The core team delivering Sydney 2000 was made up of three organisations: the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG), the Olympic Co-ordination Authority (OCA) and the Olympic Roads and Transport Authority (ORTA). The OCA was responsible for the construction of all permanent and temporary Olympic facilities, as well as providing the fit-out, while ORTA’s function was to ensure coordinated planning and delivery of transportation services for the Games. A Minister of the Government of the State of New South Wales, Michael Knight, provided integrated leadership: the OCA and the ORTA were government agencies directly responsible to the Minister, who from 1996 was also the President of the SOCOG.
The Sydney 2000 organisational structure was based on the local context of the Games and of the Sydney Bid, as well as the need for coordination between the different organisations. Through the bid process, the State of New South Wales committed to undertaking all Olympic construction and underwriting any operating losses, necessitating a large role for the State in the preparation and staging of the Games. Strong state and federal government coordination mechanisms were backed as far as possible by legislation.
This integration with government had a number of advantages. For example, as a government body, ORTA was best able to manage the significant regulatory, political and financial risks associated with the provision of transport services for the Games. The high level of integration also enabled the preparation, tracking and reporting of a global Olympic budget (government plus SOCOG).
The model evolved from the award of the Games in 1993 to mid-2000, with significant operational integration occurring across Olympic agencies in the nine months prior to the Games. For example, key OCA executives were appointed to SOCOG Board Committees and the CEO of ORTA also held the position of Deputy Director-General of the OCA. There was progressively more detailed interaction between all agencies, and by the time of the Games they were brought together in an integrated operational structure through the Games Coordination Group, chaired by the Minister.
Source: International Olympic Committee; Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
