Sport and recreation—sports facilities

MR MILLIGAN(Yerrabi) (4.09): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) there is a significant shortage of sporting facilities in the ACT;

(b) this shortage is limiting growth options for clubs and grassroots sporting organisations;

(c) isolated investments from the government into sporting facilities have failed to keep pace with growing demand;

(d) analysis from the Canberra Times has found that there is a geographical inequity in the spread of sporting facilities in the ACT, with Gungahlin and the Molonglo Valley generally missing out;

(e) local governments across Australia in areas such as Hobsons Bay, Orange, Victoria Park and Freemantle have previously commissioned sporting facility needs analyses to better inform sporting infrastructure investment; and

(f) comparable cities such as Newcastle, Wollongong and Geelong have provided certainty to their sporting communities by developing sporting facilities strategies;

(2) further notes that in the public hearings on the Standing Committee on Economics, Industry and Recreation’s inquiry into barriers and opportunities for participation in community sports in the ACT, several groups expressed concerns about the trajectory of sporting investments, including:

(a) committee members of the Yarabi Football Club who stated that “in our experience, sportsgrounds are uneven and unlevel, and have poor drainage”;

(b) the President of Friends of Manuka Pool who stated that “I am deeply concerned that too many pools are closing, with little planning for our community's future”;

(c) the President of the Royals Volleyball club who stated that “indoor space, or the lack of indoor facilities, is not a new thought that is being offered. This is decades old”;

(d) the President of Badminton ACT who stated that “all my clubs are bursting at the seams, at capacity. I cannot take new members”;

(e) the President of Basketball ACT who stated that “having a long-term facility strategy on how we build, develop and plan around our sporting infrastructure is really critical for indoor sports”; and

(f) the Executive Officer of the Community Sport Alliance who stated that “the whole purpose of having a facilities plan would be to give stakeholders some level of certainty about how we go about things”; and

(3) calls on the government to:

(a) commissionanindependentaudit ofall sportingfacilitiesintheterritory;

(b) include in the terms of reference of the audit:

(i) anassessment ofwhether existingfacilitiesandassetsarecompliant with lease and planning requirements;

(ii) an assessment of gaps and potential future gaps in current and planned ACT sporting facilities; and

(iii) provide recommendations on upgrades to existing facilities that would close gaps identified within the audit; and

(c) table the report in the Assembly by 15 December 2026.

Canberra is an active city that deserves spaces to play and a plan to deliver them. According to the latest data by Ausplay, the ACT is the most active jurisdiction in Australia, with 77 per cent of adults participating in sport or recreation at least once a week. That means we have over 300,000 Canberrans going for a run, playing backyard cricket or participating in organised sport.

It is about having a healthy lifestyle, both physically and mentally, but it also promotes essential life lessons. It teaches us the importance of hard work and training, to try your best and to be your best. But it is also about teamwork and sportsmanship—that you do not win every game but you always shake hands after a match. It builds community and social cohesion. For some people in our community, sport will open up pathways to a career. Just look at Patty Mills and CarolineBuchanan,bothbornhere inCanberra, who have gone on to compete on the international stage.

There is an opportunity here for the ACT government to keep excelling in the world of sport and recreation. Unfortunately, though, the government has not realised this opportunity. The sporting facilities shortage is truly at crisis levels. We have heard time and time again that our sports clubs and groups are struggling to find places to play. The lack of basic facilities was a highlight in the Assembly’s recent inquiry into the barriers and opportunities for participation in sport.

During this inquiry, the President of Basketball ACT said, “Having a long-term facilities strategy on how we build, develop and plan around our sporting infrastructure is really critical for indoor sports.” The Community Sports Alliance said, “The whole purpose of having a facilities plan would be to give stakeholders some level of certainty about how we go about things.”

A core function of local government is to identify gaps in sporting infrastructure and facilities and work with the community to fix them. This function has been ignored by this ACT Labor government for many years. When was the last time the ACT government actually delivered sporting facilities in the community? I am talking about completed. When was the last tennis court actually built in the community—not at a school but in the community—for competition use, a basketball court or new playing fields?

As noted in my motion, we have seen other local governments across Australia commission audits of sporting facilities to understand where they need to invest. The town of Victoria Park in WA could see that their population was growing and, similar to Canberra, it was growing in pockets. Population growth was just one of the factors

that they needed to consider when considering the town’s needs going forward. So they commissioned an independent audit.

Hobsons Bay Council in Victoria have also seen an increase in participation in sport and rec. Player registrations were at capacity. Waiting lists were growing, and clubs had to tweet their schedules to make up for the lack of facilities. Similar to the rise of pickleball and badminton here in Canberra, their community, like ours, just want to participate in their chosen sport. So, to make sure that they had an evidence-based approach for future planning and development, they commissioned an independent audit. The City of Newcastle faced many similar challenges to Canberra. They needed to balance upgrades to aging facilities with the need for new facilities. So they commissioned an independent audit.

These local governments and many others chose to commission a needs analysis, because they knew that was the best way to inform their sporting facility investment. Why does this government think that it knows better. We have seen what happens when this government tries to reinvent the wheel. Just look at the failed MyWay+ project or its abandoned HR project and the digital health record system. The Auditor-General described that one as potentially the most significant failure of government he has ever seen.

It is time to get the basics right. It seems that the ACT government is more interested in announcing the big headlines about the bigprojects,but they always seem tobedelay in their completion. Greenway is still waiting for an ice rink and the Home of Football is no longer and will become a community sports facility. Then there is Casey. Casey was promised a sporting precinct way back in 2012.

ACT Labor is certainly good at developing a headline or an election promise, but it is failing to deliver on grassroots facilities for local communities. As reported in the Canberra Times: “The government says the problem with the long-term community sports infrastructure plan is future governments might say, ‘We’re not going to fund that’.” That is why we need an independent audit—to ensure that any future strategy reflects expert advice and best practice approaches, to ensure that investment is equitableacross all ofCanberra. Weneed anaudit whichis independent of government, so that we can use the expertise of those in the industry and on the ground. We need an audit that is transparent so that the community know what to expect when they plan for their future.

