CAUGHT up in the cloud of the postponed Tokyo Olympics, the Australian Institute of Sport is cashed up for another Games campaign ahead of Paris 2024.

The extension of high-performance sport out of Canberra will be able to plan further ahead with greater clarity following the details behind the federal budget on Tuesday night.

A budget boost of $132.8 million over the next three years excels the long-term funding of the institute in Bruce to continue the progress in performance pathways for developing and emerging athletes including their wellbeing.

Australian Sports Commission chair Josephine Sukkar and AIS chief executive Peter Conde both welcomed last night’s budget extension through to 2023-24 financial year.

“National sporting organisations have been asking for longer-term funding, so they can plan further ahead and so we thank the Australian government for delivering this high-performance funding right through to Paris 2024,” Sukkar said.

“This budget helps future-proof Australian high-performance sport, as it also enables us to start laying the foundations for a potential home Games in Brisbane in 2032.

“It is a huge show of support for our current Australian athletes, but it’s also a wonderful commitment to developing our champions of the future.”

The government has also forked out further funding to the AIS to include:

• $3.5 million towards increased operational costs for the participation of the Australian Paralympic team’s in Tokyo due to the impact of COVID-19;
• $5 million to Basketball Australia to plan and deliver the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Australia and increase female participation and leadership in basketball;
• $12 million to Football Australia to support the Matildas’ high-performance program in the lead up to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, including community engagement to encourage more participation in football by women and girls.

The postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are scheduled to be held through July and September more than 12 months after it was postponed over the global pandemic.

The reassurance comes at a time when international travel has cast doubt over Australia’s national sporting interests.

The AIS still expects to confirm high-performance funding to sports for Paris 2024 by the end of the calendar year no matter should the Games in Japan take place.

The AIS provides funds for 56 high-performance programs across Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games competition that supports more than 2600 athletes in the Australian high-performance system at any given time.

A total of $82.2 million will be invested over the next three-year period to enable the AIS to carry on its crucial work of developing performance pathways for emerging athletes and their mental wellbeing.

“Our goal is to create a successful and sustainable Australian sporting system, so this is an enormous step,” Conde said.

The AIS performance pathways has created 126 jobs over the past two years across sports.

Over the same period, it has delivered around $15.4 million in pathways solutions grants to 33 different sports for talent identification, coach development and athlete health.

The AIS established an Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement team in 2018, which Conde says the renewed funding would enable that vital work to continue.

“We’ve been able to establish vital services such as the AIS Mental Health Referral Network and a national network of 33 Athlete Wellbeing managers in sports right across the country. We’ve launched initiatives to support outstanding high performance sporting cultures that includes a sharpened focus on holistic coach development,” Conde said.

The measured cash injection from the budget will have a direct impact on financial support for athletes, allowing the AIS to provide more than $14 million each year in direct grants.