The Bushfire Recovery Roundtable provided an opportunity for the government to listen, learn and collaborate with state sporting organisations that are working with sporting clubs and active recreation bodies at the frontline of the bushfire recovery response.

The roundtable included presentations from Peter Betson, Head of Sport, Recreation and Racing, and Claire Febey, Head of Economic Recovery, who both spoke about the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions’ role in economic and social recovery following the bushfires.

Sue McGill from Sport Australia spoke about their ongoing projects in fire affected areas and how the Victorian government is working with the commonwealth to support local organisations.

The roundtable also heard from Rosie King of Netball Vic, Rick Bell of AFL Vic, Ruth Holdaway of Tennis Vic, and Andrew Knight of Outdoors Vic, about how these organisations are helping clubs and their thoughts on what more can be done to support the recovery effort to deliver the best outcomes for bushfire affected communities.

The event culminated in a discussion around practical ideas that government and state sporting organisations can work on together to best support communities as the bushfire recovery effort ramps up.

The ideas and feedback from the forum will be collated and fed back to Bushfire Recovery Victoria via Department of Jobs Precincts and Region’s Bushfire Recovery Working Group.

Sport and Recreation Victoria would like to thank all the organisations who participated in the Roundtable and for their engagement in the session.