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Submission by Steve Stacey, Nyoongar Sports Association on 24 March 2009.
2. Better place sport and physical activity as a key component of the Government's preventative health approach
- Examine Government frameworks to ensure an on-going focus on grassroots and community sport and physical activity.
The Nyoongar Sports Association is tasked with delivering sport and physical activity programmes to Indigenous Australians in Nyoongar Country in Western Australia, a land mass about the size of the UK or Italy. This submission focus's on Indigenous participation in sport and physical recreation. Delivery along the sport / health /education nexus poses many challenges, resources, the span of control over a large land mass, the tyranny of distance, the need to build partnerships with schools, colleges, state sports associations, local and state governments among them. The coordination issue.The sports delivery system is not geared to deliver at the level that we operate at, the bottom of grass roots. Our concern is not how do we prepare Indigenous children to progress to regional and state representation, but rather how do we get them into existing clubs. If we want to use sport and physical recreation to assist the Indigenous community to overcome this disadvantage then we have to 'facilitate participation'. A healthy examination of the Australian sports delivery system is needed, and the place of Indigenous Australians within that framework firmly established. Policy makers have not yet considered in any great detail, at this level of participation how we approach the issue firstly, of generating Indigenous participation and secondly how we systematically unearth the obvious talent that exists. There are high stakes here. If sport does all it is held up to do then participation equates to better health, outcomes, education, social integration, disengagement from the justice system, and economic benefits from professional careers, through playing, administrating and all those associated jobs built around the current systems. Sport needs the same consideration within Indigenous Australia as those other determinants of Indigenous disadvantage, health, welfare, education, housing and economic security. In order to do this we need to seek answers regarding information management. If we are to achieve outcomes in this particular niche market then we need to establish a starting point. For instance if we have no knowledge of the number of Indigenous coaches or participation in mainstream clubs, how are we to effect improvement? A more systematic and evidence based approach, will aid policy making and resource allocation.
- Examine Government programs to increase participation rates in sport and physical activity, including analysis of existing programs.
In order to engage at the level that we are advocating, we need to work within schools with high Indigenous populations (HIP), Local Government Authorities, State Sports Associations, local clubs, state government departments, and significant other organisations; David Wirrpanda Foundation. The goal is to get more Indigenous Australians playing more sport more often.To facilitate the transition to club level we need to include;1) After school sport; which inevitably must mean moving on from the traditional AFL and Netball into other markets, The Diversification Issue. Clontarf’s success with Indigenous children, in terms of facilitating school attendance through physical activity, suggest a multi sport programme in a series of High Schools (with HIP) would assist the critical transition past year 10, into years 11 and 12. The Sporting Chance programme is geared at those children with existing identified talent.2) LGA Recreation and Leisure Centres;In one wheatbelt town in 2006,for some youngsters aged 14 / 15 this was the first time that they had ever been inside this recreation centre in their lives. We need to ask ourselves why this is so. If we can't facilitate participation at this local level then all the lofty goals we have set ourselves will be in vain.3) School Holiday Programmes, For many 'poverty is the core of exclusion' and the cost prohibitive.School holiday programmes in many regional and rural townships may be non existent.4) In existing clubs the answer might be for these organisations to run small sided fun and fitness projects. This is not conceived as a club membership issue, but rather as a social activity. The continuum of non competitive programmes that span schools, holiday programmes, recreation and leisure centres, and local clubs could ensure ongoing sport / physical activity as an extended life time platform of participation, and assist in the delivery of other social and economic benefits.The whole process needs branding to engage the Australian community around the issue.Fund grass roots sports organisations like NFP’s to do this. Create a funding pool which is geared at this level and which uses monies from health, education, justice, and other such areas to create a Sports Diversionary project which will clearly encourage below club level participation. If children are perceived to be not good enough to play sport at the club level, then where is the physical activity to come from?
- Identify and recommend opportunities to break down barriers to participation at junior, adult and senior ages with a view to making it simpler and easier for Australians to participate in the sport or physical activity of their choice, including for women, the disabled and Indigenous people.
