Steven Miles agrees to look at overhauling Qld Academy of Sport

Steven Miles will consider ways to restructure the Queensland Academy of Sport after a delegation met with the Premier pleading for more independence and less bureaucracy.

Premier Steven Miles

Steven Miles will consider ways to restructure the Queensland Academy of Sport after a delegation met with the Premier pleading for more independence and less bureaucracy.

Frustrations at the state government’s handling of the sporting body have boiled over in recent weeks, with Chelsea Warr sensationally resigning as chief executive and former Australian Institute of Sport director Peter Conde penning a column slamming the “absolutely appalling” decision to demote the academy within the state’s bureaucracy. Former QAS chair Renita Garard was tight-lipped about Tuesday’s meeting with the Premier but was confident the concerns were heard.

“We had a really genuinely constructive conversation with the Premier,” she said.

Mr Miles said the delegation made valid points during the discussions. The Premier said he would get further advice on the matter and has committed to meet again with the delegation to discuss specific solutions. Earlier in the day he said he intended to “take on suggestions on how to support future athletes”.

“We know that Queensland contributes an outsized proportion of Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic team and we want to keep that up – we want to make sure our athletes perform in Paris this year, in LA in 2028, and of course when the world comes to Brisbane in 2032,” the Premier said ahead of the meeting.

“The decisions that we make now to support our athletes will play out over that kind of time period, so I’m eager to make sure that we’re getting it right and we’re listening to the experts.

“That’s why I agreed to take that meeting and I’ll hear from them in good faith.”

Mr Conde, one of the nation’s most experienced sports administrators, wrote an impassioned column exclusively in The Courier-Mail on Tuesday before the delegation met with the Premier, in which he said the current approach was “letting down those Queensland children who are our future Olympians and Paralympians”.

“We must be now priming the Queensland Academy of Sport so it is fully enabled to be a world-class high-performance sports agency – unfortunately, the government has done the opposite,” Mr Conde wrote.

Mr Conde called on the state government to set the academy up as a statutory authority reporting directly to the Sports Minister.

It is understood the Premier will consider this request among a range of other options, but the creation of a statutory authority is a lengthy process that would first require legislation to be passed in parliament.