The funding of elite athletes means trade-offs need to be made, says an independent review of Sport NZ Photo: Photosport / AFP
A shake up of Sport New Zealand is being undertaken following an independent review into the organisation which is responsible for sport and recreation nationally.
Sport New Zealand also includes High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), which funds elite sport and has an annual budget of $194 million - $84 million of which goes to HPSNZ.
The review was carried out by Brendan Boyle, who has is a former chief executive of the Ministry of Social Development, Department of Internal Affairs and Land Information NZ.
Boyle suggested there should be a review of Sport New Zealand's current strategy, stating the organisation faces strategic choices and trade-offs when it comes to investing in the likes of Olympic medals and success versus national sports participation.
The main recommendations focus on potential changes to governance arrangements, which Sports Minister Mark Mitchell said he will follow through on.
The review noted "current arrangements create a potential conflict of interest for Sport NZ in being both policy and advisor as well as the decision-maker for funding."
It added "(that) make(s) it difficult for Sport NZ policy to be well integrated into the wider government policy network and agenda."
That will see Sport NZ's policy function move to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage from October.
Mark Mitchell, Police Minister, Minister for Sport and Recreation Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
"Shifting the strategic policy function to a government agency will ensure a more consistent and integrated approach on government priorities and other policy decisions across portfolios like education and health," said Mr Mitchell.
The review also recommended disbanding the HPSNZ and Taumata Māori boards and consolidating them into a single board and creating HPSNZ and Taumata Māori advisory groups.
It noted though that rationalisation was unlikely to provide any cost savings and "any change would be driven by strategic reasons rather than an expectation of savings."
The government has rejected that recommendation, opting to keep the current three board structure of a Sport NZ board, an HPSNZ board and the Taumata Māori Board.
Boyle said questions raised during his review the indicated a strategy review was also needed to ensure "whether funds are all aligned to government priorities."
"This will also aid in clarifying what the minister wants the focus and core business of Sport to be and by implication what it should not be spending resources or funding on."
Boyle pointed out Sport NZ proposes to stop the funding of Hawaiki Hou, a community-led programme to improve physical activity levels among children and young people.
This will free up $9.5 million that can be reprioritised into other sport and recreation programmes.
