS), Dennis Hatcher & Lindsay Ellis (NTIS), Emery Holmik (ACTAS), Chelsea Warr (QAS), Kevin Thompson (NSWIS), Keren Faulkner (SASI)
• Notable sport & government administrators:  Ken Norris (ACTAS), Anne Marie Harrison (VIS), Michael Scott (NSWIS), Paul Austen & Adam Sproule (TIS), Gerard Corradini (ACTAS), Troy Ayres (QAS), Matt Fulton (WAIS)

Longevity of Directors:

• Over 20 years: Wes Battams (SASI), Steve Lawrence (WAIS)
• Over 15 years: Gerard Corradini (ACTAS), Ian Ford (NTIS), Paul Austen (TIS), Dr Frank Pyke & Anne Marie Harrison (VIS), Wally Foreman (WAIS), Ian Ford (NTIS)
• Ten years or over: Ken Norris (ACTAS), Charles Turner (NSWIS), Wilma Shakespear & Bennett King (QAS), Michael Nunan (SASI), Elizabeth Jack (TIS)

State Insitute / Academy of Sport

ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS)

• Jenny Roberts 1989-1995
• Ken Norris 1997-2006
• Emery Holmik 2006-2009
• Gerard Corradini 2009-

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS)

• Michael Scott 1997-2001
• Ralph Doubell AM 2001-2003
• Charles Turner 2003-2016
• Kevin Thompson 2017-2023
• Vacant

Northern Territory Sport Academy (previously Northern Territory of Sport)

• Dennis Hatcher 1996-2000
• Lindsay Ellis 2000-2006
• Ian Ford 2007-2024 (also sever other departmeny roles)

Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS)

• Wilma Shakespear AM 1991-2001
• Alex Baumann 2002-2006
• Bennett King 2007-2019
• Chelsea Warr 2020-2024
• Troy Ayres 2025-

South Australian Sports Institute (SASI)

• Michael Nunan  1982-1992
• Simon Forrest 1993-1998 (Director of Sport Division 1993-1995)
• Wes Battams 1998-2023
• Keren Faulkner 2023 –

Tasmanian Institute of Sport (TIS)

• Rick Mitchell 1985-1990
• Elizabeth Jack 1990-2004
• Paul Austen 2004-2023
• Adam Sproule 2023 –

Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS)

• Dr Frank Pyke 1990-2006
• Anne Marie Harrison 2006-2024
• Nicole Livingstone AO 2024-

Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS)

• Wally Foreman 1984-2001
• Steve Lawrence 2001-2023
• Matt Fulton 2024-

Source of information: LinkedIn, internet, correspondence