10.05.2024Winner: Melbourne Achiever Award 2024 – Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust

Committee for Melbourne’s prestigious 2024 Melbourne Achiever Awards were announced on 9 May, honouring Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust for the organisation’s contribution to events, economy and community in Melbourne.

The Melbourne Achiever Awards celebrate contributions to Melbourne that will leave a lasting legacy and are awarded to an organisation and an individual each year.

The Trust’s Chair, Patrick Flannigan AM, accepted the award on behalf of Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust at the Committee’s annual gala dinner at The Melbourne Town Hall in the presence of Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp AO, and other Melbourne leaders.

The award recognises Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust’s (MOPT’s) significant contribution to Melbourne, in particular its role in revitalising Melbourne’s events and experience economy following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Melbourne & Olympic Parks precinct is Melbourne’s home of live sport and entertainment – a place for people from all walks of life to come together, share experiences and make memories. Located on the doorstep of Melbourne’s CBD, the precinct spans 40 hectares of open, public space, encompassing six world-class venues, training and administration facilities for professional sporting teams, plus acres of green parkland.

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the precinct has played a key role in reinvigorating the city’s live events industry, and in 2023 welcomed almost 3.5 million guests to 473 events – the most in the precinct’s history. From global sporting spectacles like the Australian Open and FIFA Women’s World Cup, to up-and-coming local artists, comedy, family events and sporting fixtures across five codes, there really is an event to suit every taste.

In 2022-23, this diverse calendar of events attracted almost one million visitors from outside of Melbourne and supported more than one million hours of casual shifts.

This incredible diversity of events doesn’t happen by chance, and the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust – responsible for the management of this iconic public asset – has made a concerted effort to attract new audiences to the precinct’s venues since the city’s emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s meant working with new promoters to deliver content which appeals to Melbourne’s diverse communities – with Indian, Greek, Italian, Chinese and Korean artists, to name a few – and new experiences, including event activations and food and drink offerings, which give more people a reason to visit the precinct.

The Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust exists to ensure the precinct is a place for all Victorians to enjoy, and a source of community pride. Delivering events is key to that mission, but so too is a commitment to reflecting the values of the Victorian community in its operations. That translates to initiatives across reconciliation, access and inclusion, gender equality and sustainability.

In 2022, the Trust worked in partnership with Tennis Australia on the creation and installation of a cultural marker to acknowledge Traditional Owners, while the Trust continues to advance gender equality, reconciliation and inclusion through its recruitment practices, training opportunities and in-venue experiences to ensure the precinct is a place which is welcoming and inclusive for all.

The Trust and precinct’s contribution to Melbourne and its communities is significant. A lynchpin of Victoria’s sport, entertainment, and live music culture, Melbourne & Olympics fosters as maintains Melbourne’s reputation as a global city and provides of unique opportunities for the community to come together and connect.

Patrick said, “The precinct is a one-of-a-kind destination, and we are proud of the role it plays in ensuring Victoria’s live sports, entertainment and live music culture is the envy of the world.”