Your Organisation as a Leader

Every sporting organisation has its own culture. A culture is set by the way leaders — including those with roles on the committee and board, coaches, players and volunteers — behave. This includes their attitudes, beliefs and ideas. A culture starts from the top and trickles down. Given this, your leaders must create a culture that encourages Aboriginal people to be included. Effective leaders understand the importance of engaging with communities as the key to successful relationships and understand how they as leaders can support their organisation to make it happen.

Creating a Culture Change

There are many things you can do to support leaders and develop welcoming and inclusive environments for Aboriginal people.

Ensure leaders have relevant skills

Sport organisations aiming to increase participation by Aboriginal people should consider how the skills and experiences of board or committee members, staff, coaches and volunteers allow them to have a positive impact within the sport. This might also include encouraging and supporting Aboriginal people to take on leadership roles if they don’t already.

Cultural awareness training

Every individual has their own experiences, perspectives and beliefs. Making sport more welcoming and inclusive involves understanding other perspectives, and the needs of people of all ages, backgrounds and level of ability. But you are not expected to already know everything about everyone. Therefore, cultural awareness training is an excellent option for any sport organisation aiming to encourage greater participation by Aboriginal people. Specific training programs do exist, and your organisation is encouraged to consider providing a training session for your staff or volunteers. This is important at both the state association level and at local clubs. Training may help develop:

• Knowledge of the history and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Positive attitudes towards and understanding of the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
• Increased knowledge of different languages and behavior styles from different cultures
• More inclusive workplaces or club environments

Various organisations can provide cultural awareness training, so it is recommended you engage with training providers to find out if the program meets your needs. Some organisations which provide cultural awareness training include the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Services Association Ltd (VACSAL), and the Koorie Heritage Trust (KHT).

Organisations participating in the State Sport Association Participation Program found that organising cross-cultural awareness training was very beneficial in supporting staff to work with Aboriginal people.

Building Trust and On-Going Participation

An inclusive sport organisation is committed to achieving long-term outcomes. Your organisation’s vision and strategic plan should set the agenda for what you want to achieve, how you will do it, and how you will measure your success. If you commit to increasing participation by Aboriginal people in your sport and making it sustainable, then you commit to building trust with local communities through understanding and respect. This is important because the outcomes you want to see will often take time to be achieved. By making a long-term commitment you will give your organisations the best chance of ongoing participation.