A program that uses football (soccer) to create a fairer playing field for Indigenous children by supporting improved health and education outcomes has been granted $5.5 million by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) to continue its engagement in rural and remote communities.
Established in 2012 by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation, Moriarty Foundation, John Moriarty Football is an award-winning program that uses football to positively engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, aged 2 to 18 years old. The program has powerful impacts on health, education and wellbeing.
Moriarty Foundation Co-Founders, Ros Moriarty and Yanyuwa man John Moriarty AM, and the Board welcomed the funding as it will enable JMF to continue its life changing work amongst Indigenous children, and is an acknowledgement that JMF is positively impacting 14 of 17 Closing the Gap targets.
John Moriarty AM, JMF Co-Founder and Australia's first Aboriginal Socceroo, said: "We started JMF in 2012 with the goal to use the power of sport and education to open up life-changing opportunities and bring Indigenous kids greater parity with other Australian children, just like it did for me."
More than 5,000 children participate in JMF's in-school sessions, clinics and gala days every year, across 18 communities in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland. In 2024, JMF's locally-embedded coaching teams facilitated 2,664 hours of physical activity and provided more than 5,000 nutritious meals.
Moriarty Foundation Co-Chair Ros Moriarty said the NIAA support was recognition of the success JMF has achieved with its continuous delivery across the past twelve years, and its community-led, holistic and culturally relevant approach.
"This gives us confidence that the nation shares our commitment to breaking the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage for Indigenous children and young people," said Ms Moriarty.
"JMF is supporting our young participants to lead healthy, active lives while engaging in education, as well as giving them a safe, inclusive space where they have a greater chance to reach their potential and have a brighter future."
Through a comprehensive staff training and development framework, JMF is breaking barriers for education and career development in remote and regional communities, with three out of four JMF employees coming from local Aboriginal communities.