We have seen the success of similar approaches in other local governments across Australia. It is worth noting that, just yesterday, the Minister for Sport and Recreation was in this chamber selling the benefits of an independent audit. The minister told us that the government is undertaking a condition audit of existing public schools. The minister said, “To ensure the strategy reflects expert advice and best practice approaches, the ACT government intends to engage a suitably qualified consultant to assist in its development.”So they understandthat thereis merit in an independent audit or review and that there are people out in the field with expertise that can contribute to any such audit.

Iam glad that thoseoppositeunderstandthe needforexternal expertiseinthesematters. We on this side of the chamber are happy to work with the community to understand

their needs. The Canberra Liberals know that the first step in resolving this facilities shortage is understanding the state of play, so that we know where we are and we know what we need to do going forward to set a plan to help fill gaps that are identified through any audit.

That is why I am calling on the government to commission an independent audit of sporting facilities in the territory, and that is why I am calling for recommendations to address any gaps or future gaps that have been identified, and that is why I am calling for the findings to be tabled in the Assembly, so that we can finally have some transparency and accountability from this government.

An independent audit will reveal the current state of play and provide that transparency about government decisions that have been made. An independent audit will provide the evidence and the building blocks for a long-term strategic plan. We need this evidence first, and we need transparency around that evidence. Then we can use that evidence and focus on the strategic plan going forward—a plan for investment in sport and recreation based on evidence. This will give assurance to our clubs and community groups that we will develop a plan for the future and give them the reassurance that the government is going to invest in sport and recreation, and then they can invest in their participants.

MR EMERSON (Kurrajong) (4.19): I rise to speak in support of both Mr Milligan’s motion—and I thank him for bringing this important matter to the Assembly—and Ms Carrick’s amendment, which we have all seen, and we will come to it later. I also thank her for her constructive work across the Assembly in putting it together.

We all know that community sports and the infrastructure that enables them are vital to community cohesion, wellbeing and health. They provide a place for social connection and community building—so much so that community sport was mentioned in hearings for the ongoing inquiry into men’s suicide as a key way of addressing the drivers of poor mental health among men. We know, of course, that its reach spans beyond that issue, as has often been canvassed in this Assembly.

In the context of the ever-growing strain on the territory’s health budget, as we also consistently hear in this place, we need to explore all opportunities for savings. 2018 research from KPMG showed that participation in physical activity facilitated by community sport infrastructure provided a health saving of around half a billion dollars annually. Given this research is now a bit dated, we can, of course, expect this number to have grown significantly.

We all know that community sport has wide-reaching cross-portfolio benefits, both for the government and, most importantly, for our community, which is why, like many residents, I find it worrying that multiple critical facilities in Kurrajong are in such poor condition. It is why community sport organisations continue to raise serious concerns with me and, of course, with other members regarding gaps in our sporting infrastructure.

Last year I visited Kingston Oval. It is one of the oldest facilities in Canberra, where so-called female-friendly toilets equate to a box having been installed over the top of a urinal. Ialso visited Southwell Park, where, due to serious maintenance problems, large

sections of the fields had been left unusable, and an infant child of one of the Uni-North club’s committed volunteers had tobechangedonthefloorofastorageshed, ashipping container, because there are no parents’ rooms there. There was a pavilion planned for in 2009, as part of the Lyneham precinct master plan, but, 17 years later, it is yet to be delivered—or even designed or funded. Mr Milligan reflected on similar frustrations in other parts of the ACT.

As central Canberra densifies, there are also concerns about the need to balance that development with the provision of sufficient community facilities—a concern, of course, that Ms Carrick raises regularly regarding Woden. That is why I recently sponsored a petition about addressing the loss of indoor sporting facilities also on the north side, particularly in light of the impending closure of the Dickson squash courts, which means that the number of publicly accessible squash facilities is going backwards. This is despite a 2015 report on ACT indoor sports facilities commissioned by the government that highlighted how indoor facilities reported “a very high demand during weeknight peak hours”. This was more than 10 years ago.

While Canberra is one of the most active cities in the country, we must not take this as a given. We need to proactively create the conditions that enable high levels of community sport participation for current and future generations of Canberrans. I hope that this motion’s calls leadto changeinthis area, and Iverymuch applaud Mr Milligan for bringing this motion to the Assembly today.

I have some concerns about some of the specifics of the motion, and I have indicated those during the conversations along the way, in trying to reach an agreed final form of this motion. I want to take a moment to note them in my remarks. Members from across thechamberwill notethat Ihavenot movedanyamendments toaddress thoseconcerns. My fingerprints will not be on the motion. What restraint!

Members may be aware that, during last year’s hearings for the ongoing economics, industry and recreation committee inquiry into community sport, membership of which is well represented in the chamber this afternoon, an ongoing audit of the ACT’s planning and infrastructure for sport and recreation facilities was discussed, as was an Australian Sports Commission-led national sport and recreation facility process that is underway, with a 10-year community sport infrastructure plan described as something government officials would “certainly like to be an outcome” of that work.

It seems to me that every non-government member believes that a 10-year community sport infrastructure plan is necessary. Government members might also be coming around to this idea. Personally, I would have loved to have seen today’s motion call for that plan, although I understand that a staged approach was preferred, so that is what we will be voting on with Ms Carrick’s amendment.

I am not sure that I fully understand the specific requirement for an independent report, although Mr Milligan made a strong case for it, and I appreciate him laying out the argument. I suppose I have a view that the government should or do have the capability within sport and rec to do this work themselves. I would have thought we have the public servants that are paid to do this kind of work, which really should be core governmentbusiness,andtheyalsohavealotofvaluable,Canberra-specificknowledge and connections that I think would be key in the preparation of this report.

Further, my sense—and it is an interesting disagreement—is that we are more readily able to hold the government to account if they fail to deliver a quality product than if an independent consultant does, a consultant whose work the government might then not feel obliged to adopt or act on in any meaningful way. I referenced before the 2015 indoor sports facility audit, which seems not to have led to all that many more indoor sports facilities.

Nonetheless, it seems to me that what we all want is a clear, long-term community sport infrastructure pipeline that makes forward planning possible for sporting organisations, that leans into the growth potential of many sports that have been hamstrung by the current lack of facilities, that addresses the deterioration in the condition of many current facilities, that enables Canberrans to connect and stay active together through the sports they love and also, importantly, is something tangible on which we can hold the government to account in delivering.

If this motion ultimately moves us in the direction of achieving that, I am all for it. In reading through the final calls on the government communicated in Ms Carrick’s amendment, I believe that it will.

