Chess as a Sport

This is a topic I've touched on before (Chess in the Olympics) but the Australian Chess Federation newsletter carries a report on a petition being circulated asking the Australian Parliament to recognise chess as a sport. (Warning: The petition is in word format) While this is a laudable aim there is a comment at the end of the report that I find slightly odd

The aim of the petition from "Chessplayers of Australia" is to add weight to a submission which will be presented to the Commonwealth Minister for Sport. Once a change in "Sport" definition is achieved, thoughtful applications for financial government assistance are more likely to succeed.

In the ACT, although chess isn't officially a sport, there has been no problem in receiving financial assistance from the government (at least in the years when applications have been submitted). I wonder how many applications have been submitted by other state chess associations (and the Australian Chess Federation) and what was the success rate?