PPG was commissioned by the Australian Sports Foundation to estimate the financial, health, and budgetary impacts of designating amateur sports clubs and athletes as having a ‘charitable purpose’.
Independent economic research & policy analysis.
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Key findings at a glance
Charitable status could unlock significant new value for grassroots sport
Recognition as a charitable purpose would open a new source of funding for eligible clubs and athletes, with benefits flowing through to participation, community health and government expenditure.
$24M
Ancillary Fund distributions to amateur sport in 2024–25
$103M
Annual distributions to amateur sport by 2029–30
34%
Average annual growth in distributions, 2024–25 to 2029–30
71,864
Amateur sports clubs and athletes that could become eligible
190K+
New sports participants over four years, 2024–25 to 2027–28
$370M
Savings to the Federal health budget, 2024–25 to 2027–28
Amateur sport could access more than $100 million annually by 2030
Ancillary Funds currently distribute tax-deductible charitable funding through eligible organisations, but amateur sport cannot directly benefit because sport itself is not presently designated as a charitable purpose.
Figure 1: Projected Ancillary Fund distributions to amateur sport ($ million per year)
Distributions grow from around $24 million in 2024–25 to $103 million in 2029–30 as sport ramps up to a 4.5% share of Ancillary Fund distributions by 2028–29.
2024–25
$24M
2025–26
$34M
2026–27
$57M
2027–28
$77M
2028–29
$95M
2029–30
$103M
Note: Projected distributions via the Australian Sports Foundation Charitable Fund (ASFCF), assuming amateur sport is granted charitable-purpose status. Source: PPG, Levelling the Playing Field (February 2024), Chart 1.
A conservative projection: The model assumes sport reaches only 4.5% of Ancillary Fund distributions, around two-thirds of the average share currently received by Arts & Culture charities.
The downstream savings could exceed the cost of additional sports funding
The proposal would not create a new pool of tax deductions. Amateur sport would instead receive a share of charitable giving already flowing through Australia’s Ancillary Fund system. At the same time, increased sports participation could generate substantial healthcare savings for government.
Table 1: Funding, participation and health savings, first year vs 2029–30
Measure
2024–25
2029–30
Sports Funding
$24M
$103M
New Participants
23,849
103,446
Health Savings
$42M
$225M
Note: Sports funding is annual Ancillary Fund distributions to amateur sport; new participants is the number of additional sports participants in that year; health savings are annual reductions in Federal health expenditure. All figures are projections. Source: PPG, Levelling the Playing Field (February 2024), Tables 2–3.
Fiscally responsible reform: The change is projected to leave total ATO tax receipts unchanged while unlocking new grassroots funding and generating substantially larger health-related savings for the Federal Budget.