AOC RELEASES ANNUAL REPORT AND AGENDA FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has released its Annual Report for 2020 and the Agenda for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held in Sydney on Saturday May 8th 2021.

The Centenary Year of the AOC was dominated by postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to the impact of the COVID pandemic.

AOC President John Coates AC, noted the uncertainty and difficulty created by the postponement saw Olympians and Tokyo hopefuls embody the Olympic spirit.

"Paradoxically, I will recall 2020 as the year when athletes stood tall and proved so much to the Australian community, to their sports, friends and families. In the absence of the Games they had been striving for, they proved selfless, resilient and determined to contribute to others in spite of their individual struggles."

The AOC recorded a deficit of $0.9m for the year, primarily due to the impacts of COVID-19. Rationalising of expenditure and some activities across the business in 2020 has helped limit the size of the potential deficit while ensuring full delivery of AOC community and athlete programs.

"It is important to note that we maintain a healthy balance sheet with $6.8m in retained surpluses at the end of 2020. These surpluses will be available to meet the balance of expenditure for the Tokyo 2020 Games postponement to 2021.

"Testament to the astute stewardship of the Australian Olympic Foundation’s (AOF) Investment Advisory Committee, the Foundation finished the year with net assets totalling $170.4 million - remarkably this figure is down only $1 million on the previous year," Mr Coates said.

The net asset value of this fund forms the basis of the 4% annual distributions for the next four years. Accordingly, cash distribution to the AOC for the next Quad will be $6,817,217 per year compared with $6,250,000 per year for the 2020 Quad, an increase of $2.27 million over the four years.

The AOC thanked all their sponsors and official suppliers for their commitment to the Australian Olympic team. All were retained in spite of the significant impact the COVID period had on their businesses and staff. These sponsorships were rolled over for another year with Tokyo 2020 postponed until 2021, for no additional contribution from the sponsor group.

Mr Coates also noted the considerable progress in Brisbane’s ambition to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.

While the pandemic led to the AOC requesting a pause in the candidature efforts with Federal, State and local government stakeholders, essential work preparing a Games Masterplan and Transport Plan continued.

Consequently, the Queensland candidature is highly developed and finished the year ready for the next step. All levels of government recommitted to progress to Targeted Dialogue with the IOC’s Future Host Commission, which has carriage of the candidature process.

A Brisbane Games would be fully aligned with the IOC’s evolving Agenda 2020 New Norm policies and ambitions, including to reduce cost and complexity, improve efficiency and generate additional revenue.

Mr Coates also noted other significant achievements in such a disrupted year.

Olympics Unleashed reaching over 164,000 school students

Formation of the bipartisan Parliamentary Friends of the Olympic Movement in Australia

Celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games

AOC became a signatory to the United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action Framework

The first "Walk with Us" forum exploring Indigenous issues and history

Construction of the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre in Brisbane

The AOC Executive carried resolutions to award the Order of Merit – the AOC’s highest honour – to Olympian, the late James Wolfensohn and Dr Helen Nugent.

James Wolfensohn KBE, AO competed in the Men’s team epee in Melbourne 1956. While his Olympic career was brief and for him "the most exciting time of his life", his career in international business and finance makes him a towering figure in our history.

A legal, then banking career saw this great Australian rise to become head of the World Bank – an organisation he utterly transformed, putting people first and leaving an enduring legacy globally.

Dr Helen Nugent AO is honoured for her contribution to the AOC as an invaluable member of the Australian Olympic Foundation’s Investment Advisory Committee over a ten-year period.

Helen’s contribution has seen the AOF continue to grow and protect the capital base of the AOF while providing sufficient income for the AOC to fund its Teams and community programs.

Mr Coates thanked the AOC Chief Executive Officer and AOC staff for their dedicated efforts, particularly for assisting athletes and National Federations in negotiating the challenges of qualifying and preparing for the Games through the AOC’s Project Wagasa.

The Annual General Meeting will also consider an amendment to the AOC’s Constitution designed to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation on the AOC Athletes’ Commission. The amendment will require at least one Aboriginal and one Torres Strait Island representative on the Commission.

These members may be elected by athletes competing at a Summer or Winter Games – or directly appointed by the AOC Executive following advice from the AOC Indigenous Advisory Committee, if no Indigenous athletes were elected.

Due to the protocols relating to COVID-19, this year’s AGM will be conducted in a virtual format which will allow the normal business of the meeting to be conducted on a live platform.

The AOC Annual Report can be found here. The Annual Report for the AOF can be found here. The Agenda for the Annual General Meeting can be found here.

For further information: Strath Gordon 0414 266 638

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