Position statement on junior sport sponsorship from alcohol companies

In the context of junior sport and to protect young people from harm, the Department of Sport and Recreation does not support alcohol sponsorship. DSR strongly urges sport and recreation clubs and associations to seek sponsorships from companies other than those producing and promoting alcoholic beverages.

Related topics: None

Australian culture tends to link sport and alcohol consumption; alcohol sponsorship of sport is increasingly prevalent; and controls on advertising alcohol during children’s prime television viewing times do not extend to televised sporting events.

The World Health Organization’s European Charter on Alcohol 1995 asserts that:

All children and adolescents have the right to grow up in an environment protected from the negative consequences of alcohol consumption and, to the extent possible, from the promotion of alcoholic beverages.

… no form of advertising is specifically addressed to young people, for instance, through the linking of alcohol to sports.

Alcohol sponsorships and advertising at sports events convey the false impression that there is a natural connection between the consumption of alcohol and participation in and enjoyment of sport. 

Where would you like to go next?

• Alcohol and physical activity
• Child protection
• Coaching
• Companion card for people with a disability
• Drugs in sport
• Fare equalisation
• Funding national sport organisations for operations
• Governance
• Harassment-free sport
• Hosting national championships - national leagues
• Inclusivity (substantive equality)
• Indigenous participation
• Integrity in sport
• Mature-aged sport and recreation
• Mergers of like State Sporting Associations
• Officiating
• Photographing children
• Physical activity
• Sport/physical education in schools
• Sustainability
• Violence in sport
• Volunteers
• Water safety
• Working with Children Legislation