Heartbeat of Football Foundation

06 February 2024

I acknowledge the Heartbeat of Football Foundation, who I had the privilege of seeing in action during the Multicultural Communities World Cup Football Tournament late last year. The Heartbeat of Football Foundation was founded in 2016, a year after Andy Paschalidis witnessed his Forest Rangers FC teammate, Matt Richardson, die from cardiac arrest playing ยท over 35's football. Since then, the Foundation has aimed to promote healthy hearts in sport through awareness and education initiatives, proactive screening checks and the promotion of defibrillators at sporting grounds across Australia. These elements comprise the necessary steps to achieve the organisations' goal of zero heart-related deaths at Australian football grounds. They have since expanded this vision to encompass other sports as well. I note the tremendous impact of the organisation, having facilitated over 100 heart heath awareness and testing days across NSW, with an estimated $80 million dollars in health care savings identified as a result. I commend the Foundation's crucial work in addressing heart health, and I thank Andy and Angelo for their passion and dedication in advocating for action against this often silent killer that can have enormous ripple effects throughout our community.