With all of that said, I am very glad to support the motion. Again, I thank members, Mr Milligan and Ms Carrick in particular, for their constructive work on the matter.

MS CARRICK (Murrumbidgee) (4.26): I move:

Omit paragraph (3), substitute:

(3) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) commission an independent sport report to ensure the community has access to the facilities required to stay active;

(b) specify in the terms of reference that the report must:

(i) define the report’s objective to assess future demand and guide the ongoing supply, maintenance, and upgrade of sporting infrastructure, taking into account the current and future needs of the community;

(ii) No 45—4 February 2026 conduct a needs assessment to analyse community demand and identify gaps in existing facilities;

(iii) engage with community members and sporting organisations to understand their needs and priorities;

(iv)review trends and demographic data to inform evidence-based decision-making;

(v)audit existing facilities to assess their condition, capacity, suitability, and compliance with relevant lease and planning requirements;

(vi)identify gaps in the provision of sporting infrastructure and recommend strategies for short, medium and longer term upgrades and new facilities to meet the needs of current and future users;

(vii) include clear criteria for selecting sites for new facilities;

(c) provide quarterly updates to the Assembly, with the final report to be

tabled in the Assembly by 24 March 2027.”.

Irise to support MrMilligan’s motioncallingfor anindependent sport report toidentify gaps in community sporting facilities, along with the proposed amendment that I circulated this morning. I understand that this will be a two-stage process, and that this report will gather the evidence needed for the government to then develop their own strategy. This is the underpinning evidence that can be drawn on to inform the government’s 10-year strategy.

This motion is important because community sport plays a vital role in building social connection and improving the mental and physical health of Canberrans, from our young people through to seniors, from people living with disability through to our gender-diverse communities and those from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Sadly, too many facilities across the ACT have already been lost. As I have said before, in Woden alone, the community has seen the closure of our basketball stadium, pitch and putt, the bowling facilities—both bowling greens and bowling alleys—tennis courts, YMCA, and our gymnasium. Current ACT government policy supports relocating the ice rink and closing the existing Phillip pool to make way for apartment towers. These are losses that the community feels deeply.

I often think about the Weston Creek Woden Dodgers, who did play at the Woden basketball stadium. They have 693 registered players across 74 teams in Basketball ACT’s winter competitions. Since the demolition of the Woden basketball stadium and the Woden CIT courts—we did have basketball in the CIT that was previously there— the Dodgers have been left without a central home. Their teams now train across seven different venues in the south of Canberra, which makes it incredibly difficult to foster a strong sense of club identity and community.

These venues are below competition standard. Many school courts have unsafe flooring, noncompliant hoops and inadequate maintenance. Schools present ongoing challenges. They are unavailable during holidays and exams, cleaning and upkeep are inconsistent, and last-minute cancellations are common.

Managing 74 teams across seven venues is logistically overwhelming. Volunteers must juggle multiple contracts, keys, alarm codes, inconsistent conditions and unreliable access. This erodes volunteer capacity and diminishes the sense of belonging that community sport should provide. It is deeply upsetting that the club cannot run teams beyond the under 19 level, other than the elite team, because there simply are not enough suitable facilities. Too many young people who want to continue playing sport are forced to stop.

The Dodgers are not alone. Many sports are expressing the same concerns. The Royals Volleyball Club is travelling to Lyneham to access facilities. If we had our own, we might have more capacity in the north. There are no volleyball or badminton competitions available on the south side at all.

Even new infrastructure is falling short. The proposed playing fields at Stromlo Forest Park are too small. They are not district-level playing fields. District fields have not been identified in Molonglo, and I hope this report will finally address the sporting

needs of the growing Molonglo community.

This issue extends beyond courts, pools and playing fields. It includes the essential infrastructure that enables safe, inclusive participation—adequate accessible toilet facilities, safe lighting for women playing evening sport, access to drinking water, and reliable, co-located public transport.

Supporting community sport requires an interconnected approach across multiple government portfolios. As ourcity grows,throughhigher-density developments andthe creation of new suburbs, we must ensure that people have access to a diverse range of sporting infrastructurecloseto wheretheyliveandeasilyaccessiblebypublictransport.

I welcome the ACT government’s announcement of an aquatic strategy and support today’s motion calling for a comprehensive sport facilities report. To deliver the best outcomes for Canberra, I encourage the government to work closely with sporting groups, including niche and emerging sports, in order to anticipate future needs well in advance.

Finally, I hope that the development of this report includes identifying suitable public land and quarantining it, where needed, to meet future community sporting needs. Our community deserves long-term planning, equitable investment and facilities that allow all Canberrans to thrive through sport.

MS BARRY (Ginninderra) (4.31): I, too, rise to speak in support of this very topical motion moved by my colleague Mr Milligan, and I thank him for bringing this motion forward.

Good governments are defined by how well they plan for the future, and how great cities are designed depends on how well the government plans. It also helps the wellbeing and aspirations of their citizens. This motion calls for the government to undertake an independent audit of sporting infrastructure across the ACT to assess whether it is fit for purpose and to identify priorities for improvements.

This is a sensible approach. It is evidence based, and it would provide the foundations needed to inform future investment and development decisions. It is also entirely consistent with the motion that I brought forward to this Assembly last year, calling for similar audits of community facilities and the needs of multicultural communities.

Frankly, if this Assembly had any confidence in the competence of this Labor government, motions such as this would not even be necessary. A capable government would already have this information, and it would already be publicly available. What we see from this government is window-dressing and selective messaging, rather than serious planning.

Canberrans know what the reality is. They see the deteriorating nature of our community facilities. They see the ageing public pools falling into disrepair. They see uneven, poorly maintained playing fields and sporting ovals that were once well loved, now falling into disuse because basic maintenance is not being done.

They also know how hard communities have had to fight to protect the facilities that

matter to them, whether it is pools, Big Splash or local soccer clubs. For example, many residents in Kippax remain deeply concernedthat theexpansionoftheKippaxshopping centre, without proper consultation, will come at the cost of valuable sporting ovals. The truth is clear: all is not well with the sporting infrastructure in the ACT. Canberrans are calling on us to stop the rot, and to begin the work of repairing, restoring and protecting community infrastructure before it is lost altogether.

I visited a sporting club in the Ginninderra area. I wanted to use the bathroom, and the bathroom had no water. We had to go and get water from a different facility to be able to use a basic facility like a bathroom. That is a huge disgrace in a community or a world-class city like Canberra.

