AIS to close old facilities as it works to secure a redevelopment deal for campus

Perkins also said more sports were contacting the institute to discuss permanent relocation plans to move back to Canberra to give them the best chance to succeed in what looms as a crucial "green and gold decade".

The new Australian Sports Commission and AIS boss spoke at the National Press Club on Wednesday about the vision for the next 10 years of Australian sport, which includes a hosting Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

He covered a range of topics: plans to get Australia back to the top of the world, growing participation, being more inclusive and diverse as well as the need to give athletes access to better funding.

Perkins also reiterated his commitment to keep the AIS in Canberra, but said some of the best sports scientists in the country were working in a "dark room in a basement somewhere, that doesn't really have enough power."

"We need to solve and fix that," Perkins said.

The gymnastics facilities are in need of the most urgent work, while the AIS Arena has been closed for more than two years.

The commission has relaunched talks with the federal and ACT governments about the future of the 64 hectare site in the hope it can downsize and repurpose facilities to be a world leader again.

"Funding has not been secured for the redevelopment of the AIS," Perkins said.

"What we have today is old and needs to be modernised if we want to maintain the leadership position we have.

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"There's more than a few facilities that we need to mothball very soon because they're becoming unsafe. I'm quite positive the government, both locally and federally, understands the challenge we have and is committed to working with us to find a solution."

The commission closed the AIS Arena in 2020, saying the fire system was outdated, the lighting was unsafe and the seating needed to be upgraded.

It left Canberra without a major indoor sports and events facility, forcing the Canberra Capitals to consider moving WNBL finals matches away from the city and Super Netball to terminate a deal with the ACT government.

The arena will get funding in the federal government's budget on October 25, with a plan to reopen it by the end of next year.

But it's unclear how it fits into the long-term vision for the AIS, which no longer uses the arena for high-performance training camps or events.

Canberra Stadium also falls into that category. The commission leases the stadium to the ACT government each year because it is no longer considered fit-for-purpose for the commission and AIS plans.

The hold up, Perkins says, is the land ownership and lease arrangement for the AIS campus.

The commission and AIS are federal government agencies, but the land they are on needs to be used for high-performance sports purposes only.

To change that to include hotels, housing and restaurants, the commission needs to strike a deal with the ACT and federal governments.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has met with commission officials to discuss plans to upgrade Canberra Stadium and the arena as part of the AIS revitalisation.

"The land is given to us on perpetual lease on the basis it's used for high performance sport, if we want to do anything else other than that, there's no capacity for the commission and the federal government right now," Perkins said.

"Which is part of that reason why we're having the conversation with the ACT government to start to talking about actually what does the ACT need, how do we start to integrate and ensure what is at Bruce plays an appropriate role for the Canberra community.

"With that will come conversations about site activation, development and other things. The notion there's a big financial windfall that comes with that, that's not true. We need to navigate a different path to get the full benefit out of the site."

The good news is that interest in the AIS has renewed in recent years, despite external criticism for its lack of full-time sporting programs on site.

Perkins called for sporting and interstate unity to help push Australian sport forward. Queensland has been calling for more sports to be based in the state ahead of the Olympics, labelling the commission too "Canberra centric".

Perkins rebuffed that suggestion, saying the cost of shifting the AIS would be too high and that Canberra was the best location in the country.

"It's a one-stop shop that allows us to deliver better outcomes and sport needs that," Perkins said of the AIS campus.

"We're getting inquiries from sports to actually see if being domiciled back at the AIS with more permanent program is a possibility ... We need to build the proposition up again.

"Rather than talking about the challenges of trying to get the AIS operating again and this perception that there's not world-class stuff going on ... get the dialogue that recognises there is, and more to the point start to attract more and more of the great scientific coaching, engineering minds in sport.

"People globally wanted to work at the AIS because of what it delivered and what it meant to be that Centre of Excellence for sport. We will be that again."

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