Congratulations to the below individuals, organisations, clubs and Local Government Authorities, winners of the 2024 Victorian Sport Awards!
The Victorian Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award is presented to an individual or organisation in recognition of outstanding achievement in, or contribution to, sport in Victoria. Based on their significant role in te Victorian sport and active recreation sector, the winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award will be recommended by a panel of expert industry representatives to the Vicsport Board who will determine the final recipient. It is the only award presented at the Victorian Sport Awards which is not decided upon by the judging panel.
Dr Peter Brukner OAM
A medical doctor and specialist sports and exercise medicine physician, Peter has treated thousands of elite and community level athletes through involvement with five Australian national teams (swimming, hockey, athletics, football and cricket), 50 years of service to the Melbourne University Football Club (MUFC) along with significant contributions to the Toorak East Malvern Hockey Club, Powerhouse St. Kilda Hockey Club and athletics at a state and national level.
Playing a key role in the development of sports medicine as a medical specialty in Australia, Peter founded the two largest clinics of their kind in this country with the Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre in 1987 and Imaging @ Olympic Park in 2010 which focuses on musculoskeletal radiology.
His involvement at a national team level began in 1991 with Athletics Australia when he attended the World Track & Field Championships as Australian Team Doctor. He did the same in 1995 while also serving at the 1992 World Cup and 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Peter then transitioned to Australian Athletics Team Manager for the 1998 Commonwealth Games, 1999 World Track & Field Championships and 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
His contributions to athletics continued as a national selector from 2006-08 and on the High Performance Committee where he currently resides. Alongside athletics, Peter was Australian Team Doctor at the World University Games in 1983, 1985 and 1987.
He was Team Doctor for the Australian Swim Team (Dolphins) between 1986-87 which included the World Swimming Championships, Australian men’s hockey team (Kookaburras) from 1994-95, Australian men’s football team (Socceroos) from 2007-10 including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Australian men’s cricket team between 2012-17 that included victory at the 2015 ICC World Cup.
A passion that has developed in the past few years following personal health issues, Peter has become an advocate for improved nutrition and founded SugarByHalf, a not-for-profit aiming to reduce sugar-related diseases and improve education around living healthier lives.
He published ‘A Fat Lot of Good’ in 2019 and ‘The Diabetes Plan’ in 2023, two of 16 books he has authored in addition to 117 research papers and what many consider the ‘bible’ of sports medicine, ‘Brukner & Khan’s Clinical Sports Medicine’. On the academic side, Peter was Associate Professor in Sports Medicine at University of Melbourne from 2001-06 and a Lecturer in Sports Law for 17 years. The Foundation Chair of the La Trobe University Sport & Exercise Medicine Research Centre, Peter now currently holds the role of Professor of Sports Medicine at La Trobe.