Sport Australia Chair John Wylie said the funding will ensure even more children across Australia can get active, engaged and have fun through sport.

“Sporting Schools programs are provided free to children and their families to help students build the confidence and capability to be active for life,” Mr Wylie said. “Since starting in 2015, Sporting Schools has distributed $240 million in grants to more than 7,900 schools.

“We know children need 60 minutes of physical activity a day so the Sporting Schools program is a fantastic way for children to get active at school while trying a variety of different sports.”

Sport Australia has partnered with more than 30 national sporting organisations (NSOs) offering programs in primary schools and a targeted program for Year 7 and 8 students in secondary schools.

Sporting Schools recently welcomed Australian Taekwondo on board who will be offering their Taekwondo Kickstarters program to primary schools from Term 4, 2020. The program encourages children to develop confidence, focus and physical discipline which they can apply in all areas of their lives.

The Sporting Schools extension is on top of the Australian Government’s announcement in June 2020 that an additional $50.6m is being invested in high performance sport over the next two years, enabling the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to maintain support for NSOs and provide certainty for Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, and athletes looking toward the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic/Paralympics and Birmingham Commonwealth Games. This investment cements an increase in high performance sport funding from $105m to $145m over the last eight years.

Mr Wylie also welcomed the Australian Government’s continued investment in women’s sport providing $2.4 million to help plan and deliver the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“What better way to encourage and inspire girls and women to participate in and enjoy sport than to see some of our greatest athletes on the world stage.”