The sports community of Australia, indeed the sports community of any country must be the most tolerant and embracive of any section of any community anywhere. I quote the example of Association Football in the UK. 1945 the start of non-European immigration in noticeable numbers into the UK from the West Indies, in reality cheap labour to rebuild the country after WW2.Prior to this date a handful of non-European professional players going back some fifty years.Viv Anderson became the first non-European player to represent England at Wembley on 29th November 1978.Paul Ince became the first non-European player to captain England in a full international on the 9th June 1993.In April of that year Ugo Ehiogu,captains the English under 21 side. There are currently over 50 non-European players who hold the distinction of having pulled on the England shirt. A survey undertaken within Premier and Football League clubs in the1999 / 2000 season suggested that 13% of players at Premier League and Football League clubs were non-European. Now 240 million people in over 200 countries know the story. This is high class, high profile acknowledgement concerning social integration and the power of sport to achieve social goals Australia needs to set itself similar goals and focus its resources on achieving the outcomes. We could start by a ‘Grow Your Sport’ message a catch call to do what ever is necessary to include Indigenous Australia in all we do at any level of sports participation, anywhere. These issues may be, as the Football Federation of Australia has done, to document benchmarks for Indigenous Australians in its national teams for future generations. Or it may be simply to ensure that with three tiers of government monitoring and funding our sports delivery system that we ensure that Indigenous children get to see the inside of their local recreation centre before they are 15 years old! We could consider ‘Grow Your Sport’ strategic or development plans in local government jurisdictions, state sports associations, indeed any one who seeks funding at a local,state or federal level. We need to remove the bureaucracy from the process and use NFP’s. NFP’s Local Government Authorities High Schools and local sports clubs would make an incisive partnership at this level. This concept could be backed up by local on the ground committees or groups in each LGA to coordinate local resource for use on the ground and to focus on sports participation. This group could also monitor referrals from various jurisdictions.
- Recommend strategies to increase the effectiveness of the promotion of sport by the Federal Government to better communicate positive health and activity messages to the broader community.
The provision of a ‘Participation / Diversionary level strategy’, across schools, beginning at the year 10 transition, into the local recreation centre, across school holiday programmes and on into clubs ensures that the positive messages are inputted into users across all those areas that we term participatory levels. The message is continuous and coordinated, and starts ‘young’ No matter which of the previous environments children seek activity within the message remains constant. The essential targets are those children who do not wish to play competitive sport, either because they do not fit the skill criteria or for any other reason. Those currently participating in sport one would suspect have a greater understanding of the fitness/healthy lifestyle messages. Whatever the message, funding sourced by NFP's comes from various jurisdictions and need different delivery messages and outcomes. Its a good case for centralising the funding to grass roots community sport across the sport / health nexus, to cordinate and manage the message, and to maximise resources, impacts and outcomes at this level. The most effective way to ensure that this happens is to support the development of communtiy based grass roots sports and the development of the initial activities .We need more spaces for those that dont or cant participate in competitive sport, and need the element of play and imagination in the activity.
3. Strengthen pathways from junior sport to grassroots community sport right through to elite and professional sport.
- Examine the capacity of the system to ensure optimal and efficient delivery of the athlete and coach pathway for any given sport.
A frank and open discussion within the sports community on how best we can translate Indigenous talent into access and opportunity.
- Recommend the most effective support and recognition for the coaches, officials, umpires, administrators and volunteers who keep our community clubs alive.
A frank and open discussion within the sports comunity on how best we can translate Inidgenous talent into access and opportunity.
- Examine how relationships between the Commonwealth Government and National Sporting Organisations, State Sporting Organisations and Australia’s peak representative bodies at key multi-sports competitions may be strengthened to deliver better performance outcomes.
Within the context of Indigenous participation, the link in the sports development system that needs acknowledgement and guaranteed funding are the small NFP's operating at grass roots, and I say again , at the below club level of performance.The paucity of Indigenous representation at most levels of competitive sport is indicative of the work that needs to be done.There are issues to be considered, amongst them the Indigenous fascination with AFL. Have we taken our eyes off the ladies? What about the emerging sports, Association Football for instance and the possibilities that may be available to Indigenous Australia outside of the 'recognised' Indigenous game? The demographics of Australia are changing, Future generations will not necessarily be hanging the hats on current popular sports. We may need to consider how we grow our opportunities to include a segment of the population that has talent but is yet waiting to be unearthed. The issue that we have been pressing in this submission is clearly if we cannot facilitate participation how do we achieve our goals? If we do not provide opportunity to diversify participation across sports, How will we know what people are capable of. The answers to these questions can only come from within the current structure. In summary, with respect to Indigenous participation across the sporting spectrum, currently, there are more questions than answers.
5. Identify opportunities to increase and diversify the funding base for sport through corporate sponsorship, media and any recommended reforms, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the Australian Sports Foundation
The production of a ‘Grow Your Sport’ card for use in supermarkets, petrol stations, in fact any group of retail outlets, that would give the customer, the retailer (or both) the opportunity to donate a very small amount of the invoice (one quarter of one per cent of purchase) to the “Grow Your Sport Campaign”, could possibly raise significant amounts of (charitable?) donations over a year. For instance the Fly Buys Card offers points, for purchases, which essentially translate in the wash up to cash.The Sport Event / Indigenous Tourism nexus has merit in various jurisdictions. The government needs to consider the possibility of underwriting selected events agianst the impact on the economy of the tourist (national and international) dollar, and the subsequent possibility that these events could provide ongoing funding and support (possibly with corporate assistance) to enable certain programmes to be self sustaining.
Page last updated: 24 March, 2009