Fox Sports Federal Grant Under Review By Auditor General

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ox Sports’ $40 million grant from the Australian Federal Government will be reviewed by the auditor general, Grant Hehir, after a request made by Greens party senator, Sarah Hanson-Young.

The grant, accumulated over a six-year period, was awarded to Fox Sports to support coverage of female, niche and under-represented sports.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), Hanson-Young sent a letter to Hehir, requesting the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) to “take a closer look at the funding arrangements.”

According to SMH, Hanson-Young said in her letter: “Australia has two public broadcasters who could have received the funding instead.”

“In order for taxpayers to watch women’s sport on Foxtel, they need to pay for a subscription, effectively paying twice,” Hanson-Young said.

“I hope you will agree that this program raises serious questions about value for money, processes undertaken for spending taxpayer funds and ultimately the ability for the so-called intent of a funding program to actually be delivered,” she said.

The Federal Government granted $10 million to Fox Sports in July 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many live sporting events were either postponed or cancelled.

In response, Foxtel have told the SMH that they are looking into being more transparent with the way they use the grant.

“Given there is broader public interest in this issue, we are looking at options for how we can provide more public information on the way we use the grant to support sports,” a Foxtel spokesman said.