Basketball Australia Reveals its New Strategic Plan

Basketball Australia has revealed its Strategic Plan 2026–2028, a high-level roadmap designed to transition the sport from its current record-breaking participation levels toward the LA28 and Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic cycles.

The plan serves as the operational engine for the broader Australian Basketball 2040 Vision – Everybody’s Game, focused on having a systemic unity across state and territory associations.

The strategy behind the new 3 year plan addresses a bottleneck in the sport’s commercial growth: the infrastructure deficit.

Despite a record-breaking 2025, where participation reached an all-time high, the sport is currently grappling with extensive waitlists in regional and urban hubs. The 2026–2028 plan prioritises a national facilities strategy, aiming to convert burgeoning demand into sustainable revenue streams by increasing the “places to play.” By formalising governance under the “Leading” pillar, Basketball Australia intends to create a more attractive proposition for private investment and government grants ahead of the home Games.

Commenting on the strategic plan, Basketball Australia CEO, Matt Scriven, said: “This Strategic Plan is about harnessing that momentum – improving the experience for every participant, protecting the safety and integrity of the game, and working together as one basketball community.”

“Basketball is deeply embedded in communities across Australia, and the passion for our game has never been stronger,” Scriven said.

Long-Term Commercial Trajectory for Basketball Australia

With the Brisbane 2032 Games acting as a long-term commercial anchor, the 2026–2028 period is viewed as the “foundational phase.”

Basketball Australia chair, John Carey, emphasised that collaboration across the entire ecosystem is the only way to meet the sport’s lofty 2040 ambitions.

Five Strategic Pillars (2026–2028)

The organisation has identified five key areas of investment to ensure the sport remains commercially competitive in a crowded Australian landscape:

• Participation: Streamlining the entry-level experience to reduce churn and address regional waitlists.
• People: A focus on workforce capability, specifically targeting the retention of referees and volunteer administrators who underpin the grassroots program.
• Performing: Strengthening high-performance pathways to ensure the Boomers and Opals remain podium contenders at LA28 and beyond.
• Leading: Implementing best-practice governance to align state and territory bodies under a unified national commercial strategy.
• Impact: Expanding basketball’s cultural footprint through enhanced digital engagement and community connection.

Download the Basketball Australia Strategic Plan 2026–2028 here.

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