Australia is a successful global leader and innovator in sport. We are known as an active and healthy sporting nation, producing a broad range of athletes and sports administrators with integrity and character.

Our love and dedication to sport can provide us with unique opportunities to engage our neighbours, and advance our national interests. Sport allows us to build and extend our influence in our region and beyond. We also use our love of sports as an expression of who we are and what we stand for as an open trading partner to the globe.

Sports Diplomacy Strategy

In 2015, Australia released its first Sports Diplomacy Strategy, setting in motion a new era of international sporting engagement.

Read: Australian Sports Diplomacy Strategy 2015–2018

In 2019, Sports Diplomacy 2030 was launched, building on the success of the first strategy.

• Sports Diplomacy 2030 [PDF 5 MB]
• Sports Diplomacy 2030 [DOCX 995 KB]
   
• One page summary [PDF 749 KB]
• One page summary [DOCX 34 KB]

The Sports Diplomacy 2030 strategy provided for a periodic review every four years. DFAT has now completed this review. 

In response to this internal review, the Australian Government has announced that the Strategy will be updated to maximise Australia’s advantage from the “green and gold decade” of major sporting events in Australia leading up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The updated Strategy will also ensure Australia’s sports diplomacy approach aligns with the new National Sport Strategy, currently being developed by the Office for Sport in the Department of Health and Aged Care.

The Australian Government also announced that a number of internationally focused national sporting organisations and peak bodies will be invited to join a new Sports Diplomacy Consultative Group.

This will provide a regular forum to discuss strategic and economic opportunities and risks in international sport, including upcoming events in Australia and offshore, and the ways in which government and the sport sector can work together to advance shared priorities. 

This Consultative Group will be complemented by a new Annual Sports Diplomacy Roundtable, where a broad range of stakeholders from the sports sector will be invited to participate and share their perspectives to help shape the future of sports diplomacy.

Sports Diplomacy MOOC

La Trobe University Centre for Sport and Social Impact and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have collaborated to create the world's first Sport Diplomacy MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). The course provides participants with a good understanding of Australian sporting values and the soft power potential of sport.

The Sports Diplomacy MOOC is free and has been designed for team leaders, coaches, managers, administrators, high-performance managers, sports scientists, sports psychologists, umpires and referees, and people involved in sport for development programs. Enrol now.

Sport for development

Sport is a globally recognised vehicle to achieve development outcomes in areas such as health, social cohesion, gender equality and disability inclusion. The Australian Government strongly supports these outcomes through its targeted sport for development programs, TeamUp, in the Pacific.

Team Up is an Australian Government sport for development program supporting partnerships across the Pacific that use sport to bring people together, champion inclusion and create opportunity. The program is particularly focused on attracting women, girls and people with disability to sports, and ensuring that sports organisations are safe, inclusive and accessible. 

Learn more about the history of Australian government support for sport for development.

Sport for Sustainable Development MOOC

Sportanddev, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade have collaborated through the Team Up program to offer the Sport for Sustainable Development: Designing Effective Policies and Programmes MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). The course allows participants to explore the ways in which sport can actively contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and other objectives.

The Sport for Sustainable Development MOOC has been designed for anyone interested in how sport can be used in development and how to effectively use sport to enable change. This includes government officials, intergovernmental officers, sport bodies, public policy experts, private sector professionals, civil society actors including NGOs, practitioners, academics, students and volunteers. Due to its popularity, it has been translated into French, Arabic and Spanish. Enrol now.

PacificAus Sports

PacificAus Sports is an Australian Government sports diplomacy initiative developing pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in elite competitions and access high performance coaching in Australia and internationally. The program creates new opportunities for athletes, coaches and administrators to train, play and grow together. Through collaborative and ambitious partnerships with Australian national sporting organisations, PacificAus Sports drives success for high performance sport in the Pacific, unlocking the potential of a new generation of sporting champions.