Australian Athletics Strategic Plan 2026–2036 Strategic Analysis

Australian Athletics has officially launched its 2026–2036 strategic plan, establishing a ten-year operational roadmap designed to scale participation, expand commercial revenue, and drive sustained high-performance outcomes across international competition.

Frameworked around the banner “Unleashing the Power of Athletics,” the blueprint targets full integration across grassroots Little Athletics, recreational running demographics, and elite national team development pathways leading into and beyond the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The strategy builds directly upon the foundational Athletics in Australia National Participation Plan released earlier in the year, formalising structural alignment between Australian Athletics, state and territory member associations, and local community club networks.

By establishing a unified lifecycle pathway, the governing body aims to capitalise on Australia’s massive recreational running and walking demographics to convert informal fitness participants into long-term commercial stakeholders, club members, and event competitors.

Emphasising the impact of establishing a unified ten-year strategy for the sport, Australian Athletics president, Jane Flemming, said: “This strategy is more than a roadmap for the next decade.”

“It is a statement of who we are, where we are going and the role athletics can play in the lives of Australians.

“We have an extraordinary opportunity ahead of us, and the decisions we make today will shape the future of athletics for generations to come.

“Our ambition is to build a sport that is stronger at every level, from the youngest child discovering athletics for the first time to our athletes representing Australia on the world stage, to the local casual runner who enjoys the social connections of our sport,” Flemming said. 

Australian Athletics CEO, Simon Hollingsworth, highlighted the necessity of commercial innovation and community alignment leading toward Brisbane 2032.

“Athletics is accessible to all Australians, and our new vision captures the unique features of the sport.”

“With a clear strategy for growth, we are positioning athletics for long-term sustainable success.

“We want to continue producing world-class athletes to 2032 and beyond, but our ambition goes much further.

“We want to connect with more Australians, embrace innovation and create new opportunities for people to engage with athletics, whether that is at the track, on the road or in their local community.

“We now have a clear blueprint and ambition.

“The focus now is on bringing our people, partners and athletics community together to deliver it,” Hollingsworth said. 

Core Strategic Pillars and Operational Enablers

The decade-long framework is built around three pillars supported by five operations:

• High Performance – Championing Greatness: Mandates sustained podium success at international benchmark events, the continuous development of world-class coaching environments, and expanded sports science and sports medicine integration for high-performance athlete pipelines.
• Core of Athletics – Strengthening the Heart of the Sport: Focuses on unifying development pathways, optimising event delivery models, and supporting the national network of coaches, technical officials, club administrators, and volunteers.
• Beyond the Track – Inspiring New Audiences: Targets broader commercial monetisation, digital broadcast innovation, and direct engagement with Australia’s millions of casual road runners, trail runners, and recreational walkers.
• Key Delivery Enablers: Execution is underpinned by five core operational pillars, encompassing strong governance and integrity frameworks, strategic workforce investment, financial resilience, expanded commercial sponsorship ambition, and modern technology infrastructure.

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