Additional support to help Canberra’s sports sector meet the challenges of COVID-19 while ensuring the community can continue to enjoy being active will be provided by the ACT Government, ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry announced yesterday, 8 August.
The support package announced will see fees waived for hiring ACT Government sportsgrounds, Stromlo Forest Park criterium and running tracks and public education facilities for a further six months.
In April, the ACT Government waived hire fees from 1 April until 30 September 2020. This extension will see fees waived at these facilities until 31 March 2021.
Pool and lane hire fees at all ACT Government aquatic facilities will also be waived for community and commercial groups from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021.
In a media statement, Ms Berry said it was “clear that COVID-19 is going to continue to cause disruption to our lives for some time, so the ACT Government is looking at how we can ease the burden on community sporting organisations so they can stay strong during this time”.
“These measures will help sporting organisations continue to employ staff, meet the needs of their members and stay financially viable.
“We are going to come into the summer sports season very soon, so these measures will ensure support is also extended to summer sports, such as cricket, so even more organisations can benefit,” she said.
Ms Berry said the provision of these waivers will provide an equivalent of $2.2 million to the sector, on top of $4.7 million committed from April to September, and will ease some of the financial pressure organisations are facing.
“The ACT Government has provided a range of supports to the ACT sports sector, including financial support for ACT peak sport and recreation bodies, early access to grants, rental relief for community organisations as well as general business support,” she said.
