Game on as Sports Commission calls for opinions on future infrastructure

Posted on 29 Jul 2025

By Nick Place, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia

Play Well slide — The Play Well initiative intends to make sport accessible, safe and welcoming for everybody. Pic: Play Well.

Cold showers in the change rooms could finally be a thing of the past if the Australian Sports Commission’s new plan works out.

The ASC is calling for people from all levels of the sports, government and infrastructure sectors to contribute to its new initiative, Australia’s Sports Participation Strategy: Play Well, with the aim of developing more inclusive, accessible and multipurpose community sporting facilities across the nation.

Its online survey is open to anybody with expertise in those areas who is interested in helping to guide the plan.

The ASC’s executive general manager of sport and community capability, Richard McInnes, said the plan aimed to ensure every Australian had access to the places and spaces they needed to be able to participate in sport.

“Our facilities need to be welcoming, accessible and multi-purpose so all Australians can access and enjoy the benefits of sport,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure that everyone can participate in sport and have a great experience wherever they choose to play.”

Australia's sporting infrastructure needs work to make it available to all. Pic: Play Well

This has not always been the case. Last year, for example, Football Australia claimed that $2.9 billion was required in infrastructure spending to bring Australia’s grassroots soccer facilities up to an acceptable level. The success of the Matildas national team has seen female participation in grassroots level soccer surge, yet a Football Australia report found that only two in five clubs had female-friendly change rooms – with enough toilet cubicles and separate spaces for men and women – while only one in four clubs had toilets accessible to people living with disability.

Other sports face similar infrastructure challenges.

The survey focuses on the development of a strategic approach to the creation of versatile and sustainable sporting hubs, consistent universal design standards and collaboration between users of multi-sport facilities, according to the ASC. It is open to responses until late August.

“If you work in sport or infrastructure and want to help make community sport facilities better, I encourage you to have your say by filling out the survey,” McInnes said.

“If you work in sport or infrastructure and want to help make community sport facilities better, I encourage you to have your say by filling out the survey.”

ASC's executive general manager of sport and community capability, Richard McInnes

The Play Well strategy aims to make sports facilities accessible to people from all ages, backgrounds, genders and abilities.

The Play Well strategy has six priority areas, one of which is Activating Places and Spaces, where the ASC wants to develop a National Sport Infrastructure Infrastructure Action Plan, including:

the development of a strategic approach to the creation of versatile, accessible and sustainable sports hubs
consistent facility standards and design principles across the sector that leverage universal design principles
collaborative management practices that promote cooperation between sports and facility users
innovative funding solutions and levers of influence to support facility development, management and sustainability.

This is where community input kicks in. The ASC says anybody working in a sporting organisation, or local or state government, might be interested in having a say in the future of community sport.