James Alexander Ferguson is a former Australian diplomat, senior public servant and sport administrator. He was Executive Director of the
Australian Sports Commission between 1990 and 2000.
Personal
He was born in Sydney. Whilst competing his studies at the
University of Sydney, he did a variety of jobs including jackaroo, taxi driver and publisher's editor.
His grandfather was Sir John Alexander Ferguson (1881-1969), a notable Australian judge and bibliographer. Sir John's collection of Australiana was given to the
National Library of Australia and is housed in the Ferguson Room.
Australian Public Service
He worked for the
Department of Foreign Affairs between 1966 and 1986.
[ During this period, he was posted overseas several times and held the position of Ambassador to Peru between 1981 and 1983.][ From 1986 to 1990, he was Head of the Tourism and Sport Division, Commonwealth Department of Arts, Sport, the Environment and Tourism.][ From 1990 to 2000, he was Executive Director of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).][
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Sport
Whilst working in the Australian Government Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, he played a role in the establishment of the new Australian Sports Commission as the government authority responsible for all sports development in Australia.[ He became Executive Director of the Australian Sports Commission in 1990 replacing Ron Harvey.][ He took over the ASC at a time when it had just completed the merger between the ASC and the ]Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
and the Senate Inquiry into Drugs in Sport. In 1993, Australia won the right to host the 2000 Sydney Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
and Paralympics
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...
. This resulted in the Australian Government announcing the Olympic Athlete Program (OAP) in 1994. He was responsible for implementing this six-year program which lead to major changes in Australia's elite sport system. The OAP program resulted in Australia from progressing from 27 medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
to a record 58 medals and fourth place on the medal tally at the Sydney Olympics. He left the Australian Sports Commission at the end of 2000 and was replaced by Mark Peters. On his departure from the ASC, Peter Bartels, ASC chairman stated "Jim’s contribution to the development of sport in Australia is immeasurable. The level of excellence now reached and the international standing of Australian sport is the best testament to Jim’s time at the ASC".ACT Rugby Union
The ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Australian Capital Territory and southern regions of New South Wales. The union is represented by one team in the Super Rugby competition, the Brumbies. The ACT i ...
and China Australia Sports Association. He has been a board member of the Australian Tourist Commission
Tourism Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for promoting Australian locations as business and leisure travel destinations. The agency is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and employs 187 staff (incl ...
, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, World Youth Soccer Cup, World Masters Games.[ He was a member of the Migration Review Tribunal.][ In 2010, he became a board member of Boxing Australia and was commissioned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to develop a plan to assist the Pacific Region through rugby union.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Jim
University of Sydney alumni
Australian sports executives and administrators
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Ambassadors of Australia to Peru
Ambassadors of Australia to Colombia
People from Sydney