Category: History
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Stocktake of Australian sport CEO’s 2000-2024 – Updated 5 April 2024
By Greg Blood The departures of CEO’s in 2020 from significant Australian sports organisations – ASC, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, golf and equestrian – has made me reflect on the level of turnover of CEO’s since 2000. Part 1 will list CEO changes within national sports organisations during this period. The information listed in…
australiansportreflections
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My career in sport information and sport history: reflecting on the AIS and ASC’s long-time support for the provision of access to sport knowledge to the Australian sport sector.
Greg Blood My induction into the University of Canberra Sport Walk of Fame has made me reflect on the long-time support of the Australian Institute of Sport and Australian Sports Commission to sport information in Australia. Like many children growing up in Australia, I developed an early interest in sport and tried many sports before…
australiansportreflections
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Vale Bob Ellicott AC KC – Fraser Government Minister Responsible for Establishing the Australian Institute of Sport
By Greg Blood Prime Minister Malcom Fraser in late 1978 transferred the sport function to the Dept of Home Affairs under Minister Bob Ellicott. Fraser told Ellicott to “do something about sport” after Australia’s poor performances at the 1976 Olympics and 1978 Commonwealth Games. Greg Hartung in reviewing Ellicott’s period as minister stated he “left…
australiansportreflections
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Short History of Australian Elite Coaches Transitioning to High Performance Management
By Greg Blood The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) prior to the cessation of sports programs in 2013 frequently facilitated AIS coaches in transferring into its high performance management areas. It should be remembered that the inaugural AIS Director Don Talbot had an extensive swimming coaching career in Australia, Canada and the United States prior…
australiansportreflections
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Sport and Federal Politics – Importance of Relationship Building by National Sports Organisations
By Greg Blood With a new Federal Parliament under way, it is important that national sports organisations educate and lobby existing and new Parliamentarians regarding their sport and its needs. It is not enough to just work with the Federal Government’s primary sport agency – Australian Sports Commission. The 47th Federal Parliament commenced on 26…
australiansportreflections
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The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Was Rocket Fuel For Athletes With A Disability…The Spectacular Success of Sydney Became a Turning Point for the Paralympic Movement
By Greg Hartung AO History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 26 Transformation The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games has been described as the “benchmark” Games for the Paralympic Movement. This is true in many respects, but not all. Coming off a low base from the Atlanta Games four years earlier, the Sydney Games were undoubtedly…
australiansportreflections
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The Fight To Be Heard! How Athletes With A Disability Made Their Way In Australian Sport…defeat was never an option for our pioneers
History of Australian Sport Policy series: Part 25 By Greg Hartung AO Partners in the long campaign The pioneers who advanced the interests of people with disabilities in sport during the 1970s and early 1980s were the members of the government-appointed National Committee on Sport and Recreation for the Disabled (NCSRD) and the non-government Australian…
australiansportreflections
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Support For Athletes With A Disability: From The Ground Up …The Years Of Struggle To Be Taken Seriously
History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 24 By Greg Hartung AO Only one way to go Assistance for athletes with a disability has regularly featured in reports and government policy discussions. Whether this has always translated into positive outcomes is another matter altogether. This part of the sporting world was never as administratively robust…
australiansportreflections
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Paralympians Join the Mainstream – Australian Paralympic Committee Brings in Reform Across Sport
History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 23 By Greg Hartung AO “Mainstreaming” was a fundamental and necessary policy reform on the long journey to win durable outcomes for athletes with a disability and the Paralympic movement. Designed and promoted by the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) in the period before and after the Sydney 2000…
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Crusade to Attract Non-Government Cash to the Aid of Sport – and High Hopes for the Australian Sports Foundation
The Foundation was established as an essential part of the Australian Sports Commission History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 22 By Greg Hartung AO Australian Sports Aid Foundation: the origin The Parliamentary enquiry into sport funding, chaired by Labor’s Leo McLeay, threatened to turn the case against the introduction of a Sports Foundation promised…