Our focus is on being a high performing organisation that is recognised for achieving our corporate objectives through strong leadership and culture, and attracting and retaining top talent.
The key goal for the Perform pillar is ensuring that the ASC has the resources, facilities and capability to drive progress across Win, Play and Thrive to deliver the best outcomes for Australian sport.
The ASC is a unique organisation with a broad reach of activities and operations and diverse workforce who are passionate about working together to benefit Australian sport. We support Play.Sport.Australia. through five regional offices across Australia, while the high performance program in support of Australia’s Winning Edge is delivered at the AIS Campus in Bruce, a smaller facility in Pizzey Park on the Gold Coast and the AIS European Training Centre in Italy. Optimising the use of these facilities, including commercial activities, is important in ensuring that the ASC is well positioned for the future.
The ASC has an important role to play in promoting the sport sector and the value that sport participation and high performance activities deliver. Central to this are the delivery of key events and conferences, including the ASPAs, ASC Media Awards and regular communications across the sport sector and the broader public on the priorities, developments and achievements in Australian sport.
The Perform Pillar forms an integral role in supporting and strengthening ASC staff, resources and facilities to assist in delivering PBS Program Objectives A, B and C which form PBS Outcome 1.
Our approach
In 2016–17 there has been a focus on supporting the business to achieve deliverables under the Win, Play and Thrive pillars and the continued development of systems and support for ASC programs and people. A number of projects have been undertaken to assist and inform the review into the ASC’s strategic priorities and the role that the ASC organisational structure and assets will play in the future of the ASC. The implementation of targeted communication strategies across both participation and high performance has been a key priority this reporting period.
Key activity areas were:
- communication of priorities, goals and successes of the ASC and Australian sport
- effective management of resources
- implementation of revenue generation opportunities that deliver the greatest value
- a focus on strategic priorities and operational effectiveness.
Success is gauged by our media profile and our stakeholders’ satisfaction with the ASC’s performance as a leader in the sport sector, the results of our employee census surveys, and how effectively we deliver on our strategies.
Our Results
| Deliverable | Result | Supporting statement |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance of stakeholder satisfaction levels1 | Not Achieved | 65 per cent of sport sector partners agree that the ASC demonstrated effective leadership of the sector in the 12 months prior to May/June 2017; down from 91 per cent in 2016. This decrease reflects partners’ view that change is needed, particularly in the areas of modelling good governance, funding clarity and stability, and the ASC focusing more on partnership than compliance. A number of partners have expressed optimism the new ASC leadership will bring about positive change. |
| Maintained high levels of engagement and improvement in learning and development, performance management and internal communications satisfaction compared to 2014–15 survey results1 | Achieved | High levels of engagement were maintained whilst learning and development and performance achieved strong improvements. Internal communication levels have progressed since 2015. |
| Increased following on ASC social media platforms and increased media reach1 | Achieved | The ASC & AIS social media channels saw strong growth in 2016–17, with a 10.5 per cent fan increase to 111,133 for the main AIS Facebook page. The Ausport twitter account grew 27.5 per cent and the AIS Instagram account saw a 47.6 per cent rise in followers. |
| Increase in the diversity and amount of revenue from commercial activities1 | Achieved | The ASC achieved an overall increase of 3.8 per cent in non-government revenue. Value-in-kind sponsorship, rental income and interest all increased on 2015–16 figures. |
- Source: ASC Corporate Plan 2016–20, page 44
The ASC has continued to strategically promote the value of sport to local and global media.
The 2016–17 year included the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games. The ASC generated proactive media in the lead-up to the Games, including information and media factsheets detailing the funding and support provided to sports during the four-year Olympic and Paralympic cycle.
A press conference after the Olympic and Paralympic Games attracted extensive national coverage as the ASC recommitted to the principles of its high performance strategy.
The AIS Sport Performance Awards celebrated the outstanding achievements of Australia’s leading athletes, teams, coaches and administrators. The ABC continued as media partner for the event and broadcast the awards live on ABC radio. ABC Grandstand hosted and promoted the public voting site for the ASPAs, which attracted almost 21,000 votes — a rise of 18 per cent on the previous event.
Other key events and issues that received strong media coverage included: the launch of AusPlay, the ASC’s comprehensive national survey to assess the sport and physical activity trends of Australians; the appointment of the ASC new CEO, Ms Kate Palmer, in December; the launch of the National Sport Plan consultation period by Minister Hunt, at the AIS in May.
The ASC continues to use social media effectively to promote participation and high performance initiatives, celebrate Australian sporting success and engage with the Australian public. The ASC maintained ASC and AIS accounts whilst diversifying communication through the use of accounts for Sporting Schools, Play.Sport.Australia. and Experience AIS, the account for the commercial operations at the AIS campus in Bruce.
The ASC has grown its commercial revenue in 2016–17 including an increase in value-in-kind sponsorship revenue and gains in revenue from commercial activities across the site. ASC staff continued working towards the goal of introducing a national sports lottery aimed at providing the ASC with an additional, substantial source of non-government revenue. A number of key sponsors committed to new agreements with the ASC. In July 2016 the ASC expanded its relationship with apparel sponsor, 2XU, to include co-branded sporting wear for commercial sale and provision of staff uniforms across the commission enhancing the corporate identity of the ASC. The growth of non-government revenue sources will remain a focus for the ASC in 2017–18.
A number of key initiatives were implemented during 2016–17 to maintain a positive working environment for ASC staff. The Flexible Workplace Agreement (FWA) program, trialled initially in the Corporate Operations Division, was expanded organisation-wide with 105 staff using a FWA during 2016–17. February 2017 saw the launch of the Sponsorship of Talent program which aims to develop and foster a network of sponsor relationships between ASC leaders and high-potential employees to advance females in the ASC and the sport sector. The program intake included 14 female ASC level six staff members and futures programs may be expanded following feedback from the initial program.
The ASC had a high response to the Australian Public Service Employee Census with 87 per cent of full time staff completing the survey, a 14 per cent increase on the corresponding survey in 2015. The survey provided positive feedback on the staff’s attitudes regarding working at the ASC with 89 per cent indicating that they are proud to work at the ASC and 83 per cent would recommend the ASC as a good place to work. The Learning and Development (+9.1 per cent) and Performance (+24.8 per cent) survey indicators achieved strong results whilst the internal communication feedback continues to improve.
Minister Hunt, launched The National Sport Plan on 22 May 2017. Through a consultative process involving all Australians, the National Sport Plan seeks to understand Australia’s expectations of the sports sector, including our shared goals for high performance sport; sporting participation; cultural and public health outcomes and our willingness to pay for these services, opportunity and success. Lead by the National Sport Plan, the ASC began work in the second half of 2016–17 to review the Australian sporting environment and how the ASC can be best placed to operate as the sector leader into the future. This work will draw on a number of sources and recent bodies work to shape the strategic direction of the ASC including:
- National Sport Plan
- AIS Future Directions
- ASC Future Game Plan
- National Institute Network Review
- Australia’s Winning Edge
- Play.Sport.Australia.
- Strategic Asset Review
- Stakeholder workshops with State Departments of Sport and Recreation
- ASC staff workshops and consultation.
Work on the ASC Strategic Direction will continue through 2017–18 as the ASC seeks to evolve its operations to take a stronger leadership role, working together with the key players with the sector to enable sport to deliver on its potential to deliver on its potential, now and in the future.