The report by industrial relations and sports expert Prof. Braham Dabscheck, shows that the financial rewards offered to elite sportspeople are lagging behind pay increases in the general community and in overseas sports.

“In comparison with major professional sports in the United States, Europe and

Japan, Australia’s elite athletes receive a very low share of the revenues generated by their sports,” said Prof Dabscheck.

“Players of team sports receive between 18 per cent to 29 per cent and swimmers eight per cent to 11 per cent of the revenues of their respective sports.

“This is in stark contrast to comparable sports in the United States, which shares on average 58 per cent of revenues with the players. The players’ share in European soccer is even higher.”

The report, commissioned by the Australian Athletes’ Alliance, shows elite netballersreceive less than the minimum wage under the Fair Work Act, while payment to Australia’s world-beating swimmers have actually fallen in recent years.

AAA General Secretary Brendan Schwab [pictured] said Dabscheck’s report was timely and raised some profound challenges for Australia’s professional sports, their players’ associations and the Australian Government.

“In the modern professional environment, it is clearly untenable to have a situation where sports are unable to provide some of our nation’s best athletes with even a working wage,” Schwab said.

“This report clearly demonstrates that, whatever financial woes have been, are being or will be experienced by Australian sports, they are not caused by players being paid too much.

“Sport is a big business in Australia and the beneficiary of substantial government funding. It needs to better balance its interests with an athletic career path that is, for most, full-time and highly demanding yet short-term and precarious.

“The AAA and its members will be reviewing our bargaining strategies in response to this report. There may be a real need for players to have the protection of the formal industrial relations system.

“The AAA will also develop a formal policy to submit to the Australian government on the funding of elite sport.”

Click here to download the full AAA report.