On 1 February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, and the Minister for Sport, Bridget McKenzie, launched Australia’s new Sports Diplomacy 2030 strategy.

Australia is recognised around the world as a high performing and passionate sporting nation, and the Strategy provides a clear plan on how to capitalise on the country’s sporting excellence on and off the field, for the benefit of local athletes, sports codes, and regional partners.

Sport is one of Australia’s great strengths and an important diplomatic asset. It provides a platform for projecting our values, building people-to-people connections and strengthening communities.

Four main objectives

The Strategy prioritises four main objectives:

• empowering Australian athletes and sports codes to represent us globally, including Asia and the Indo-Pacific;
• encouraging Australian sports codes to build links with our neighbours in the region;
• maximising the tourism and investment opportunities from sport; and
• using sport to strengthen communities in the Indo-Pacific.

Sports Diplomacy 2030 was informed by national consultations with representatives from all the major Australian sports codes and other key sports stakeholders.

To read the Ministerial media release on the launch, click here. For more detailed information on the Strategy, click here.