My daughter plays basketball. On several occasions, we have been asked to go to the Tuggeranong basketball centre and, on arrival, it was flooded. Families have had to go there, spend time doing so on a weekend, only to drive their kids back, because the facility was flooded. Again, that is a disgrace in a world-class city like Canberra.

That brings me to another very important issue; that is, when you look at the future, this challenge is only growing. As we know, an Australian Bureau of Statistics projection shows that the ACT population could reach between 739,000 and almost a million people by 2071. Any responsible government would be factoring this growth into the planning process now. The reality is that we must not only preserve our existing infrastructure but expand and improve on it, to meet the needs of our rapidly growing community.

We face a conundrum in this city. The conundrum is that we are concerned about the mental health and state of wellbeing of our young people. At the same time, we know that sport is one way in which mental health issues can be addressed. But there are not enough facilities for our young people to participate in the sports of their choice——to participate at a local level or, if they are seeking to be internationally renowned, there are very few facilities that meet world standards. That is a huge disadvantage to the people growing up in this city. Again, that is a disgrace in a world-class city like Canberra.

What Mr Milligan is calling for in this motion is simple: this government should start acting like it is serious about the future of our young people and of Canberrans in general who will call this city home. I strongly support this motion, as it will provide Canberrans with the baseline data that we need to make informed decisions, future investment and development to ensure that our sporting infrastructure is fit for purpose and available for future generations.

I thank Mr Milligan for this motion, and I commend it to the Assembly.

MISS NUTTALL (Brindabella) (4.37): For as long as I have been in the Greens, we have been calling for a transparent, coordinated and evidence-based approach to sports facilities here in the ACT. We are definitely not the only ones. Across the territory, it is impossible to count the number of people involved in organised sport in one way or another. When you consider that Canberrans play everything from soccer to ice hockey, to polocrosse, to tennis, to tenpin bowling at every level, from preschoolers muddling their way through T-ball and learn-to-swim programs, to elite athletes at the AIS and

when you consider the number of parents, coaches, spectators and volunteers standing on the sidelines, it is pretty darn clear that sporting facilities matter a lot to people in our territory.

We have heard from many of the sports and rec organisations that represent those people, and they are beyond frustrated with the current approach. As it stands, to sports organisations, it really feels like there is no clarity on if and when a facility will be upgraded. There is no detailed forward plan and no explanation as to why certain facilities have received upgrades while others are left long overdue.

A review into the ACT Sports and Recreation Grants Program conducted by McLaughlin Sports Consultancy about three years ago concluded that there is a large amount of unmet need, as represented by the 55 unsuccessful grant applications made in 2021. Stakeholder feedback suggests that there is a strong perception that funding is sometimes allocated for political reasons rather than genuine need. One point I always come back to is when the focus group was asked, “How will you know when you have got a fair dinkum sports funding budget?” they responded, “When the CAP budget is significantly larger and when politically-driven sport facility election funding commitments are significantly decreased.” I think we do need to reflect on that as members in this place.

The concerns of organisations across the sector, which are documented in the review, tell us of their experience of the current system. They describe a system that is reactive rather than planned, inconsistent rather than strategic and one that leaves clubs feeling likethey must constantly competeagainst eachotherforlimited,unpredictablefunding. When asked, community orgs were frustrated about things like the lack of attention and money given to disability access; the lack of long-term planning and funding commitment—many organisers do not know if their facilities will accommodate increasing participation in the future; and insufficient articulation of the government’s strategic priorities in the short term.

At the moment, organisations feel like they have to lobby for basic improvements to their facilities. This is a hard ask when they are run by volunteers. More than that, it is wrong. We should not be asking mums and dads and community volunteers to spend their time crafting appeals to the government for funding just so their kids can play sport in proper facilities. That is time they would rather spend cheering on their kids, jumping on the sausage sizzle and handing out orange slices.

Do we want successful outcomes to depend on need or on which clubs havethe savviest office holders? And I do mean that with full respect to savvy office holders, by the way. Keep doing your thing. But knowing how to write a good grant application should not need to be a course skill for a weekend soccer coach. The more time these people have to spend wearing lobbying hats, the less time they get to spend wearing their baseball caps and bike helmets. Simply put: we need to let sports groups be sports groups.

The government’s current approach to sports facilities planning prevents this. At the risk of oversimplifying things, I think it boils down to a lack of clarity for sports orgs and, quite frankly, for all of us around who, what, when, where and why investments are made in certain facilities while others are neglected. Our system must be needs based and evidence based, and it must be transparent.

In 2021, the government responded to the Greens calls for a comprehensive facilities management plan, through a motion in this place, with a road map. While, sure, it did provide a basic list of planned upgrades helpfully broken down by electorate, it was two sides of an A4 piece of paper. It did not tell community sports orgs how government had decided these priorities, when they would happen and why they were not on the list. There was no methodology, no justification and it was not comprehensive. We are five years on now, it is 2026, and I think it is pretty fair to say that a pipeline does not cut it. We are still in the same position.

The position we now find ourselves in is this: the ACT’s inventory of sporting facilities has been underassessed and ignored for so long that now everyone is due for an upgrade at the same time and there does not appear to be a solution articulated by government. This is why we need an audit and why the ACT Greens made an audit step one of our election commitment back in 2024. An audit will make the task of allocating funding appropriately so much easier. Crucially, it will make the allocation of funding based on real data for the supply and demand of sports facilities.

If I had to design a perfect audit, I would want it to include a few core elements: both demand and supply. On the supply side, a good audit will give everyone a comprehensive overview of the current state of repair of facilities, the geographic spread and the ease of access from public transport; and, for multisport facilities and ovals, which sports they can be used for. Then, when we look at demand, we will know which sports use which shared facilities; what level of play facilities are being used for, whether it is grassroots; whether it is elite; how frequently they are being used—like are they being used from dawn until 10.00 pm?; and how fast demand for a sport is growing and where?

Our common sense can quickly see how useful this would be when prioritising expenditure. For example, switch upgrades to a facility used by a few dozen people for six hours a week might be nice, but they would probably sit further down the to-do list than basic repairs to something that is used by a changing roster of enthusiasts every weeknight and all day on weekends. At times, we probably will need swanky new facilities, especially when a sport is growing.

