Background
The Newcastle 500 is a Supercars event held in Newcastle NSW, with the 2023 event to be held from 10 - 12 March. The event operates under a three-way agreement between the NSW Government, Supercars Australia and the City of Newcastle (CN) (see documents relating to the delivery of Newcastle 500).
The first Newcastle 500 was held in November 2017, followed by 2018 and 2019. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 event was cancelled and 2021 was postponed until March 2023 (the last year of the five-year agreement).
There may be an option to extend the Newcastle 500 for a further five years following the 2023 race. If the NSW Government and Supercars Australia first agree to extend the event, CN's elected Council will have the final decision on whether Newcastle continues as the host city.
Community Consultation Strategy
CN is committed to ensuring the community has the opportunity to provide meaningful feedback and input into the decision-making process for a potential five-year extension. To achieve this a Community Consultation Strategy was drafted by consultants KPMG, that outlines the approach that will be taken to engage with the community to seek their input on a potential extension. CN has engaged KPMG, an independent external third party with international standing and expertise, to undertake the community consultation. The draft strategy was placed on public exhibition from 14 December 2022 – 25 January 2023. Following the review of community feedback, the Strategy was finalised by CN (click here to view the final strategy).
Have Your Say
The community are invited to have their say on the possible five-year extension of the Newcastle 500 event across three channels:
Online survey
The online survey is open to the whole community. Have Your Say by 5pm Friday 31 March 2023.
Online Survey Now Open
Have your say on the potential five-year extension of Newcastle 500 via our online survey.
Telephone survey
A telephone survey will be conducted with 600 randomly selected residents and businesses within Newcastle from 13 March - 14 April. Both mobile and landline numbers will be called, with the survey and random selection process overseen by the independent third party, KPMG.
If you receive a call asking to participate, we hope you will take the opportunity to provide your feedback.
Focus groups
Four focus groups will be facilitated by KPMG from 20 - 29 March. These focus groups will be used to 'dive deeper' into the preliminary findings from the online and telephone survey on the possible five-year extension of the Newcastle 500 event.
The focus groups will be broken into:
- Two resident focus groups
- A small to medium business group
- An industry representative group
Please register your interest in attending a focus group below:
