By the time this edition is published, GA with the jurisdictions will be in the final stages of the 2021 GA strategic plan reset.

This has entailed a review of the strategy plan Fresh Thinking : New Horizons that was created in 2019 and discussion and debate on the priorities and strategies that should be our focus from 2021 – 2024.

I will share the work in a future column, but in the coming months I’ll go into some background on GA. Starting with a brief overview of our history this month, our structure next month and in August the highlights of the updated strategic plan.

Our history goes back to the earlier part of the last century. Greyhounds Australasia was established in 1937 and at that time was called the Australian and New Zealand Greyhound Association (ANZGA).

ANZGA was established for the purpose of bringing together the various controlling bodies in Australia and New Zealand to consider matters of national importance and establish an Australian Register of Greyhound names and with that an annual studbook as well as development of national racing rules.

The stated objective of GA is the provision of an efficient forum to facilitate a uniform, responsive and binding decision-making process that maximises returns to the Industry and ensures the integrity and fair conduct of greyhound racing throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Toward the turn of the last century the regulatory and racing functions were consolidated in some jurisdictions, and the ANZGA vision was realigned to become one truly united body that considers matters of national importance.

In the same way that GCA supports the Greyhounds Racing Clubs across the country and the GPA is the national body supporting Participants, GA does so for the controlling bodies of Australia and New Zealand.

Matters of national importance as stated by the GA Constitution are according to one or more of the following criteria:

  • Aiding in the establishment of consistency, certainty, and confidence for Australasian greyhound industry participants.
  • Encouraging uniformity with the greyhound racing product.
  • Would be detrimental to the interests of greyhound racing if not adopted.
  • Is an industry imperative.
  • Supports national integrity of the greyhound product.
  • Supports the future sustainability of greyhound racing nationally.

By reason of the state/federal political system, each controlling body administers greyhound racing within its own jurisdiction, with GA being the support arm to create consistency and uniformity where that outcome is in the best interests of its members.

Membership of GA is limited to bodies that are authorised by statute to control or regulate greyhound racing, in the states and territories of Australia and New Zealand.

In 2003 the ANZGA was reconstituted and renamed Greyhounds Australasia Limited (GA), a not-for- profit public company. This change provided GA with an opportunity to modernise the way it did business.

Not much has changed in terms of the high-level purpose since those earlier times, however how we do that has changed significantly over the last 2 years.

How GA supports the controlling bodies will be the subject next month.

About the Studbook, the 2020 Studbook is now available. Last year GA switched to a digital edition of the Studbook. It is a downloadable PDF that you can access via the GA website under the Participant Service tab. It includes the winners of major races during the year as well as the lineage of the winning dogs as well as all the industry greyhounds whelped in 2020.