The really awesome thing I have seen and heard from sports organisations is that they are eminently reasonable. They are competitive in the field, sure, but they get it. If your mate’s roof is about to cave in, you are usually pretty happy to wait a bit longer to get your line markings repainted. Elite athletes might need more polished facilities than juniors but, if we want those juniors to turn into elite players, not to mention just being happy kids, we cannot neglect them either. We need quality grassroot spaces too. We also have a duty to ensure that facilities in the ACT are up to scratch on accessibility, so that every Canberran has the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of sport and rec.

I understand that the budget is tight. That is exactly why we are calling for an audit— so that the money spent on sports goes where it is needed most and where it can then do the most good for our communities. I could go on—and probably will a bit—but most ofthis is pretty obvious, and Iam surethat most ofus agreethat seeing community sports get the facilities they need to function is so incredibly important.

Before I do sit down, I really do want to thank everyone for their constructive engagements on the amendments we have before us today. In particular, we were really glad—andactually had alot offun,workingwithMs CarrickandMrMilligan’s team— to come up with amendments that would get the constructive outcome that Canberra sports and rec orgs expect us to deliver. We as the Greens were really eager to get demand embedded in this audit and were very pleased when Ms Carrick was able to fit out calls into the one set of amendments—for the smoother debate experience. We will, of course, be wholeheartedly supporting her amendment. We wholeheartedly support calls for a comprehensive audit. In fact, this was step one of our commitments back in 2024.

In this, as in everything else, the Greens strive for evidence-based policy, not policy that comes from vibes and vested interests. Of course, this means the evidence actually needs to be gathered in the first place. Without a proper audit into sports facilities, we are effectively planning blind or at the risk of not planning at all. Ultimately, it is our hope that an audit forms the necessary foundations for an infrastructure plan that will direct funding sensibly—one that gives sports and rec organisations certainty, restores trust in the decision-making we do here and ensures investment is directed where it will deliver the greatest community benefit. Sporting clubs should not have to beg. Volunteers should not have to lobby. Communities should not be left guessing. I support this motion for giving the sector the peace of mind it deserves and giving this Assembly the evidence it needs to invest in sports properly.

MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood,MinisterforHomes,HomelessnessandNewSuburbsandMinisterforSport and Recreation) (4.46): I thank Mr Milligan for bringing to the Assembly this motion about sporting facilities in the ACT and thank Ms Carrick, for her amendment and for her discussions with me as well

I really appreciate and acknowledge the interest across the Assembly from everybody about community sport issues. I am sure that many of us have, throughout our lives and our children’s lives, accessed sport and recreation facilities across the ACT, even as spectators but often as participants in sport. So Ido understand the deep connection that most Canberrans have to our sports facilities in the ACT and that there will always be calls for more and better. I absolutely appreciate that.

I want to thank everybody again for their constructive engagement with myself and my office. I have appreciated the chance to raise the concerns that Labor had with the motion with each of you. It is not the audit itself that is the problem for the Labor government. As I have tried to explain to offices, the issue that the ACT Labor government takes with the motion is that it is not the role of the Assembly to direct the government to appropriate funds, which is what is required to commission an independent sport audit or sport report.

I accept that is still the case, and that we are not being called on; we are indeed being directed now by Ms Carrick in her amendment, and so—

Mr Milligan: It does not say directed.

Mr Cocks: I think it says “calls on”.

MS BERRY: It has changed, has it? I appreciate that; thank you. Sorry, I take all of that back. Thank you for that, Ms Carrick. I did not see that. I appreciate that change.

The government is working towards repairing a budget that is facing some challenging times. I am confident that the Treasurer will be able to do this. I am sure that the parliament takes the fiscal responsibility of the budget seriously, and we have seen that through some of the questions that have been asked of the Treasury this week. Every sitting week since this government was formed, and in these first couple of days of this week, the parliament calls on the government to appropriate funds—and that is the situation in this case as well. But I will come back to that in just a moment and talk to the motion itself.

The Labor government of course understands the importance of community sports infrastructure, which is why we continue to make investments in the development upgrades of facilities that increase participation and best ensure a positive sporting experience. I acknowledge the call for a long-term infrastructure plan. I expect that the government will, at some point along the way, be asked to develop a long-term plan. As members will know, I approach a long-term infrastructure plan in sporting infrastructure with caution. I am just noting that things do change. Yes, future governments might have to make different decisions that could mean that the expectations of sports communities would be impacted and people would be disappointed by that; however, I accept that that is what the community wants. So I am continuing my conversations with sports organisations, including Sports ACT, with whom I am having a further conversation about sports infrastructure planning coming up.

I also need to note that there are a number of other inquiries happening in the sports space. Firstly, the Assembly has a committee of inquiry into barriers and opportunities for participation in community sports, which is chaired by Mr Taimus Werner- Gibbings. The second is that the ACT Audit Office is also conducting a performance audit into planning for sport and recreation infrastructure. The ACT government is in the process of developing both an aquatic strategy and skate park user strategy. Both of these strategies will also look at existing infrastructure, community need and future infrastructure needs.

As I referred to, next week I am co-hosting a community round table with Community Sports ACT, where we are talking to sports from across the ACT about their priorities, including for infrastructure, their thoughts on what a long-term plan would look like and having aspirations and goals which are achievable and that the community could reasonably expect to be looking forward to. This is in addition to my quarterly meetings with community sports leaders as well as meetings on every other day with a variety of sports in this space. As had been referred to, nationally, the Australian Sports Commission is developing a national sports infrastructure plan, which is in collaboration with states and territories as well.

So to suggest that nothing is happening or that there has been no plan or nobody understands what is going on is not true. There is quite a bit happening in gathering together data from across the country as well as here in the ACT, and I expect there will be significant overlap with what this motion and amendment are calling for. In many

ways, this motion pre-empts some of the work that is happening in the parliamentary committee and the Audit Office, and potentially there could be some duplication and it might perhaps undermine some of the existing effort that is occurring. So perhaps there might be a need to come back to the Assembly and somehow bring all of this together, because there is quite a lot of work happening all over the place. I think it would be better if it was all brought together under one focused approach rather than so many multiple recommendations et cetera around all of this as well as the work that this motion is calling for today—just to sort of put that into the minds of people who Imight be able to talk about that with through the rest of this year.

