The role of the ASC Board is to guide the strategic direction of the ASC, influence the development of its policies and make decisions regarding the overall management of its activities. Over the course of the year the Board fulfilled a range of governance and compliance responsibilities including; endorsement of the ASC’s Financial and Performance Statements, the Corporate Plan and the Annual Report.

The Board had oversight of several significant administrative matters throughout the year. It welcomed the Functional Efficiency Review as an opportunity to consider the scope of the ASC’s activities and their alignment with achieving government policy, and to identify opportunities for efficiencies and streamlining of processes. The Board provided guidance in response to the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) Audit report Award of Funding under the Community Sport Infrastructure Grants Program, and supported recommendations to strengthen a range of ASC policies, procedures, and decision-making processes. The Board also supported significant advancements to ICT systems and cyber security protocols to address current and future IT vulnerabilities.

As part of its commitment to the sustainable future of the AIS, the Board continued to support the development of the Detailed Business Case to present options for new functionality and infrastructure. This work assists the AIS to deliver its role; and supports best outcomes for athletes and sport in Australia for the longer term.

The Board also focussed its efforts on leading a united and collaborative high-performance sport system through the National High-Performance Sport Strategy 2024. The Board played an integral role in supporting the ongoing work of the AIS to secure high-performance funding and re-prioritising budgets to secure support for sports and athletes through to the postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the context of the delay to the Olympics, the Board

continued their support for the extensive work around athlete wellbeing and engagement through the expansion of the MHRN, new initiatives in professional pathway learning and opportunities for sporting champions to positively influence the community.

In unprecedented times with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board focussed on supporting the sporting sector and athletes with their return to sport through best practice information and toolkits in the form of the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment and the National Principles for the resumption of sport. The pandemic highlighted the importance of modernising traditional governance structures within sports and the Board continued to advocate for and support sports to build and implement sustainable and efficient structures.

With a view to driving greater engagement and participation in sport across Australia, the Board continued to explore options for an enhanced Sporting Schools program that delivers sustainable outcomes for all children and to focus on organised sport with measurable transitions to community-based club sport.

The Board met on eight occasions in the 2019–2020 period and held a strategy session in April 2020.

Table 18: ASC Board meeting attendance

Table 19: Mandatory Table — PGPA Rule Section 17BE (j),(i)–(v) — Accountable Authority, details of Accountable Authority during the reporting period current report period (2019–20)