Australia as a nation embraces a sporting culture – from community based grassroots programs to supporting our most elite athletes perform on the world stage, Australians love sport. Sport has been a powerful force in uniting our nation, made up of people from a diverse range of countries and cultures.
Australia as a nation embraces a sporting culture – from community based grassroots programs to supporting our most elite athletes perform on the world stage, Australians love sport. Sport has been a powerful force in uniting our nation, made up of people from a diverse range of countries and cultures.
Australia has used sport as a way of deepening our connections with Japan, from professional-level player exchanges, to friendly matches and sports visit programs for industry representatives.
The AUS+RALLY campaign is an Australian Government sports diplomacy initiative in Japan, in partnership with Rugby Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia. The Embassy has recognised Japanese local governments as the official AUS+RALLY partners. These local governments build up close sporting relationships with Australia through such activities as hosting staging camps of Australian national teams.
The Dolphins visit Nagaoka City, Niigata for a training camp in July 2019.
Twenty-five local governments and organisations have been recognised as official partners (Friends of Australia) of the AUS+RALLY campaign. The Australian Embassy Tokyo recognises as ‘Friends of Australia’ groups who celebrate Team Australia as the world’s sporting talent descends on Japan.
Local governments are Odawara City, Kanagawa; Fuchu City, Tokyo; Nagaoka City, Niigata; Saitama Prefecture; Ageo City, Saitama; Urayasu City, Chiba; Musashino City, Tokyo; Chuo City, Tokyo; Ibaraki City, Osaka; Kobe City, Hyogo; Inashiki City, Ibaraki; Abashiri City, Hokkaido; Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation, Tokyo; Toda City, Saitama; Kamaishi City, Iwate; Fujisawa City, Kanagawa, Kanagawa Prefecture and Ina Town, Saitama. Other recognised organisations are: Club Australia, Gateway, Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Kanto District University Junko Baseball Association, The Executive Committee for the Australian Patrol Competition Project, the Tokyo Goannas and Australian Football League Japan.
Please see the AUS+RALLY website for more detail on the campaign and Friends of Australia.
Relaunch of the AUS+RALLY Website
Watch out our latest video clip “Aussies love sport” featuring Australian sports, targeting primary and junior high school students to learn more about Australia.
Sports Diplomacy 2030
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, together with the Office for Sport, Tourism Australia, Sports Australia and Austrade, developed the new sports diplomacy strategy - Sports Diplomacy 2030.
Sports diplomacy in focus: Lifesaving Patrol Competition
Lifesaving is one of the sports which Australian and Japan have been closely working on together. With the support of the Australia-Japan Foundation, the Japan Lifesaving Association was established in 1982 to promote lifesaving in Japan. Lifesaving Patrols Competitions are team competitions aimed to improve lifesavers’ skills. Watch the video of the competition held in Wakayama.