A transformative couple of years have influenced every sector, industry and organisation, including sport. The playing field is changing, on and off the field.
Commissioned by the Australian Sports Commission and developed in collaboration with CSIRO's Data61, The Future of Australian Sport report identifies six megatrends that will reshape Australian sport on the Green and Gold decade to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
So what's in store for the next decade?
Excerpt republished from The Future of Australian Sport
This report outlines the evidence behind emerging megatrends in Australian sport, megatrends that will play out over the next ten years leading up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond.
In 2013 CSIRO, in partnership with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), published the first landmark megatrends report, The Future of Australian Sport: Megatrends shaping the sports sector over coming decades. That report outlined six megatrends that accurately described the movement in the Australian sporting landscape over the last ten years.
Those megatrends foretold the large shifts we have seen in sports between 2013 and 2022. For instance, A perfect fit described the rise of fitness industries, gym memberships and personal trainers based on growing health consciousness within the community.
This trend has played out with an almost doubling of Australians participating in fitness and gym activities between 2012 and 2021.
But a lot has changed since publication of The Future of Australian Sport report in 2013. There have been game-changing technological advances, the COVID-19 pandemic, increases in the impacts of climate change on our organisations and everyday lives, and a new generation of Australians with new habits, values, expectations, and attitudes to sports and physical activity.
Sporting populations and organisations everywhere are seeking greater diversity, access and integrity in play and participation at all levels. In front of us is the anticipation and excitement of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the chance to inspire sports participation across Australia through new pathways and in new fields on what has been described as ‘the green and gold runway’.
The social, economic, scientific, technical and diplomatic opportunities for Australia that the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games may inspire reach far beyond the actual events.
This report outlines the ways in which new megatrends will impact our sports participation, performance and organisation in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Games. It poses some questions for government, industry, sporting organisations and players on how they can move early to meet some of these challenges and capitalise on the benefits of those megatrends.