Biathlon Australia Limited

Dear Biathlon Australia family,

It's with immense pleasure that we announce that the Australian Sports Commission has formally recognised Biathlon Australia as the National Sporting Organisation (NSO) for Biathlon in Australia. .  

 This is a massive achievement for Biathlon Australia, its athletes, coaches and all our members.  And it well and truly aligns with our vision for "A Better Biathlon for All".

 We are incredibly grateful to all the members of the current and prior board of directors, along with our XO Robyn, Integrity Managers Brooke & Jen, and other consultants, who have worked tirelessly to see this goal through to completion. 

Our prior boards under the leadership & foresight of Paul Garai, Paul Cullen and Ben Martin were instrumental in embarking on the NSO journey and since then a huge amount of effort and work has gone into achieving this monumental milestone, including:

• Conversion of BA from an incorporated association to a company limited by guarantee.
• The development and updating of BA's strategic plan.
• Unrelenting stakeholder engagement with the Australian Sports Commission, AOC, BIU, IBU and Snow Australia (and more recently with Paralympics Australia) by Dave Windsor, Murray Johnson & Kat Paul.
• The unification of the sport in Australia under the leadership of Brett Jones, Mark Bradford, Murray Johnson, Toni Hulme, Brad Greentree and Steve Hallis.
• Strict financial management under the leadership of Tristan Creed, Mark Bradford and Nicole Greentree.
• Development of a Risk Management Policy and formation of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee under the leadership of Mark Bradford.
• Development of an improved Board Charter and Conflict of Interest processes under the leadership of Brett Jones.
• Adoption of the National Integrity Framework under the leadership of Sandy Willis and our National Integrity Manager Brooke Irvine and her predecessor Jennifer Krawczyk.
• A thorough governance review undertaken by Libby Maynard and David Windsor in conjunction with Anthony Boyd from VicSport.

 The benefits of NSO recognition include:

• The right to refer to ourselves as the NSO for biathlon.
• Access to federal government funding & grants.
• Entry in the ASC's online Australian Sports Directory as the recognised NSO for Biathlon.
• The opportunity to apply the Australian coat of arms to our uniforms and use the ASC logo (both subject to ASC approval).
• Invitations to attend workshops, seminars and other ASC forums conducted for NSOs.
• Access to services and information from the ASC Partner Portal and the Clearinghouse for Sport.

 Additionally, NSO status will potentially result in 

• Access to the Australian Institute of Sport
• Membership of Paralympics Australia

 Much appreciation also to Tameka from the Australian Sports Commission and Richard from Sports Integrity Australia for managing our application.  

 Finally, we remain ever grateful to our extended Biathlon family members at the Biathlon Integrity Unit and the International Biathlon Union for all they have done for Biathlon Australia - including the mentoring, funding and institution of the also accomplished "13-point plan" which served as a guiding light on our governance journey.

 This is a great day for Biathlon Australia.

David, Sandy, Brett, Murray, Tristan, Mark, Libby, Katerina