Level 1, 88 Market Street, South Melbourne, 3205
Telephone (03) 9699 7655 Facsimile (03) 96992365
ABN: 45 004 076 297
Email: admin@ymca.org.au www.ymca.org.au
YMCA Australia
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
MEDIA RELEASE
YMCA AUSTRALIA APPLAUDS CRAWFORD REVIEW
YMCA Australia applauds the recommendations made as part of the Independent Sport
Panel
Review led by David Crawford into the Future of Sport in Australia,
released
yesterday.
“YMCA Australia has been deeply concerned about the
critical imbalance between
sporting investment at the elite level and that which is currently provided to community-
based sport in this country,” said YMCA Australia Acting CEO, Mr. Nick Cox.
“If we are serious about preventative health, reducing the prevalence of obesity and
maximising social inclusion, we must commit to a greater and more sustained
investment in community sporting infrastructure, supporting our volunteers and
promoting physical activity and recreation in our school system,” said Mr. Cox.
In submissions to the Independent Sport Panel, YMCA Australia emphasised the
challenges faced by community-based sporting organisations in attracting and retaining
volunteers who have long been the backbone of community-sport in Australia and we
strongly support the recommendation of the Panel to fund a national volunteer program.
“We would also like to congratulate the Panel on identifying groups within our community
that face distinct barriers to participation in community sport and recreation. In
particular, we support strategies to improve participation and access for women,
Indigenous Australians, people with a disability, migrant and refugee communities and
those facing significant social disadvantage,” said Mr. Cox.
The Panel
has echoed the core belief of YMCA Australia that the opportunity for all
Australians to participate in community-based sport and recreation is a critical
component of preventative health and social inclusion.
YMCA Australia urges the Federal Government to adopt the Panel’s recommendations in
full.
“We believe it is far more important to become a healthy, active and engaged nation than
to be a nation of gold medal-winning spectators,
and the work of the Panel has been
progressive and innovative in this regard” said Mr. Cox.
For all inquiries and media comment, please contact:
Mr. Nick Cox
Acting CEO, YMCA Australia
Mobile: 0417 114 955
NEWS 
