Australia’s elite athletes are running on empty and reconsidering their sporting futures.

An overwhelming number of Australia’s elite athletes are under significant financial pressure, which is having flow on impacts on athletes’ mental health, their families’ financial security and their ability to stay in the sport they have dedicated so much of their lives to.

• Almost half of elite athletes (46%) over the age of 18 are earning incomes from all sources of less than $23,000 per annum.

• Sadly, two in five (42%) elite athletes aged 18-34 are suffering poor mental health as a result of their financial predicament.

This research shows there is a lot of support needed to meet financial and mental health gaps and address other challenges reported by our athletes. There are also significant cracks in the green and gold runway from the perspectives of athletes who are aiming to represent Australia in the future.

Download your copy to discover all the research findings.

The Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) conducted this research between 16th February and 22nd March 2023. The study represents the views of 2,304* Australian athletes from more than 60 sports — from mass participation codes to small and emerging sports.