Australian Sport - Better by Design?

by Bob K. Stewart, Matthew Nicholson, Tri T. Ha

Australians have invested an enormous amount of emotional and physical capital in their sporting systems and structures. While Australian sport has many times been dissected from a historical and cultural perspective, there is little detailed analysis of sport's relationship with government.
The book focuses on sport policy, and examines the ways in which government has affected the development of Australian sport since 1919. The text identifies the political, economic and cultural context in which policies were set, and examines critical policy shifts. The book also provides a strong theoretical foundation by first discussing the underlying principles of policy formulation, and second, the rationale for government intervention in national sport. It includes a number of sport policy case studies, with particular attention to the following
- Elite and Community sport development
- Trends in participation and sport fan preferences
- Problems in attracting young people to sport participation
- Improving the management systems of sporting bodies
- Government policy on sport broadcasting
- Tools for evaluating sport policy
Providing a unique blend of theory, history and practice, this text provides an essential foundation for sport policy analysis and will be read by students of sport studies and sport management as well as professionals with an interest in sport development.

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2004

About the author

Professor Bob K. Stewart has been teaching and researching the field of sport management and sport policy for twenty years. He came to the sports studies field with a strong interest in the commercial and sociological development of Australian-rules football, and since then has criticaly reviewed its progress. Bob’s areas of expertise are neoliberalism & hyper-modernism, and how they shape the practice and regulation of contemporary sport.