Two chapters of the recently-released Crawford Report focus on the way sport in Australia is structured and delivered:

• Reforming the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to lead the sports system [PDF of the report section]
• Merging our institutes of sport [PDF of the report section]

Over the years the Australian sporting landscape has become increasingly complicated and fragmented. Or as the Crawford Report puts it:

"The current Australian sports system is very complex, inefficient and cumbersome. Delivery of sport involves all three tiers of government and its various arms including sport and recreation, health, education and other portfolios. Most of the National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) also have 'federal' structures consisting of several layers of governance and control. The Panel was frequently told that the level of cooperation across the sports system has been deteriorating and is less effective than it was before Australia hosted the 2000 Olympic Games."

So what's the solution?

The Report recommends splitting the ASC from the AIS and turning the ASC into a leadership body for Australian sport, helping to build collaboration across the sports system.

It also recommends that the AIS be amalgamated with the State Institutes of Sport to form the Australian Institutes of Sport (AIsS).

What is clear is that the structure of Australian sport has been getting in the way of a healthy sporting landscape and that change is due.

What do you think of the changes being proposed by the Crawford Report?