Why is Community Sport Key to Australia's Diplomatic Future?

Australia’s new sports diplomacy strategy speaks our language.

Earlier this year, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) published its Sports Diplomacy Strategy 2032+, highlighting sport as a meaningful tool for international engagement - particularly across the Indo-Pacific region.

At Kicks for Kids, we aim to increase access to sport for children who face structural barriers, whether due to displacement, financial hardship or other socio-economic factors. Primarily, we’ve approached this as a matter of equity and wellbeing. But when we witness how sport fosters inclusion, community-building, and cross-cultural connection – it’s clear this work becomes part of a broader strategic conversation.

As Australia looks ahead to the Brisbane 2032 Games, and the broader ‘green and gold decade’, there’s a compelling case to be made for how grassroots sports – particularly when youth-led and community-driven – can materially contribute to national objectives in development and diplomacy. We’re exploring how our work fits into this evolving context, how insights from the ground might shape the way sport is used as an instrument of engagement and influence, and how we can meaningfully contribute to this conversation.