The NSW greyhound industry has come together to develop a unified blueprint for their future which will see it sustainable, thriving and successful for all involved.
Major industry stakeholders gathered at Sydney's Wentworth Park for the two-day Future Summit, with key initiatives, designed to structure a path for the future of the sport, discussed, debated and ultimately agreed upon.
Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) invited representatives from each of the 18 TAB and eight non-TAB racing clubs from around NSW, with attendees coming from as far as Broken Hill in the Far West, Grafton in the Northern Rivers and Wagga Wagga in the South.
Members of the Trainers Advisory Group, the Young Participants Panel, the Greyhound Breeders, Owners and Trainers Association (GBOTA), Greyhound Clubs NSW and a number of leading trainers also attended the event held on May 27 and 28.
New innovations to help with greyhounds transitioning from life on the track to life as a pet were discussed, as were significant industry topics including the establishment of an Industry Welfare Fund, the introduction and trialling of hock braces which can support the hocks of greyhounds in races, a time-based grading system, 10-dog straight track racing, and public syndication, with each agreed to be explored or implemented.
By far the most significant matter addressed was racing footprint optimisation to find the ideal number of race clubs.
"Optimisation is crucial to our industry's future," GRNSW chief executive officer Steve Griffin said.
"It's always been a difficult matter to broach with clubs and participants, and we wanted to ensure that they all had a voice. We didn't want to dictate to clubs what should happen; we wanted their input, we wanted them to ask as many questions as they wanted - and they did - and everyone ultimately contributed and played a large role in setting the criteria for how optimisation will work.
"This cannot be a decision where GRNSW says 'you're in and you're out, let's move on'. We have engaged a large multinational firm who attended our summit and will audit and analyse the data and feedback obtained, before presenting to us what they believe is the ideal racing footprint optimisation," he said.
"This is a whole industry matter and we all ultimately want what will be best for everyone involved in our industry."
Among the criteria agreed upon were proximity of participant population to a racetrack, strength of nominations in the past two years, cost of property lease, and recent major investment in a venue.
Other criteria will also be examined before the report is handed to GRNSW late next month, with implementation of the strategy to take place throughout 2025-26.
"I think everyone realises that optimisation is something we need, but naturally everyone wants their club to be a part of the future," president of the Dubbo Greyhound Club, Shayne Stiff, said.
"What GRNSW have now done is allow everyone to have their say on what they believe should be part of the process in determining which clubs are best for that future."
GRNSW also unveiled a bold vision to become the world's most progressive and effective pet placement program, with a singular ambition to double the number of greyhounds placed as pets within three years.
The vision involves moving to a streamlined, digitally enabled, customer-centric model that makes the process of adopting a greyhound easier and faster.
"We're seeing growth in the number of people wanting to adopt, and the number of greyhounds successfully placed as pets, but it's clear our systems are holding us back," Mr Griffin said.
In a major strategic shift, GRNSW is looking to introduce a dual-pathway model for industry participants; a public system focused on accessibility, and a private system offering faster pet placements for participants.
The goal with the private system is to create a scalable network of trained, accredited third-party placement providers who meet strict welfare and compliance standards to improve the placement of greyhounds as pets. A pilot of the new system is expected to launch by the end of 2025.
The recently formed Young Participants Panel presented at the summit, and their perspective on the industry and what they feel needs attention in the future was enlightening to many in the room, but was well-received.
They are the next generation and not only do they want some buy-in now so they have a sustainable and profitable industry to be a part of for many years, they want to have an industry which is enticing and has a bright future when it comes to attracting people of their age to become a part of it.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
