Victorian sport working together to tackle racism

In a historic moment for Victorian sport, Chief Executive Officers and representatives of CMSport, Vicsport, VicHealth, and seven State Sporting Associations/Organisations last week signed a pledge at Parliament House, where they committed to working together ‘to strengthen community sport as a more inclusive, culturally safe and respectful environment for all Victorians’.

The first-of-its-kind collaboration brings together AFL Victoria, Basketball Victoria, Cricket Victoria, Football Victoria, Netball Victoria, NRL Victoria and Tennis Victoria, who have committed to being leaders of change in their respective sports. The group has acknowledged that while significant improvements have been made over the past decade, racism and discrimination still occurs in community sport – and there is power in uniting to combat this issue.

The pledge stated, “As community leaders, we recognise that we have a responsibility to promote diversity and build social cohesion. Sport can be a major player in tackling racism.

“We want to lead the change. By signing this pledge, we commit to challenging racist and discriminatory behaviour and attitudes in our sports.”

Photo Credit: Harjono Djoybisono / CMSport.

This commitment coincides with the latest release of research led by Monash University, a study titled Enhancing the Capacity of Victorian Community Sport to Tackle Racism. The study funded by VicHealth surveyed almost 350 Australians from across 50 different sports, to better understand community experiences and the impacts of racism in community sport.

The organisations involved in this collaboration supported the dissemination of the survey and welcome the publication of its findings. Although startling, it provides a solid evidence-base from which the group plans to turn knowledge into action.

A workshop was held following the pledge signing event to explore the research findings in depth and co-design an action strategy moving forward, which will centre the experiences of community members who have been impacted by racist and discriminatory incidences in community sport.

Carmel Guerra OAM, CEO of CMY, said: “We're proud to be working with the sector to proactively tackle the issue of racism head on and create more inclusive, culturally safe environments for young people and their families to participate in community sport.”

Lisa Hasker OAM, CEO of Vicsport, said: “There is no place for racism in sport. Vicsport is proud to work with CMSport and Victorian State Sporting Associations, along with VicHealth and Sport and Recreation Victoria, to ensure sport is welcoming and culturally safe.”