The Marshall Government’s Partnerships Program responds to the priorities highlighted within the Game On: Getting South Australia moving initiative, a forward looking agenda which aims to get South Australians more active, more often and enjoying the many social, health and lifestyle benefits sport and recreation provide.

Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, Corey Wingard, said the idea behind the new grant program is to bring together sport and recreation stakeholders, government and non-government bodies, and the for-profit and not-for-profit sector, in an effort to build a more active state.

“Currently, only 58% of adults in South Australia meet the physical activity requirements of at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week,” Minister Wingard said.

“Unfortunately, this has been an ongoing trend which is why we’re exploring innovative ways to shift the dial on activity levels – the Game On initiative has highlighted that a coordinated collaborative approach must be adopted across all stakeholder groups if we are to achieve this.

“The Partnerships Program will have an important role to play in helping us reach our five-year and 10-year targets which would see 62% and 66% of adults, respectively, meet the physical activity requirements.

“I’m excited by the prospect of what we can achieve by creating meaningful opportunities for sport, recreation and racing groups to work better together through this new grant program.

Organisations that have a project which addresses any of the following Game On opportunities are encouraged to apply:

• Lifelong physical activity
• Growth in active transport
• Active young people
• Affordable sport and recreation opportunities
• Sustainable sport and recreation sector
• More and better trained volunteers

Successful applicants will utilise innovation, research and technology to support the adaption and evolution of sport and recreation programs, services and approaches.

All projects must also be able to evidence partnerships by providing documentation that shows at least one other organisation is contributing to the development and delivery of the project.

A secondary stream of funding will also be available through the Partnerships Program to support nationally affiliated State Sporting Organisations (SSOs) whose discipline competes or will compete in the current or next cycle of Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports.

These SSOs will be able to apply for funding to develop and operate their performance pathways so that South Australian high-performance athletes can achieve their potential at an elite level.

Applications for the Partnerships Program will be open until midday 3 March 2021.