Under the proposed lottery, people in Australia would be able to purchase lottery tickets with proceeds going towards funding sport and the arts.

It would follow the sport-funding model of Great Britain, runners-up at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August - eight places above Australia.

A total of 29 medals at Rio 2016 marked Australia’s worst Olympic tally in 24 years and included just eight golds - less than half the amount the country won at Athens 2004 where it topped 17 podiums. 

"We are 100 per cent supportive of the lottery proposal," said Coates, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president.

"Olympic sport is in desperate need of funding.

"We are being out-funded by other countries, particularly Britain and Germany.

"I would give the lottery wholehearted support and I hope it gets up."

John Wylie, chairman of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), joined Coates in supporting the lottery and called on the Government to set it up by the end of next year.

The ASC is the main provider of funding for most Olympic sports, but its Government grant has declined over the last five years.

"We'll make sure that any lottery along these lines is run in a highly-regulated fashion that is consistent with responsible gambling," Wylie told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"We're very conscious that we want to raise more revenue for Australian sport but we want to do it in a way that's responsible.

"We think there is an opportunity here to do something good for the country to put more money into high performance programmes but also community sporting programmes, which are underfunded.

"We would outsource the management of the lottery itself to an established operator, someone who has experience and acumen in this area."

The idea has also been backed by former Sports Minister Mark Arbib, who was elected to the AOC’s Executive last month, and Swimming Australia President John Bertrand.

Bertrand claimed the lottery would raise between $22 million (£17.6 million/€20.8 million) and $37 million (£29.7 million/€34.9 million) in additional funding for Olympic campaigns and said extra funding would "absolutely" guarantee Olympic success.

He makes reference to the rise of Britain, who have increased their medal tally from 15, including just one gold, at Atlanta 1996 to 67, including 27 golds, at Rio 2016 following the introduction of National Lottery funding in 1997. 

"A lotto system has been in place in the UK for many years now and the dividends have been obvious," he told Melbourne radio station Sports Entertainment Network.

"We've never really considered the Brits a sporting nation but at the Olympics they've done extremely well and part of that is the funding base they have."

The ASC currently receives $190 million (£152.2 million/€179.4 million) in grants each year, but Wylie says this is dropping further behind the funding given to Olympic campaigns in other nations.

"The fact is we are underfunded... (but) we are not just sticking our hand out and looking for more taxpayer funds," he added.

"We are unambiguously and unashamedly standing up for sport and saying this matters."