Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026

Ms CLUTTERHAM (Sturt) (17:26): I rise today to speak in support of the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026. I have to say I was very excited when I walked into the Federation Chamber this afternoon and the first thing I heard was the member for Leichhardt talking about Australian legend Kieren Perkins. He is a hero of mine, and I have actually devoted a portion of my remarks this afternoon to talking about his achievements.

I was a reasonably sporty kid. I loved to train hard and compete. I love to win, and swimming was my sport.

I still love to think I got close-ish to making the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games for the 400-metre freestyle, if you think me almost halfway down a 50-metre lap and Australian legend Hayley Lewis down the other, cap and goggles removed, breathing comfortably, is close, but we can only dream. One of my fondest memories and what I think was the trigger for me becoming a true sports lover and Olympic nut was the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and Kieren Perkins's magnificent victory in the men's 1,500-metre freestyle final.

I had to watch the replay because I was at school when the race was swum, but I was truly inspired by his world record time—14 minutes, 43.48 seconds. Even better was the way another Australian legend, Glen Housman, raced to finish second and give Australia a one-two finish. Kieren Perkins became my second sporting idol after Hayley Lewis, who won a silver in the 800-metre freestyle and bronze in the 400-metre freestyle—my event—at the same Olympic Games.

I was inspired by these efforts to train harder than ever and to push myself to see how far I could go. I was even more inspired four years later when Kieren Perkins beat almost every single odd to go back to back in the 1,500-metre final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He used every single ounce of resolve, energy and mental resilience and willpower, and he touched the wall first in 14 minutes, 56 seconds.

It was a brilliant call by another Australian legend, Dennis Cometti, and a truly incredible moment. As Dennis said at the end of the call, this is rare gold, the best kind of gold—an athlete basically written off by the media and his competitors was the champion again, a back to back Olympic champion at the tender age of 22, which is incredible. Australians love moments like these.

Whether it is Kieren Perkins or Hayley Lewis or Cathy Freeman, the Australian Diamonds, the Matildas or the Socceroos, we love our sporting champions and we love these great moments, but we also love and are in awe of all of our athletes who compete in the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and at world cups. My good friend Lisa, who will be in Parliament House tomorrow, told me a story of when she was watching the diving at the Paris Olympics.

An Australian diver finished eighth or ninth—not a medal winner—and one of Lisa's beautiful kids remarked that that 'wasn't too good, eighth or ninth,' and Lisa quite rightly corrected that assertion and reinforced that it was, in fact, incredibly good. It was amazing. To make the Olympics and finish eighth or ninth in the world is a truly outstanding achievement.

To all the athletes who are heading to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow: we are proud of you, no matter what happens. And to all the athletes who are currently training in an effort to maybe qualify for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles or the 2032 Games in Brisbane: we are proud of you, and this Albanese Labor government supports you. This is indicated by the $513 million commitment that the government made on 17 June 2026.

This $513 million package will be delivered by the Australian Sports Commission over the next two years. It includes funding for 68 sporting programs and a record $42.8 million to assist athletes with daily living and training expenses. For some athletes, this will mean that they will have a real shot at qualifying for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, which will be an incredible major sporting event for Australia—1956 Melbourne, 2000 Sydney, 2032 Brisbane.

The Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026 operates to amend the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 to modernise the legislative framework for protecting the commercial rights associated with major sporting events in Australia. The act aims to prevent unauthorised commercial use, including ambush marketing of protected indicia and images associated with major sporting events.

Under the act, every time a major sporting event is to be held in Australia, a bill needs to be introduced into parliament to add the event to a schedule to the bill and make associated rules. The amendments made by this bill will see the existing schedule based model replaced, thus removing the need for repeated primary legislation amendments every time there is a major sporting event and allowing for the more timely recognition of those events.