I also want to be clear with the Assembly about practical realities of timeframes. Again, Iam very appreciativeof thechangetothetimeframeintheamendment thatMs Carrick is putting forward. If I come back to the appropriation of funds that the government needs to do to engage an independent auditor to do this report, we need to go through the budget process, as you all know, and that will not happen until June. Then, if it is successful, there will need to be a procurement process to engage an independent auditor.That process can takeonetotwomonths at least.Thenwe wouldneedtoensure that there was a plan to ensure that all of the ACT sports sector were consulted and a plan going forward around that and engagement of the community. Then, of course, all the work in Ms Carrick’s amendment—which is quite a lot of chunky effort—has to be brought together to put into a report. All of that takes time.

While I absolutely that it is important work and we should take a reasonable amount of time to do that, I am appreciative of the March timeframe. I will do my very best to ensure that a report is completed by that timeframe. What I can absolutely commit to is reporting back to the Assembly on work progress that is happening in the meantime leading up to March. It is my absolute ambition to meet the timeframes in this motion. But, as I said, with all of the other work that is happening and the work that is being directed through this motion and Ms Carrick’s amendment, there is a lot happening in this space. We will do our very best to deliver on the motion’s expectations.

I would go back to our understanding of our sports communities and their priorities. As I have described, there are a range of different meetings and opportunities through the ACT government and the team at sport and rec to engage around making sure that our sports facilities meet the needs of our community. Yes, we have some very old facilities that need upgrading, and there is funding going towards that. In fact, the funding has been doubled around grants programs and processes.

I disagree with Miss Nuttall’s assessment of the grants program. Clubs appreciate the opportunity to jointly fund different ideas for their own sports facilities and are supported every step of the way to apply for grants if there are people for whom grants writing is not their specialty. If their grants do not succeed in the first instance, the sport and rec team work with them to ensure that they have success in a second application for grants rounds going forward.

I think if we took that away and removed the opportunities for sports to work with governments or partnerships with other organisations, sports businesses or anyone else who wants to support sports communities across theACT,therewouldbea hugeuproar from the community about not being able to be part of that process. It is a very successful program. As I said, we have doubled the funding that goes towards those

infrastructure upgrades at our sports facilities, and it is very appreciated—from all the feedback that I get from the community—that that process is there and available.

Last week I was also excited to deliver a new dragon boat facility at Grevillea Park, a new and completed facility, Mr Milligan—just one of the things that the ACT government has delivered. We have also included upgrades to all five district netball facilities as well as the new pavilion at Phillip District Oval—completed infrastructure work. Right now, we are also upgrading Phillip District Enclosed Oval, the sports field. There is the new Gungahlin District Tennis Centre. We are expanding the Belconnen Basketball Stadium, which is obviously something that the basketball community has been calling for some time. And, coming up, there will be more district playing fields at Stromlo, Throsby and Taylor, and, of course, there is the Tuggeranong ice sports facility.Planning has started onanewsports facilityat Casey.It was not asports facility that was promised in 2012. I think it was a CRIP, a Community Recreation Irrigation Park, back in the day. But, talking with the sports community and others, a new indoors facility is the need out there. So that is the commitment for a multi-sport facility in Gungahlin.

In addition to all of these big projects, every year the government replaces and renews aging infrastructure, such as pavilions, irrigation systems, toilets and lighting to maintain safety and functionality of durability. Sometimes sports communities do not see some of this work, because it is invisible work but necessary to ensure that our sports fields and other facilities operate smoothly.

Last term I also released the Sport and Rec Facilities Roadmap of Infrastructure Projects,delivered from2020to2024.Wehavearobustunderstandingoftheindividual needs of each sport through the 2023 survey of all recognised ACT peak sport and recreation bodies—although I would say, talking with sports groups now, even after a coupleofyears ofthat survey being conducted,sport aspirations and goals fortheirown sports has changed. So we will go back and revisit that through our regular conversations with the sports clubs.

Through the process, the government received 267 proposals. They are all published on the Proposal Register online, which informs the ACT government consideration of priorities in the short to medium term. The government has been working on an updated roadmap similar to the previous years’ ones, which will have a forward plan to 2028, which I look forward to releasing in the coming weeks. All of this work is directly informed by community consultation, sector advocacy and identified need.

Before I finish, I would like to thank all of the fierce advocates and leaders in the sports community in the ACT. I love that we have a sports culture in Canberra that is ambitious, competitive and has high expectations—and I try to meet those high expectations as much as I possibly can. That culture drives the high participation levels that we see in our communities, and I think we should all be proud of that.

In this place, I know that we might all go about it in different ways, but I appreciate that there is a shared intent to support our sports community—so I will take that for what it is—all the way from grassroots community sport to the highest elite levels.

I am absolutely committed to ensuring that our sports have all of the facilities that they

need. I am always keen to work with them and meet with them to meet their needs and aspirations in the short, medium and long term. I look forward to reporting back to the Assembly on the work that will be carried out through the amendment to Mr Milligan’s motion. But I would just express again that there is quite a bit happening in the sports space and we might need to work on a way to bring this together so that it is more consumable for the community sports organisations and for ourselves, I would suggest. But, anyway, I look forward to working with everybody on all of that process going forward.

MS TOUGH (Brindabella) (5.01): Thank you Mr Milligan for bringing this motion, and Ms Carrick for your amendments. I rise to contribute to this important discussion about sporting facilities here in the ACT, using this opportunity to highlight the importance of sport to the Canberra community, particularly Tuggeranong.

We are lucky down south to have a thriving sporting community and opportunities for all, both young and old, those who excel in the sporting field, those who enjoy it and others like me who are at times a bit too uncoordinated so stay on the sidelines and cheer others on. I grew up on the sidelines of many soccer fields and sometimes cricket pitches, dragged along to support my brother, who was, and still is, a keen footballer. He was president of the local soccer club for a while and is still mates with many of the boys he played soccer with growing up, even though they are now all pushing their 30s. I have seen how sport brings people together, not just teammates but families, friends and entire suburbs, rallying together and encouraging a shared sense of pride and belonging. And as a parent, I am looking forward to being more involved in these communities into the future.

A member of my staff, upon seeing this motion, who grew up in Tuggeranong and was a proud member of the Brindabella Blues Football Club for over a decade, agrees with this sentiment. He reflected on the chilly mornings at Calwell Playing Fields, which I am personally not looking that forward to, the energy from supporters and the friendly rivalry of Tuggeranong United, which always added an extra layer of excitement. Each game felt significant and full of community spirit, even just for kids playing soccer on the weekend.

