Tonga delegates 43rd ONOC General Assembly in Brisbane from 17th to 21st April 2023. Photo: Facebook / Sālote Sisifā
Over 250 regional national olympic committee delegates from 17 countries are meeting in Australia this week to discuss the road to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The week-long inaugural meet is being held in parallel with the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) 43rd Annual General Assembly and is jointly coordinated by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), which is an ONOC member and National Olympic Committee.
A prominent feature for the week will be the "Step Up Oceania" Conference, which will be held April 17 and 18, ONOC Media said in a statement.
"A part of "Creating the Home Games Advantage", the conference objective is to inspire key stakeholders from the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Australia, across National Olympic Committees (NOCs), National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), regional sport federations, and critical stakeholders from government, tertiary institutions, high performance centres, and potential partners and supporters," the statement said.
"'Step Up Oceania" will bring together over 250 delegates in an important communication and engagement platform to explore key issues, good practises, and the latest innovations across high performance, coaching, sport science, and talent identification, with a view to transforming Oceania's athletic performances on the road to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
ONOC and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) president Dr Robin Mitchell said that the conference serves as an important forum to engage with leading high-performance experts, build strong alliances, and create key strategic actions.
Dr Robin Mitchell President of ONOC and President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). Photo: ONOC
"ONOC strongly believes that Brisbane 2032 must go beyond inspiration and must be remembered as the Games that gave the Pacific Islands a new way of thinking, a new level of outcomes, and a new level of performance that had never been seen before," Dr Mitchell said.
Stokeholders attending the meeting included the 17 NOCs from Oceania (15 from the Pacific Island nations), five associate members, international and regional sports federations, host National Olympic and Paralympic committees, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Olympic Solidarity, ANOC, Commonwealth Sports and Commonwealth Games Australia, the Pacific Games Council, international and regional partners and agencies, South East Queensland academic institutions, and many others.
"We are honoured to host our colleagues from ONOC and across the Oceania region in Brisbane for their annual meetings and conference," AOC president Ian Chesterman said.
"This gathering will provide an opportunity for the AOC to further strengthen its ties with its neighbours in Oceania," Chesterman said.
Among other issues the conference will also have a Oceania Sport and SDGs Strategic Partners Forum, the Olympic Solidarity Workshop and Olympic Marketing Seminar and the 43rd ONOC General Assembly.
Support from Queensland government
The Queensland Government has expressed its support for ONOC's events in Brisbane.
Queensland's Sports Minister and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport Engagement Stirling Hinchliffe said they were delighted to be involved.
"Queensland is a key sporting destination and as the runway to 2032 continues," Hinchliffe said.
"We are increasingly hosting major sporting conferences and events like this. We look forward to working alongside leaders from Oceania to ensure 2032 will be a Games for all of Queensland, Australia and Oceania."