Deadline: 11-Feb-22
NSW Government is offering Centre of Excellence Fund to improve talent identification and development pathways, especially for female athletes and community engagement for sporting codes through the provision of integrated high-performance training, administration and community facilities.
The Fund’s focus is on creating functional, flexible and future proof facilities that are inclusive and meet the needs of all user groups including women and girls, people with disability, First Nations peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
The Fund seeks to establish innovative highperformance infrastructure that creates new and/or enhances existing partnerships that maximise utilisation and achieve sustainable operating outcomes.
Objectives
- The primary objectives of the Fund are to:
- Provide elite performance sport infrastructure
- Support talent identification and development pathways (i.e. athletes moving from pre-elite to elite)
- Support the enhancement of dedicated female programs and facilities to improve pathways for women and girls, in line with the NSW Government’s women in sport strategy Her Sport Her Way
- Improve the level of community engagement e.g. an increase in the number of community health and wellbeing education workshops held at a Centre of Excellence
- Secondary objectives of the Fund are to:
- Create multi-purpose and multi-use facility components
- Create inclusive facilities that meet the needs of females, people with disability, First Nations peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities
- Establish a diversified funding model
- Improve operational sustainability
- Promote and incorporate environmental sustainability and climate resiliency into design, construction and operation
- Promote innovation in sports science, sports medicine and technology
- Promote partnerships that maximise outcomes.
Focus Areas
Applications should focus on the highest standard of design that considers (where appropriate) the following:
- Connecting with Country and Designing with Country
- Best practice guides for sustainable development and climate change resilience
- Legislative requirements (e.g. Building Code of Australia and Disability Discrimination Act 1992)
- Best practice design principles (e.g. universal design, designing for dignity and accessible design)
- Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)
- Child safety standards
- Alignment to the infrastructure strategy(ies) or plan(s) of the NSW Government, relevant council, State Sporting Organisation, State Sporting Organisation for People with Disability, National Sporting Organisation and National Sporting Organisation for People with Disability
- Benchmark comparable projects and facilities
Funding Information
- $150 million has been allocated to the Centre of Excellence Fund.
- The NSW Government is allocating up to $75 million in 2021/2022.
Types of Projects
- Eligible projects must be on land within NSW and applicants must provide a signed letter of consent from any landowners for the project on the land on which the facility is to be developed.
- Additional information also sought includes evidence of applicant’s tenure and lease arrangements.
- Applications should be limited to constructing new or enhancing existing Centres of Excellence that maximise community engagement and demonstrate enhanced inclusion of dedicated female programs and facilities to improve pathways for women and girls.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be considered eligible, the project must be submitted through the Office of Sport SmartyGrants website.
- Eligible applicants are:
- NSW Office of Sport recognised State Sporting Organisations and State Sporting Organisations for People with Disability (including National Sporting Organisations where the state body is part of a unitary governance model)
- National Sporting Organisations and National Sporting Organisations for People with Disability
- NSW Institute of Sport, Australian Sports Commission (incorporating the Australian Institute of Sport) and NSW Regional Academies of Sport
- Australian Universities with NSW campuses
- NSW Department of Education operated specialist sports high schools
- NSW based professional sporting organisations competing in a national or state competition
- NSW based sporting clubs and associations, with the approval of their state or national body
- NSW Local Government Authorities, the Unincorporated Far West Region and the Lord Howe Island Board
- Private enterprises (for-profit organisations).
- Applications that adopt a partnership approach will be considered favourably. Applicants are encouraged to engage with all levels of government (i.e. federal, state and local), other State and National Sporting Organisations and Sporting Organisations for People with Disability, NSW based professional sporting organisations, and relevant peak sporting bodies in the development of their project.
For more information, visit https://www.sport.nsw.gov.au/grants/centre-of-excellence-fund