There is truly nothing quite like sport to unite a community. It has a unique ability to bring people together, to foster connections and strengthen bonds. You only have to turn on the TV or look online and see sport being played all over the country, from grassroots,kids’participation,allthewaythroughtoelitesport—cricket,tennis,soccer, NRL, AFL—and see the role of elite sport in encouraging grassroot participation, particularly a few years ago with the Matildas and the rise now in soccer, not just for boysbutgirlsas well.Thatroleofelitesport encouragingkidsintosport issowonderful to watch, even for someone who is as uncoordinated as me who just likes to stay on the sidelines.

So with that in mind, I was excited when it was announced in last year’s budget that $15 million was being invested over four years in upgrading suburban infrastructure in Tuggeranong, including improvements to some of our sporting facilities that allow participatory sports to flourish within our community. It was announced the Lakeside Leisure Centre in Greenway will be upgraded to expand community use, supporting school groups, families and sporting clubs. Lakeside Leisure Centre has undergone

refurbishment to improve accessibility features, enhance privacy and upgrade lighting and baby changing facilities. These upgrades are designed to be flexible and inclusive while meeting current accessibility and health standards. We have committed to upgrades at Active Leisure Centre this term, despite what some might think.

Additionally, other facilities across Tuggeranong are being upgraded to enhance community and player participation. This includes upgrades at Gordon Oval. Right now, construction is underway for the new LED sportsground floodlighting for the rectangular field. Our plan for Tuggeranong further commits to a new portable grandstand at Gordon Oval so that friends and family can comfortably cheer on our teams, making every game more accessible and enjoyable for the whole community.

Our plan for Tuggeranong committed to upgraded cricket nets at Gowrie Oval and we are delivering this. Planning and design are already underway on this work. I want to acknowledge the role of my colleague, Mr Werner-Gibbings, for his advocacy on this particular project in 2024 and what it means for a lot of his family and friends in the cricket world around Gowrie and Fadden.

But we know, Mr Speaker, that once kids hit their teens, fewer girls remain in sport and very few ever pick up sport again. I myself dropped out of swimming at age 12, tried to pick it up again at 15 and subsequently dropped out again. I do not want to speak negatively of the council-owned facilities that I grew up swimming at, but they leave a lot to be desired compared to the facilities here in Canberra, which although they get negative attention, trust me, are quite good compared to what I grew up with.

Just yesterday, I attended a panel at Parliament House hosted by Endometriosis Australiathat included eliteathletes talkingabout women’s sport andhow wekeepgirls and women in sport, particularly when their health might be getting in the way, and what supports and education can be provided in sport. I think that is a space we can explore further in the future.

But one thing we can do, and that the government is doing, is ensuring there are female-friendly change rooms at our sporting facilities to ensure a comfortable and inclusive space. Women here in the ACT are the most physically active in the country and we support this through making sure the infrastructure supports women. It is not just for players. Our infrastructure upgrades ensure female-friendly change room facilities for umpires and other officials are there as well to encourage women to stay engaged as officials. I think that is something that the inquiry has been looking at as well, or was hoping to look into.

In Tuggeranong, we have committed to female-friendly change rooms at Calwell, Wanniassa and Chisholm, with the federal government, in conjunction with Tuggeranong Valley Cricket Club and Cricket ACT, taking the lead on the female-friendly change rooms at Chisholm. This encourages the further participation of women and girls in cricket, a growing sport for women. It is wonderful that we can encourage that here in Tuggeranong. Looking through some of our other regional plans, sporting facilities are a key feature in them as well, reflecting the different needs of each different district depending on what is happening in that district.

Going back to the substance of the motion, while out and about in Brindabella, I

regularly meet with people who need more space for their sport or improvements to their existing sporting facilities. From basketball to pickleball, there are so many sports expanding and growing across our community, which is something that should be welcomed and celebrated but supported to happen.

Working with local sports to know what they need is really important. It is really important to know where those gaps are and where we can do more. I appreciate the work Minister Berry is doing to engage with so many different sports across the ACT because there are so many different diverse sports that need different facilities doing different things. I acknowledge the work of others identifying some of the gaps in sporting infrastructure as well.

It sounds like the minister does a lot of work engaging with many different sports, and I appreciate we have a minister for sport who is so interested in sport herself and out and about participating. So thank you, Mr Milligan, for bringing the motion and Ms Carrick for the amendments, as well. I just want to echo what Minister Berry has said about what is going on in this space. We have the Assembly committee, we have the Auditor-General, there is other processes as well and there is a risk of duplicating work. The timeframe is also something that needs to be looked at. But I think it is important that going forward we see what sports facilities are here, where it can be improved in the future and recognise everyone can engage in sport if they want to, and sports can grow.

MR COCKS (Murrumbidgee) (5.09): I am going to start today by apologising to my office because they have prepared a whole lot of really good speaking notes and I am not going to use them. It has been a fairly wide-ranging conversation today. There are some really important things that I want to touch on. Chief among them is the idea of evidence based policy. In the Canberra Liberals, we are pretty strongly committed to the idea.

I have to call out Mr Milligan because he has spent many years advocating for exactly what we are debating today. He brought a proposal for this sort of audit to the election in 2020 on the back of consultation across sporting organisations at that time. Mr Milligan has been nothing if not consistent and diligent and has absolutely continued to beat the drum on this. The plan that he brought in 2020 was exactly the sort of 10-year plan that others are talking about needing today. If the ACT had adopted the approach that Mr Milligan brought forward way back then—a strategic approach that is based on evidence and incorporates this sort of groundwork and data—we would not be in the place that we are in now. We would not be in a situation where, as Miss Nuttall was pointing out, we have organisations that feel that grant processes are being decided on the back of political decisions, rather than on the back of what people genuinely need in our community.

There are genuine needs in our community, and those needs are different in different parts of the ACT. In my electorate, if you go to Woden, the big concern is that many people feel that they have been missing out for too long. We have been watching our sporting facilities decay and disappear. Ms Carrick has touched on that already. There are places like the basketball stadium and facilities like the one we have been talking about on and on: the Phillip pool. Here in the Canberra Liberals—and I will give the Greens credit; they brought forward similar proposals—we have been speaking for a

long time about the need to address those gaps, but it has to be part of a strategic approach, and that is what this does. It lays the groundwork for a genuine, connected and strategic approach going into the future.

