AOC hit by redundancies as new CEO clears the decks
The Australian Olympic Committee has made at least ten staffers redundant this week, including the chief of communications and a public relations specialist.
Mumbrella understands that at least ten people across the organisation will be leaving today, as part of a significant restructure at the AOC under new CEO Mark Arbib, who joined in May.
Yesterday, Mumbrella reported that Ellie Laing-Southwood, the AOC’s chief of communications and media was let go as part of the restructure, after just ten months with the organisation. Another public relations specialist from Laing-Southwood’s team was also among those made redundant.
This downsizing comes at a curious time.
The 2026 Winter Olympics take place next February in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, in Italy, and will be broadcast on Nine. More than fifty Australian athletes will compete in the games. Meanwhile, action is ramping up towards both the 2028 Los Angeles Games, and Brisbane 2032.
Mark Arbib took over as CEO in May.
Nine’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics Games was viewed by more than 19.5 million Australians according to Oztam, and the network has already started selling advertising packages for the 2026 Games.
The AOC has also seen a possible new funding opportunity open up.
Overnight, the Los Angeles Organising Committee for the 2028 Games announced it will break a long-standing policy and sell naming rights to venues and stadiums.
The International Olympic Committee has been famously strict regarding corporate sponsorship at the Olympics, but is yet to comment on the departure. Australia may adopt a similar strategy for the 2032 Brisbane Games, should the IOC turn a blind eye to Los Angeles’ corporatisation of the 2028 event.
Mumbrella has reached out to the AOC for comment regarding the redundancies.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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