This means that major sporting events and associated matters can be prescribed and then repealed when the event is over by a legislative instrument. The bill will also introduce criteria that must be satisfied before a major sporting event may be prescribed and on the length of the protection period. These criteria ensure that protections are applied only to events of international significance and that the exercise of the power remains targeted and proportionate.

Following the enactment of the amendments, rules are intended to be developed to support upcoming events, including the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. What is behind this? We know that, traditionally, event owners rely on sponsorship revenue to stage their events, reducing the reliance on government financial support.

In return for their event sponsorship, sponsors can publicise their support by using event indicia and images. But what we see is businesses that do not sponsor the events seeking to capitalise on the event by using event indicia or images, suggesting a sponsorship arrangement with that event where none exists. This is what is known as 'ambush marketing by association'.

Such behaviour can cause confusion for the general public as to who the actual event sponsor is, thus reducing the commercial return on the sponsorship dollar. If sponsors do not have certainty that they are the only business that can directly benefit from association with major sporting events, they may withdraw their sponsorship or decide not to support that event.

And a decrease in sponsorship revenue could then increase the need for financial assistance from other stakeholders, including the federal government and state and territory governments. Corporate partnerships that are supported by a framework that keeps the integrity of that partnership intact are crucial for the success of major sporting events. Corporate sponsorship is also critical for sport in general—for events and competitions that might not be internationally significant but are still important to our national social fabric, like the AFLW, the WBBL and—most important of all—the Suncorp Super League Netball Competition.

The grand final is this weekend. Go Adelaide Thunderbirds! I wish you well as you seek to win what will be your third flag in five years.

We don't have these competitions without government and corporate support, and, if we don't have these competitions, we lose pathways for young athletes. If there are no pathways, people stop playing sport. We know that sport for young people and community sport for people of all ages—including Masters-grade netballers like me—promotes the physical and mental health that we need to keep communities across this country strong.

We also know that we don't have sport for young people, or community sport, without umpires. If there are no umpires—who are often volunteers or paid very small stipends—then there are no games. This is why it was so disappointing to learn that a local netball club in my electorate of Sturt, the Glenunga Netball Club, has recently had to consider banning spectators because of the level of abuse being directed at umpires, who are often teenagers.

The abuse is coming from parents, who are adults, and is being directed at umpires, who are kids—spectators who are angry at decisions being made by junior umpires at junior netball games, hurling abuse at the umpires to a point where the game is being ruined and the confidence of umpires is being completely shattered. Now, I was a teenage netball umpire myself back in the 1990s, and I recall how intimidating it was and how often people would yell from the sidelines that I was an idiot or didn't know what I was doing—never willing, of course, to pick up a whistle themselves.

I thought that, decades on, we would be doing better. I thought we would have learned how valuable kids' and community sport is and be doing everything we can to support young people who volunteer to umpire so that others can play a game. If we don't have umpires, we don't have a game, and there is nothing more important than physical activity for young people—nothing more important than providing kids with opportunities to play sport so they stay off screens and get outside.

If kids who are umpiring are getting abused, they won't do it, and, for players who are witnessing this abuse, their enjoyment of the game will be diminished and maybe they'll stop playing too. It's not fun. If there's no game, there's no pathway to the highest levels of competition or to elite sport.

There is less physical and mental health in the community. So, if you are one of those people who hurl abuse at junior umpires, please have a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you would like to see the end of community sport, or if you'd like the competition your child plays in to be wound up because no-one will umpire. Then ask yourself if you're willing to put your own hand up and step in.

If the answer to any of those questions is remotely no, then perhaps it's time you retire as a spectator. We Aussies love our sport—of all levels. We love seeing people have a go.

Having a go leads to improvement, to a love of physical fitness, to a determination to succeed, to a love of hard work on the training track, to a love of competition and to a lifelong love of health and fitness. Let's foster this to make sure that the next generation continues to play sport and can maybe one day represent Australia at the highest level possible: the Olympic Games.

I commend the bill to the Chamber.