Applications open for Significant Sporting Events Program (Australia)

Deadline: 15-Feb-25

The Significant Sporting Events Program is a Victorian Government funding program that assists event organisers to enhance the delivery of national or international level sporting events in Victoria.

The sport must be recognised by the Australian Sports Commission and the event must be sanctioned by the recognised national or international sporting body.

Objectives

• The SSEP is designed to:
  • Support the development of, or expansion of, existing sporting events, or to attract new events to Victoria
  • Build capability of the Victorian sporting sector, and their workforce, to host high quality, inclusive sporting events
  • Extend the activities around national and international events to encourage more Victorians to engage in, and develop their skills in, active sport
  • Support the development of high performance and talent pathways for athletes, and potential athletes, of all abilities
  • Drive economic activity across the state and in local communities surrounding sporting events
  • Grow Victoria’s reputation as a leader in delivering world class sporting events
  • Provide a platform to deliver government to government outcomes and foster sport diplomacy relations.

Priorities

• The refreshed Active Victoria 2022-2026 outlines six priority objectives including:
  • Increasing equitable participation in sport and active recreation
  • Delivering quality infrastructure that is accessible, respectful and inclusive
  • Building the capability of the sport and active recreation workforce
  • Implementing good governance practices to ensure a safe and sustainable sector
  • Supporting a pipeline of sporting events within the Victorian events calendar
  • Encouraging Victorians to achieve success at the highest level through high performance.
  • Supported events are driving growth in the local visitor economies.
  • Victoria’s national and international sporting events are run more inclusively.

Types of Streams

• Event Assistance Grant
  • To assist with offsetting general operational costs associated with staging events.
• Event Development Grant
  • To develop or expand existing events or to attract new events to Victoria that deliver key outcomes for the State.

Types of Event

• National Championship
  • Event is sanctioned by the recognised national sporting organisation as a national championship for the   sport/discipline/category in Australia
  • The winner is declared the national champion.
• National Series Event
  • Event is part of a series sanctioned by the recognised national sporting organisation as the top tier national series for the sport/discipline/category in Australia
  • Points or rankings are issued that contribute to an overall national series champion.
• National Competition Match
  • A regular season or finals series match/es of the top tier national competition for the sport/discipline/category in Australia
  • Single pre-season or friendly matches will only be eligible if held in regional Victoria where the match is not played at the home teams’ regular venue or town.
• International Championship
  • Event is sanctioned by the recognised international federation as an international championship for the sport/discipline/category
  • The winner is declared the champion of a specific region (e.g. World, Oceania, Asia).
• International Series/Qualifying Event
  • Part of an international series for the sport/discipline/category in the region
  • Points, rankings or qualifying positions are on offer that contribute to an overall international series champion.
• International Competition Match
  • Australian national team competing against another international team OR two international teams competing for the sport/discipline/category in Australia.

Funding Information

• Event Assistance Grant:
  • Maximum Grant Value: Up to $20,000
• Event Development Grant
  • Maximum Grant Value: Up to $150,000

Eligible Costs

• SSEP costs could support:
  • General operational delivery of the event e.g. venue hire, temporary infrastructure, sport presentation
  • Delivery of additional sport development, capacity building and/or community engagement activities e.g. coaching clinics, school visits, officials accreditation courses, community come and try sessions
  • Marketing and promotional activities to grow awareness of the sport in connection with the event
  • Broadcast and/or web stream costs

Ineligible Expenses

• The SSEP will not fund:
  • The cost of preparing submissions for grants or event bids
  • The cost of engaging consultants to undertake feasibility projects
  • Purchase of assets for ongoing use, including but not limited to land, buildings, vehicles, permanent infrastructure and equipment
  • Recurring operational costs, including but not limited to rent, utility costs, wages and maintenance activities.

Expected Outcomes

• The anticipated outcomes from the SSEP program are:
  • More Victorians are attending and actively engaging in national and international sporting events.
  • Victorian sporting bodies have more capability and capacity to host significant sporting events.
  • Athletes have more opportunities to participate in events that encourage high-performance and talent development, including those of all ages, genders, sexualities, ethnicities and cultures.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible sporting events must:
  • Be delivered in Victoria.
  • Be a sport recognised by the Australian Sports Commission and listed as the National.
  • Sporting Organisation for their sport in Australia on the Australian Sports Directory.
  • Be nationally or internationally sanctioned by a recognised sporting body and meet the criteria of at least one Event Type.
  • Occur at least 6 months after the date of the submitted application.
  • Offer equal prize money for people of all genders, where prize money is awarded.
  • To be eligible, an organisation must:
• Be the organisation with the rights to host the eligible event
  • Be an incorporated body, cooperative or association (including business associations)
  • Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • Be financially solvent
  • Provide evidence of public liability insurance coverage to a value appropriate for the event
  • Have satisfactorily met reporting requirements on any grants received from the Victorian Government
  • Comply with the Child Safe Standards if required under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005
  • If it was named in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse or has received notice that it has been named in an application for redress to the National Redress Scheme:
    • Have joined the National Redress Scheme,
    • Intend to join the National Redress Scheme within 6 months of receiving the relevant notice, or
    • Have been deemed ineligible to join the National Redress Scheme

Ineligibility Criteria

• The SSEP will not allocate funding to support:
  • Events that do not strongly align with the SSEP outcomes.
  • Community or state level events.
  • Sport or business conferences including trade shows.
  • Charity fundraising events.
  • Events that have received funding from the Victorian Government’s Major Event Fund for the same event in the same year.
  • Retrospective funding where event delivery has commenced or is completed.

Application Requirements

• The following documentation is mandatory and will be requested as part of the application form:
  • Event summary – ‘one-pager’ including scope of event, marketing/promotional milestones, broadcast and/or livestream details, sport development and community engagement opportunities and event schedule/roster
  • Event budget – must include all income and expenses including financial support beyond the Victorian Government (draft budgets will be accepted). Applications for multi-years will require a budget to be submitted for each year of the event. Budget figures should be GST exclusive.
  • Letter of sanctioning – from the recognised sporting organisation confirming the level and sanctioning of the event. For international level events, a letter from the recognised international body is strongly encouraged.
• Other supporting documentation may be provided where relevant or appropriate including:
  • Marketing Plan/Social Media Strategy
  • Previous event reports or evaluations
  • Sport development and/or community engagement plan
  • Evidence of confirmation of other funding sources for event e.g. letter from local council.
• Documents should be attached to your online application in acceptable file types (e.g. Word, Excel, PDF). Maximum file size must not exceed 5MB. When submitting your application online check carefully to ensure all your attachments have been uploaded correctly.

For more information, visit Victorian Government.