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Racing Australia Annual Report 2015
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Racing Australia has at last fulfilled
the widely-held vision of a single
national body with substantial
assets and powers to regulate
and develop the Australian
Thoroughbred racing industry;
but there is still much to do.
John Messara AM,
Chairman
I am more excited and more confident about the future
of Thoroughbred racing in Australia than I have been for
some time.
The landmark merger of the Australian Racing Board
(ARB), Racing Information Services Australia (RISA)
and the Australian Stud Book (ASB) to establish
Racing Australia in April 2015 has much to do with that
confidence.
Racing Australia has at last fulfilled the widely-held
vision of a single national body with substantial assets
and powers to regulate and develop the Australian
Thoroughbred racing industry; but there is still much
to do.
The vitally important services of RISA and the Stud
Book as well as Australian Genetic Testing (AGT),
Thoroughbred Training Service Centre (TTSC) and
RacingJobs.com.au are now all delivered under the
banner of Racing Australia.
Already we are seeing the benefits of multi-skilling and
improved service delivery standards, with the relocation
of the Australian Stud Book to the Sydney CBD
alongside the Registrar of Racehorses.
An early result of collaboration between RISA’s
commercial and service operations, and the ARB’s
integrity and rules setting functions is the Security for
Training Fees System (The SFTF System). Expect to see
projects like this become a feature of Racing Australia’s
business.
Racing Australia is also responsible for developing
national Rules of Racing and policies on integrity, jockey
safety and animal welfare. In 21st century Australia this
demands that we pay attention to the wider community
as well as racing’s participants, a balance we have
already been asked to find with the introduction of new
jockey helmets, new rules banning anabolic steroids
and the new whip rules.
Racing Australia consults with industry associations
on rules and policies like this, and depends on those
associations to represent and communicate effectively
with their members. However, Racing Australia itself is
not an industry association – it is the regulator, and can
neither relinquish nor delegate that role.
Our own commitment to effective communication
with our stakeholders is demonstrated by publication
of the Racing Australia Constitution, Monthly Service
Performance Reports and Barrier Draw Audit reports.
The Annual Fact Book continues to be published online
with extracts of key statistics included in this Report.
This Annual Report is a first, as neither RISA nor the ASB
previously published Annual Reports. Please read the
rest of the Report for much more information about what
we do and how we do it.
In a year of many initiatives and changes, there have
been reassuring continuities. Thanks to the activities
of RISA and the Australian Stud Book, the new Racing
Australia continues to generate annual surpluses which
have been used to reinvest in the business or have
been paid to the Principal Racing Authorities in the form
of non-repayable grants.
