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Sunday 4 August Congratulations ManchesterManchester is to be congratulated for staging an outstanding Commonwealth Games, for organising a spectacular event and for showcasing world competitive sport, Australia's federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, said today. Senator Kemp said the city could be rightly proud of its performance and the contribution it had made to Commonwealth sport. He was speaking at a media conference in Manchester today attended by representatives of Commonwealth media. The Chairman of the Australian Sports Commission, Mr Peter Bartels, and the Commission's Chief Executive, Mr Mark Peters, and Mr Perry Crosswhite, Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Association of Australia also attended. 'It has been quite obvious that a number of countries, including England, have greatly enhanced their sporting systems. 'Naturally I am proud of, and delighted, at the Australian performance. 'Australia's experience with sport in recent years demonstrates its importance to national pride, reputation and the contribution grass roots participation in sport can make to our social fabric. 'Many countries have remarked on this Australian experience and indeed have begun to place a greater emphasis on sport, becoming much more competitive in the process. 'The manner in which sport can be used to address social issues adds to its value to the Commonwealth, beyond its capacity to bring nations of the Commonwealth together.' Minister Kemp said Commonwealth Ministers, who he addressed during the games, had resolved to use Commonwealth forums to help developing countries establish strong sports systems, which would help strengthen social cohesiveness and provide for significant benefits to education and health. 'Australia will continue to play a role in the development of sport in the Commonwealth. It is already doing this through a series of development programs which now encompassed 27 countries in Oceania, the Caribbean, Southern Africa and Papua New Guinea.' Australia has also - at the last meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) - through the Australian Sports Commission Chairman, Mr Bartels, taken on the role of chairing and managing the secretariat of the CHOGM Committee on Cooperation through Sport (CCCS). The main work of the CCCS is to provide advice to Commonwealth Governments and others about sports development and to act as advocates for the role of sport as a significant element in social development. Mr Bartels told today's media conference that the committee, under Australia's chairmanship, would focus on the importance of sport in health and social development. One of its priorities will be to advocate to governments and international agencies, including the United Nations, the power of sport as a vehicle for community development within the Commonwealth, Mr Bartels said. Mr Peters said the Australian Sports Commission, which runs the elite sports system - including the Australian Institute of Sport and grass roots development of sport in Australia - would continue to strive for excellence. The Commission will however be working equally hard through its international program funded by the Australian Government to enable other countries to become more competitive as well as gain the wider benefits of sport to address other issues,' he said. The Australian Government provides funding to the Commission via the Department of Foreign and Trade and the Australian Overseas Aid Agency to implement overseas sport development programs. Background is attached or available from www.ausport.gov.au/asc/media Audio from today's media conference is available at www.ausport.gov.au/asc/media/audio MANCHESTER 4 August 2002
BACKGROUNDERCOMMONWEALTH COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION IN SPORTFoundation In 1991, the Harare CHOGM recognised that 'sport has a vital role in enhancing individual, community and national development and in addressing many of the social ills affecting young people in society'. The CHOGM requested the Commonwealth Secretary-General to establish a committee to sustain this vital role amongst the countries of the Commonwealth. Successive Heads of Government meetings have renewed the Committee's mandate. Financing CCCS activities have been financed by member government contributions, particularly from Canada, with some support from the Commonwealth Youth Program. Officers (2002-2006): Peter Bartels, Chair (Australia); Mike Fennell, Vice-Chair (Jamaica), Steve Dobbie, Executive Co-ordinator (Australia) Members: Sam Ramsamy (South Africa), H.E. Austin Sealy (Barbados), Tomas Sithole (Zimbabwe), the Hon Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (Samoa), Dato' Mahamad Zabri bin Min (Malaysia), Mark Peters (Australia), John Scott (UK), Michael Hooper (Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Games Federation), Joan Duncan (Canada), Nick Hill (New Zealand). Role The main work of CCCS is providing policy advice and advocacy to the CHOGM on sport as a significant contributor to human development and attainment of Commonwealth goals. The sub-committee co-ordinates efforts to advance development through sport and to foster research into related areas. The Committee is a forum for consultation, co-ordination, co-operation and strategic planning among Commonwealth governments, non-governmental organisations and interested individuals on Commonwealth co-operation through sport. Activities The CCCS has urged Commonwealth Ministers of Sport, Health, Education, Youth and Gender Affairs to employ sport in their respective strategies, particularly when considering the social development aspects in their mandate. For example, the Committee urged the Commonwealth Ministers of Education at their meeting in Halifax, Canada, in November 2000, to act to avert the 'worldwide crisis of physical education and sport in education systems'. This crisis had been identified a year earlier at the UNESCO conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS III) at Punta del Este, Uruguay. The Committee encourages collaboration between Commonwealth governments and other organisations to increase sports participation, particularly amongst young people, girls and women and individuals with a disability. It emphasises the potential of sports to address the issues of social exclusion, youth development, advancement of women in society and health. Major Issues Facing the CCCS:
Attached is a background paper on the Australian Sports Commissions involvement in overseas sports development programs. BACKGROUNDERINTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ACTIVITYOver the past decade the Sports Commission has expanded its international activities particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. These activities give international athletes and sports organisations access to Australian services, facilities and expertise. In return Australian sport gains competition and additional resources, while the nation gains valuable international relationship. The International Section of the Commission has responsibility for coordinating international activities. It manages the Commission's international relationships with government and non-government agencies through tasks including establishing Memorandums of Understanding, hosting visiting delegations and dignitaries and supporting the CHOGM Subcommittee on sport. It also manages the implementation of the government's development assistance programs in Oceania, PNG, southern Africa and the Caribbean Overseas Development Assistance Cooperative sport development programs in which the Commission is involved are funded either by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Some funding is also received from time-to-time for sport development programs from other DFAT bilateral agencies such as the Australia India Council, or by commercial arrangement. The Section manages development assistance programs in Oceania, Papua New Guinea (PNG), southern Africa, and the Caribbean, in liaison with AusAID and DFAT. The delivery of the programs is mainly undertaken through 'field officers' or short-term project contractors, oversighted by program managers based in Canberra. Specific programs managed by the International Section include: AFRICA - Australia Africa 2006 Sport Development Program (AA2006) A community development program targeting Commonwealth countries of southern Africa funded by AusAID through to 2006 (average of $A200, 000 per year) that builds on the successful work undertaken with South Africa since 1993. Initial consultation was through the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa, Zone VI, which identified the development and implementation of physical education programs and community based programs for young people as the first priority of the program. Since late 2000 the program has operated bilaterally rather then regionally, focussing on specific needs of each partner country. Specific programs are designed with national sport and recreation bodies and relevant community agencies and implemented through community structures such as the school or community club. Support is also provided in the development of national sport and recreation policies and strategic plans. A specific emphasis is on South Africa and Mozambique, however, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe can access the program (9). Some past activities include: South African Protea Sport Program Since 1993, Australia has been working with South African sporting authorities on sports development projects, including the introduction of the Protea Sport program, which encourages greater participation at all skill levels, based on the AUSSIE SPORT program. It has developed into a distinctly African product that is used as an example in work in other areas of the continent and introduces young people to basic, varied and quality sporting opportunities and provides coaches and administrators with training in all aspects of sports participation. Australian expertise has largely been provided to assist the human resource development of people working in the field, based on the "train the trainer" concept. African Olympic Training Centre In 1994, the African Olympic Training Centre was established, based at the Australian Sports Commission in Canberra. Funded by the Australian Olympic Committee, the Centre provided two scholarships per year for eleven African countries to send elite athletes and/or coaches to Australia to improve their skills and knowledge and to provide high-level competition opportunities. Many of the scholarship holders utilised the facilities of the Australian Institute of Sport. This Program ceased after the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, following the conduct of a large training camp for competing African nations in Adelaide prior to the Games. The ASC also provided consultants to assist in the formation of the South African Sports Commission. Caribbean: Australian Caribbean Community Sports Development Program Also announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 1997, this AusAID funded Program ($150,000 per year until 2006) provides access to Australian sporting experience and expertise to the Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean, on a partnership basis between Australia and the host country. The type of assistance provided varies depending on the needs of the country. This Program is building on a project undertaken in 1996/97 by the Australian Sports Commission that introduced the principles of AUSSIE SPORT to seven Caribbean countries. The focus is on human resource development and capacity building within existing sporting structures and systems, with the intent of leaving a legacy of an efficient and effective sporting infrastructure, through programs in the following areas:
