Rally Forums A Step In The Right Direction

ARCom Chairman, Colin Trinder, today expressed how encouraged he has been by the reception from the Australian rally community and constructive feedback received from ARCom's consultative forums held during February.

He identified officials licencing, shortening lines of communication, reducing and simplifying bureaucracy, empowerment at the local and regional levels of the sport and fostering opportunities for diversity in grass roots motor sport as the key themes emerging from the forums.

"We have now conducted three forums in Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne and there is a great deal of commonality in the strong messages coming through," Trinder said.

"Firstly, it is clear that the volunteer program is a key concern and that it is not achieving the desired outcomes for a significant portion of the rally community in its current format. We have listened to several examples of the difficulties faced by event organisers and officials in this regard and we will work closely with management and the National Officiating Committee to remedy this situation, an area that work has already commenced.

"Secondly, we must shorten the lines of communication with our stakeholders and empower people at the state and local levels to make decisions about the things that affect them and their events. This will have to be done within a consistent national framework, however we acknowledge that people at state and local level have the knowledge about individuals' experience with regard to officials licencing and the particular needs of local events. If we can allow some of these decisions to be made locally then that should ease some of the bureaucratic demands that exist in a centralised system.

"There is also a need to identify new and creative ways to foster opportunities for people to participate in grass roots motor sport that will lead them onto participation in rallying. Some of the apparent obstacles inhibiting newcomers into the sport include licensing, apparel costs, vehicle requirements and the administrative burden that sometimes clouds some of our processes. The consistent message coming through is that people increasingly want to compete in simple events with simple no-nonsense rules and regulations."

The forums held thus far have attracted strong attendances and many positive suggestions have been made about ways to improve rallying.

"There are many passionate people involved in the sport and the support for these forums means that the unfiltered message is getting through to the rule makers from the grass roots. The fact that so many people are giving up their time to participate in these discussions suggests that the commitment to our sport is stronger than ever and that we will get through what are understandably challenging times and be in a stronger position for it in the future," Trinder concluded.

Further rally forums are planned in the coming weeks for Tasmania, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.