In May 2017, the Hon. Greg Hunt, Commonwealth Minister for Sport announced the development of a National Sport Plan, for release in 2018.

Currently, Australia’s Winning Edge, released by the Australian Sports Commission (the Commission) in 2012, guides policy in relation to high performance, and Play. Sport. Australia., released in 2015, provides strategic direction in relation to growing participation. The National Sport Plan will establish a shared set of national expectations across these issues, and others, for the sport and physical activity sectors.

The Plan will be based on four key pillars, which recognise the fundamental contribution sport makes to society:

• prevention through physical activity, recognising the role that sport plays in supporting the health and wellbeing of Australians
• participation, recognising the role that sport plays in supporting communities to come together to compete, play and get active
• performance, recognising the Government’s commitment to high performance sport in Australia
• integrity, recognising the importance of honesty and fair play in all levels of sport, from community and grassroots through to elite sport.

The Commission coordinated a national consultation process, involving 13 stakeholder forums – nine run in partnership with State Departments of Sport and Recreation (SDSRs) – an additional three National Sporting Organisation (NSO) forums in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and a health promotion/prevention forum run facilitated by the Commonwealth Department of Health; and, an online submission process via the Commission’s website and a community perceptions survey.

This report outlines the key themes and findings from the forums and online submission process.