The two National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have agreed to work together on a range of matters including cooperation in the fight against doping and abuse in sport, the use of sport as a tool for health and well-being, best practices in the field of commercial and marketing strategy and organisation of major sport events.

The MOU is also designed to foster collaboration and training exchanges between Australian and French sports and support innovative programs within the field of high-performance sport and sport science research.

AOC President Ian Chesterman AM and AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll AM were joined by Brigitte Henriques, President of the French National Olympic and Sport Committee today in Brisbane to sign the agreement which will take effect until the end of December, 2028.

Mr Chesterman says the MOU is timely and will foster numerous areas of mutual benefit.

“With Paris 2024 just around the corner and Brisbane 2032 fewer than ten years away, there’s a great deal to be gained for both NOCs in working together on common areas of interest. Through our membership of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) we are very much committed to ensuring that the Brisbane 2032 Games are a home Games for all our Pacific neighbours, including those French territories. Equally, there is much we can learn ahead of Paris 2024.

“The AOC and CNOSF have already begun work on a program that will connect Australian and French schools. While in its formative stages, the program will be up and running well before the Paris Games which begin on 26 July, 2024. A similar program connected 600 Australian and Japanese schools ahead of Tokyo 2020."

French National Olympic and Sport Committee President, Brigitte Henriques, says both NOCs face similar challenges that can be better tackled through cooperation.

“We are delighted to have signed today the first Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian and the French NOCs and to take advantage of the opportunity to host Paris 2024 and Brisbane 2032 to strengthen our cooperation. We each have a commitment under the Olympic Charter to uphold fair play and protect the integrity of international sport. Our athletes are at the centre of everything we do.

“Giving them the best performance environment, looking after their mental health and of course the health of the planet – these are all issues that are important to us as NOCs and we strongly believed that a reinforced collaboration will help us to achieved these goals,” Ms Henriques concluded.