Australia risks losing elite athletes before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics unless philanthropic funding can help fill a funding shortfall, according to one of the country’s leading sporting nonprofits. New research from the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) shows cost-of-living pressures are increasing for elite athletes, along with challenges for their mental health.
The survey reveals the financial reality of those who aspire to represent Australia, based on responses from 604 athletes who reported they competed at international or national level. It found almost half of these elite athletes over the age of 18 earn less than $23,000 a year. The financial situation of two in five of this group had worsened in the past year, and more than half were considering leaving their sport.
The Australian Olympic Committee chief executive, Matt Carroll, said in March there was a $2bn shortfall around sports funding in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, which meant parents were often needed to fund athletes’ bills such as sending them to overseas competitions. Last month the federal sport minister, Anika Wells, announced a $20m fund to help athletes travel to qualification events for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The ASF chief executive, Patrick Walker, said the research highlighted how financial realities meant there is a high risk of elite athletes walking away from sport.
“The public would be quite surprised to understand that most of our Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes – who, once every four years, we gather around the television and we cheer on – most of them are doing it really, really tough,” he said. “They’re earning below the poverty line, certainly below the minimum wage, they’re relying on mum and dad, and part-time jobs.”
Walker conceded the top tier of athletes enjoyed relative financial comfort compared with those struggling to establish themselves. But he said the challenge in sport was ensuring Australia’s elite group was not disproportionately coming from families who could afford to support them. “A large proportion of our athletes who come through the pathway system and are able to go on and represent their country do come from higher-income families,” he said.
Walker wants his organisation, and the sporting sector generally, to pursue the philanthropic traditions of the arts to increase the pool of funding. In its efforts to raise money for athletes, the ASF targets high-net-worth individuals and helps run small-scale online fundraising, and has been granted tax-deductible status.
“The arts raises about $350m a year from philanthropy,” Walker said. “We’ve grown what we raise [at the ASF], but it was only $80m last year. I don’t believe that sport is one quarter as valuable to the average Australian as the arts.” He added that philanthropy in sport “should be at the same level as the arts because it’s as valuable to communities and the health of our nation”.
The survey highlighted how financial strain had taken its toll on the sporting community. More than one in four elite athletes reported their mental health had worsened over the past 12 months.
The president of the Australian Swimmers’ Association, Bronte Campbell, said the report cut through the gloss of elite sport to reveal the reality athletes face every day. “The fact that two in five are saying that their financial circumstances are getting worse, that to me was really concerning,” she said. “We sort of think about sport as growing, and particularly female sport as growing, but that doesn’t seem to be entirely reflected in the report.”
Campbell acknowledged elite swimmers do have financial support. The direct support scheme run by the Australian Sports Commission (dAIS) provides top-ranked swimmers with up to $35,000 a year, down to $4,000 for those deemed “emerging”. Mining magnate Gina Rinehart, through her role as patron of the sport, also provides direct grants to swimmers. Campbell said these amounts are confidential, but they follow a similar structure to dAIS categories and overall “make up a majority of the earnings”.
But Campbell said she has seen first-hand how the funding patterns can heap pressure on individuals. “If we look at someone who’s been in the sport for a long time, they’ve made a few teams, have been on relay teams, they’re in the top 1% in the world, but they may not be making enough to sustain that,” she said. “If you don’t qualify for the team one year for instance, your funding drops significantly, so everything is pivoting around one meet. What your life is going to look like is severely impacted by whether or not you qualify for that team.”
The ASF was established more than 30 years ago, but Walker believes it is still building its profile. He said he wants athletes, clubs and potential donors to recognise the opportunities provided by philanthropy in sport. “When people are looking at funding sport they think of sponsorship, commercial and government,” he said. “What we’re saying is there’s an additional pool of funding here and whenever you’re looking to fund anything in sport, you should be looking at philanthropy.”
