Perceptions of Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and National Sporting Organisation (NSO) High Performance Staff on their Organisational Relationship and its Effect on Managing Olympic Performance

Abstract

The Australian sports system is a top-down hierarchy overseen by the federal government. The Australian Sports Commission (ASC), a federal agency, is the government body responsible for overseeing the governance, management and funding of National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) which are responsible for achieving success at international sporting competitions, including the Olympic Games (Australian Sports Commission, 2009b). The NSOs rely heavily on this support to operate effectively. Because of this arrangement, the ASC and NSOs work closely together to achieve the best possible sporting outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the ASC and Olympic NSOs to determine the effect the relationship had on Olympic performance. Five Olympic NSOs were examined: Athletics Australia, Cycling Australia, Rowing Australia, Swimming Australia and Yachting Australia. All five NSOs represent sports in which Australia has consistently achieved good results at previous Olympic Games. Furthermore, each NSO receives significant funding from the ASC and as such, is expected to continue to achieve success at the Olympic Games. Following an independent review of the Australian sport system in 2009, the review panel described the Australian high performance sport system as “one of the greatest inefficiencies in delivering elite success on the world stage” (Crawford, 2009, p. 17). As a result, the attention of this thesis was directed towards the ASC–NSO relationship and the governance of these organisations.