Strengthening Gippsland through a sustainable regional sport system
GippSport backs the Regional Sport Network’s 2026 State Election Priorities. Here’s why they matter in Gippsland.
Victorians vote on Saturday 28 November. Community sport usually shows up in election promises as pavilions, lights and courts. Those projects matter, but facilities don’t run themselves.
GippSport is one of nine Regional Sports Assemblies in the Regional Sport Victoria Network. We endorse the Network’s four shared priorities, and our Gippsland brief sets out the local evidence for why each one matters here.
The case for action
- Only 28% of the community takes part in traditional organised sport. GippSport works to strengthen that 28% and give the other 72% a real pathway into active recreation.
- Pressures compound across 41,500 km²: economic transition in the Latrobe Valley, communities recovering from consecutive disasters, and dispersed coastal and rural populations.
- When a funded programme ends in Gippsland, it stops. There is no buffer.
“When a funded programme ends in Gippsland, it doesn’t scale down, it stops. There’s no buffer, and our communities can’t pick up the cost.”
Dan Poynton, Executive Officer, GippSport
Four shared priorities, with the Gippsland evidence
The Regional Sport Network’s platform sets four priorities for government. Alongside each, here is what it means on the ground in Gippsland.
1A Sustainable Regional Sport Network
Minimum five-year funding cycles, restored real value and annual indexation.
In Gippsland
Four offices and fleet costs across 41,500 km² mean programme loss is binary. When funding ends, the programme stops.
2Strengthening Investment Outcomes Through a Connected Sport System
Fund activation alongside infrastructure so every dollar works harder.
In Gippsland
Our programmes return between 1.52x and 9.63x their cost in social value. Club and workforce development returns the most, and our partnerships with Gippsland councils on all abilities programmes show what connected investment can do.
3Maximising the Impact of Previous Investment
Scale proven gender equity and volunteer workforce initiatives.
In Gippsland
We’ve delivered the Sustainable Volunteer Workforce Programme, the award-winning Gippy Girls Can campaign and the Orange Round. The evidence base is built and the relationships exist.
4Protecting Sport’s Role in Prevention
Safeguard the legislated 30% of VicHealth funding for sport.
In Gippsland
Our Growing Healthy Communities programme generated $1.49M in net social benefit from a $194,000 investment, an 8.67x return.
GippSport in numbers
*Preliminary figures using the Australian Social Value Bank (ASVB) methodology. GippSport helped commission 14 sport-specific wellbeing values, now part of the ASVB Sport Addendum (March 2026), giving the whole Australian sport sector a practical way to measure social value.
Why Gippsland needs particular attention
The two-RSA mandate
GippSport formed from the 2004 merger of Gippsland’s two Regional Sports Assemblies. VicHealth funding reflects this. State sport funding has not kept pace.
No Volunteer Resource Centre
Gippsland is the only Victorian region without a dedicated Volunteer Resource Centre. GippSport absorbs that role without VRC-level funding.
Three functions no one else provides
Direct club and volunteer support, activating underrepresented groups, and volunteer sector coordination. Without GippSport, no other organisation in the region does these.
What you can do
Community members
Ask your local candidates where they stand on community sport. Gippsland’s state seats are:
- Bass
- Narracan
- Morwell
- Gippsland South
- Gippsland East
Candidates
We’re writing to every Gippsland candidate. We’d welcome the chance to meet and talk about community sport in your electorate.
Request a meetingClubs
Has GippSport support made a difference to your club? Share your story and help show decision makers what regional sport support delivers.
Share your storyDownloads and further reading
- GippSport 2026 Advocacy BriefPDF, Gippsland evidence for each priority
- RSV 2026 State Election PlatformThe Regional Sport Network’s full priorities and asks
- GippSport ASVB Social Value Case Study (2026)How we measured the social value of our programmes