Outgoing Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer "will become the first woman to run Australia’s peak sports agency, the Australian Sports Commission," according to Chip Le Grand of THE AUSTRALIAN. Having "overseen the transformation of netball with the creation of an expanded national competition, underpinned by" a A$20M ($15M) broadcast rights deal, Palmer joins the ASC at a time Olympic sports are "desperately seeking revenue sources to remain internationally competitive." Her appointment for three years represents "a further, significant step in the influence of women in Australian sport" -- both on the field and in boardrooms where funding and governance decisions are made. Palmer formerly served as CEO of Netball Australia and chair of the Victorian Institute of Sport. ASC Chair John Wylie described Palmer as "an innovator and change agent," who signaled that Australian sport and the ASC needed to adapt to an altered climate. Palmer: "If you look across sport and look at the CEOs in the key Olympic sports, these are quality people who are capable of much, much more than they are doing" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 12/14). ABC NEWS' Mary Gearin reported "her appointment comes at a critical time, in the wake of disappointing results in Rio, and as the commission enters the second Olympiad under its controversial Winning Edge funding model." Palmer's diplomacy "will also be tested," after a public brawl between Wylie and Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates. The two "have appeared to reach a truce" over Wylie's proposition to create a U.K.-style lottery to raise up to A$50M ($37.5M) for sport. Palmer described herself as a "huge fan of Winning Edge and what it is doing for sport in this country." She said she has been the "beneficiary" of all the ASC and Australian Institute of Sport strategies of the past five years. Palmer added, "For me success is about believing in that, setting those targets and actually making sure they're big enough for us to have a sense of urgency about where we're going and what we need to do" (ABC NEWS, 12/13). The AAP reported "Palmer not only led the development of the now-defunct trans-Tasman competition but also the new eight-team Super Netball league set to replace it next year." She helped secure the hosting rights to last year's Netball World Cup and "was also behind a raft of broadcasting and sponsorship arrangements" for netball, tripling the sport's revenue in the past seven years. Wylie said, "This is an important time in Australian sport and the ASC board has no doubt that Kate is the right person to lead our mission" (AAP, 12/13).