Countries that have been assisted to date include: Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. OCEANIA: Australia South Pacific 2006 Sports Program (ASP2006) Recognising that awarding the 2000 Olympic games to Australia also was highly significant to the Oceania region as a whole, in 1994 the Australian Government introduced the (then) Australia South Pacific 2000 Program, a major component of which was the Australia South Pacific 2000 Sports Program. The Sports Program aimed to maximise the number of participants from the region in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, at the same time leaving a lasting legacy for sport in the region through the development of expertise in physical education, sports administration, coaching, officiating, sports information and in the sports sciences. The Australian Sports Commission managed this Program, in close consultation with the Oceania National Olympic Committees. In November 1999 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Durban, South Africa, the Prime Minister announced that $3 million over six years would be provided to extend the Program until 2006 to coincide with the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and the program was renamed the ASP2006 Program. ASP2006 Program The ASP 2006 program receives funding of $400,000 per year from DFAT. The focus of the ASP2006 Program is on developing sporting excellence in the Pacific Island region as well as improving the capacity of Pacific Island administrators, coaches and sports medicine practitioners to develop and manage their respective sporting infrastructures self sufficiently. Working in close collaboration with the Oceania national Olympic Committees (ONOC), five program areas work to achieve the aims of ASP2006:
A smaller component managed by DFAT through their diplomatic posts, supports other local initiatives. Countries eligible for assistance under the ASP 2006 program are the Pacific Island members of the South Pacific Forum, namely: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Niue, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Guam and American Samoa may be included in activities offered under the ASP 2006 program, but from sources of funding outside this program. Guam and American Samoa, both territories of the United States of America with independent National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have Observer status with the South Pacific Forum. PAPUA NEW-GUINEA In September 2000, on the eve of Papua New Guinea's twenty-fifth anniversary of independence, the Prime Minister announced a gift to Papua New Guinea of a four-year community sport development program to be called the Australia Papua New Guinea Silver Jubilee Sports Program. The program is funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and managed by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC). The Papua New Guinea Sports Commission (PNGSC) has been identified as the lead agency in country. There are four main focus areas for the program, namely
as children, youth, women and people with disabilities
personnel. ASIA While the ASC is not currently engaged actively across Asia, between 1996 and 2001, under the Australia Asia Sports Linkages Program, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the ASC conducted a program of sports development projects. These were designed to assist target countries to address priority sports development needs, particularly in the areas of elite athlete development, coach education, junior sport, physical education, officials training and administration management. Projects were agreed in consultation with the Government sports administration of the target. Target countries were Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with smaller countries such as Nepal or Bhutan also included under a small annual discretionary element. OTHER Sport Development Currently The Sport Education Section of the Commission is involved in limited, but strategically important, international sport activity with some Commonwealth countries. Most significantly this activity includes work activities through documents, resources, conferences and personal dealings, on matters concerning coaches (including athletes with disabilities) and officials education and development, primarily with New Zealand, Canada and England. A recent example is the assistance provided to New Zealand in relation to setting up an officials education and development program. Otherwise, Australia enjoys good working relationships through membership and regular meetings of the International Council for Coach Education (ICCE), an organisation of approximately 50 nations including the following Commonwealth countries: Brunei Darussalam, Canada, England, Fiji, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Scotland, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Wales.
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