I know that Mr Milligan’s hard work has continued into the last 24 hours. I have to commend him for the open approach that he has brought to this. It speaks miles about the sort of approach he and all of us try to bring to this place, in that it was genuine, collegiate and collaborative work. I have to thank Ms Carrick for her open approach as well, and indeed forher willingness tomovethis amendment ratherthan having to work through the technical challenges of Mr Milligan trying to amend his own motion. That sort of collaboration is how we are going to start to overcome some of the problems of the inertia of the approach we have seen for far too long.

I was speaking about the geographic differences in need. When you look at a different area like the Molonglo Valley and the trajectory we have seen in that area, it is a different story. We are not seeing established facilities that are necessarily going backwards; we are seeing promised facilities undelivered. They are either undelivered or they are moving locations or changing scope. The community does not know what it is going to get or when it is going to get it. This sort of audit approach, a genuine evidence based approach, sets the groundwork so the community knows what to expect and when.

I think it is important to touch on one of Mr Emerson’s comments too. Mr Emerson seemed unsure why this should be an independent approach. Why not get the government to do it internally? That is a fair question. The government should be able to do this work itself, but it has not. We have heard concerns—I know the minister does not think these are genuine concerns, but we hear them—about political decision- making. This needs to be independent. It is right for this part of the process to be independent—to get the data and use an established approach now so that the strategic development can happen based on that evidence. Everyone in this place will be able to work from the same starting point. Everyone in the community will be able to see the same starting point, and that is highly valuable.

It is important too to note that we need this starting point before some of the changes come. People in the Inner South are concerned about the impact that the tram is going to have on sporting facilities. Are we going to lose playing fields around Deakin? If we are, wheredowefindlandtoreplacethem? Itisreallyimportantthatwetakeastrategic, evidence based approach going forward, and that is exactly what we are doing today, and we are doing it in a collegiate and collaborative way.

The minister needs to understand that there are a couple of things that she is getting wrong. The minister wanted to point out the Auditor-General’s work. I think it is important to understand that what the Auditor-General does is not the type of audit that this is talking about. The Auditor-General looks at the processes of government and the Auditor-General, he or she at the time, considers how things are done—not where each specific piece of infrastructure is but the approach the government is taking to things. This does not overlap with that sort of work. This is a very different type of work.

The minister also pointed out that there are all sorts of other strategies under development. This work will give the minister the information she needs to make sure

all of those strategies are working together in a cohesive way so that everything comes together strategically—not one strategy for this area and another plan for that area. The ad hoc development of sporting infrastructure is the problem. You cannot just make it up as you go, because, when you do, you end up with people not knowing why they missed out on a grant, and then it apparently sounds like the minister has the directorate helping the organisations to maybe get a grant the next year. Everyone will know where they stand.

This is a really good example of consistent work over a long period of time by the Canberra Liberals, but, now that we are in a different situation in this chamber, we can start to progress really important evidence based policy. That is the way things should work and that is what Mr Milligan has delivered today.

MR MILLIGAN (Yerrabi) (5.17): I want to start by thanking a lot of people here who have contributed to this motion. Ms Berry, the minister, contributed, as did Ms Tough and Miss Nuttall. I thank Ms Carrick for the hard work that she has done in working with my office and also with the government to come to an arrangement where we are all happy with the call-ons and what we are trying to achieve with this motion. It seems that it will get unanimous support. How good is that for the community! I also thank Mr Cocks. Mr Cocks raised a couple of really good points and was very complimentary too. I have to say it was the best speech I have heard in this chamber! I think that even Ms Berry was impressed with it. Mr Steel came down to hear it. That is how great it was. Mr Cocks mentioned that this audit provides the starting point for anyone, because it will be honest, it will be transparent and it will give anyone the foundation that they need to develop a strategy going forward. It will certainly help this government develop a strategy for sport and rec in the community, but will also help us to do the same.

Obviously, I understand that we are in a budgetary crisis at the moment, and sport and rec costs a lot of money. Having this audit, though, will set the priorities for this government. Whether it is a five-, 10-, 15- or 20-year plan comes with the budgetary process—right? How much can you invest in sport and rec? We realise that you have to be realistic in terms of how much money you can put into those areas.

Ms Berry mentioned that there are a couple of other inquiries happening. We have the standing committee inquiry that is happening and also the Auditor-General one. I took that into consideration when drafting this motionto ensure that this was complementary to those two inquiries. I would encourage Ms Berry, the minister, to come to us—my office is open—and say, “Hey, do you want to work on this audit? Do you want to work on these terms of reference together to ensure that we are getting a good outcome?” By all means, come in and let’s work together on it, because I think it is going to benefit the community and the sporting community across the ACT.

Ms Berry: Back at you, Mr Milligan. My office is open as well.

MR MILLIGAN: Excellent. Do you have snacks? I will come for sure. I would like to note a couple of changes to the call-ons, from both Miss Nuttall and Ms Carrick. They strengthened the call-ons and added additional support needed to achieve what we want to achieve, and that is assess future demand, do an analysis on community demand, and engage with the community, stakeholders and participants, which I think is really good. Reviewing trends and demographic data is very important, and also the condition,

capacity and suitability of all our facilities is really important. It needs to include clear criteria for selecting sites for new facilities. I think all those additions to the call-ons have really strengthened it. I thank them both. I am sure the minister’s office also contributed to what came out in the final call-ons.

At theend oftheday, Ithink it is goodforCanberrans.Ithinkit is goodfortheCanberra community. It will improve access, it will improve investment and it will improve our infrastructure. It will also give confidence to our sporting community, particularly our clubs and associations, that there is a plan for the future, that there is a plan for investment, and it will help them plan their competitions and events going forward. On the other hand, it would also help them to gather support, donors and sponsors for their club or association, because they would be able to go back to them and say, “Hey, the ACT government goes give a—about sport and rec here in the territory and they are investing in sport and rec.” I think they will also find it easier to help gain support for their club or association.

I will finish now. Once again, I thank everyone for the contributions that they have made today. It is a really great outcome. Like Isaid, let’s work on the terms of reference together and get a good outcome.

Amendment agreed to.

Original question, as amended, resolved in the affirmative.