The government has thrown a lifeline to amateur sports, which faced an unprecedented threat from a $120m or so funding hole caused by the closure of gaming machine venues, most of which affects sports groups. $83 million dollars are being made available through the government to cushion this blow, although details are still to come. A further $182m is earmarked for development and capacity of the sector, which will likely benefit predominantly performance sports.
The rest of the not-for-profit sector emerged empty-handed from the budget. During economic recessions, government tends to purchase more services from the not-for-profit sector, however, although this is heavily skewed towards social and youth services. In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, for example, government (National-led at the time) established the Community Response Fund in 2009, with $90m per year for three years, providing significant additional funding in a decentralised way.