There are lots of organisations you can partner with to help you build, promote and support opportunities for people with disability to participate. These organisations might also be able to provide training and awareness sessions to build the capability of your staff and volunteers to run programs.
Potential partner organisations may include disability service providers, community health organisations, your local council, schools, your State Sporting Association, a Regional Sports Assembly or a Disability Sport Organisation.
There are lots of organisations outside the sports industry who would make great partners. Many of these organisations specialise in a specific disability type. Some examples include:
- Vision Australia provide low vision and blindness services.
- Deaf Australia advocate for people who are deaf.
- VALID supports people with intellectual disability and their families.
- Amaze is the peak body for Autism in Victoria.
- Down Syndrome Victoria empowers people with Down syndrome.
- Yooralla supports people with physical, intellectual and multiple disabilities.
For a full list of disability organisations visit the Victorian Government Better Health Channel Disability groups and networks page.
The VicHealth Partnerships Analysis Tool is a very useful guide for assessing and developing effective partnerships. It is one of the most downloaded resources from the VicHealth website.
In Victoria there are a range of State Sport & Recreation Bodies who specialise in providing opportunities for people with disability to gain the benefits of and active lifestyle:
Disability Sport & Recreation
Disability Sport & Recreation (DSR) is a not for profit that has been assisting Victorians with disability to find better health through sport and recreation since 1962. DSR conducts the annual Victorian Disability Sport & Recreation Awards, the Victorian Disability Sport & Recreation Festival, an adaptive equipment loan library, disability awareness training, Sport Rec Access service, camps, wheelchair rugby and AFL wheelchair while conducting kid’s programs in hospitals.With 3,000 members including over 200 organisations, DSR also provides a number of communication opportunities for the various sporting activities conducted by other sporting organisations to promote their programs directly to people with a disability.
Contact details: Access All Abilities Play
Operated by Reclink Australia, Access for All Abilities (AAA Play) provides Australia’s only first-point-of call service connecting people with disability to sports and recreational opportunities in Melbourne, Victoria.
Contact details: Special Olympics Victoria
Special Olympics Victoria is proud to be part of the Special Olympics Australia network that provides weekly sports training and regular competition for people with intellectual disability. Through sport, people with intellectual disability learn the skills and build the confidence that can help them achieve their personal best in sport and in life.
Contact details: Scope
Scope is a not-for-profit organisation that exists to support people with physical, intellectual and multiple disabilities achieve their goals in life. Our services help more than 6000 individuals and their families across Victoria. We provide support when and where you need it, whether it’s in your home, at school, in the community or at one of our 99 service locations. We are passionate about providing you with high-quality support that is individualised to your needs.
Contact details: Sport Inclusion Australia
Sport Inclusion Australia, formerly AUSRAPID, is a national sporting organisation established in 1986 to assist the inclusion of people with an intellectual disability into the mainstream community using sport as the medium. Sport Inclusion Australia has worked within the Australian sporting sector with outstanding success and is proud of the increasing numbers of sporting organisations and clubs taking responsibility for inclusion with the focus on ability and based on social inclusion principles.
Contact details: Deaf Sports and Recreation
Deaf Sports Recreation Victoria (DSRV) was established in 1982 and is the state parent sporting body in Victoria representing the deaf and hard of hearing community. DSRV is a non-for-profit organisation that also manages Victorian representatives of Australian deaf sports team competing in local competitions. DSRV plays a role in putting deaf and hard of hearing Victorians in touch with various sporting clubs, and keep the community informed of events and opportunities for meeting new and like-minded people. DSRV is associated with numerous sporting clubs, recreation groups and health and well-being practitioners and is always looking to create new partnerships. Every 4 years, DSRV supports and coordinates a Victorian state team to participate in the Australian Deaf Games, the most important and largest sporting event in Australia for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Contact details: Blind Sports & Recreation Victoria
Blind Sports & Recreation Victoria is recognised by Sport and Recreation Victoria as the State Sporting Association responsible for the development, promotion and support of sporting and recreational opportunities for blind and vision impaired people throughout Victoria.
Contact details: Disabled Wintersport Australia
Established in 1978 as the Australian Disabled Skiers Federation, we are now known as Disabled Wintersport Australia (DWA). The organisation has assisted thousands of individuals with disabilities to participate in winter sports annually. From its programs some of the world’s finest alpine skiers have emerged recording victories at the highest level of international competition. The organisation's members range from recreational skiers to Australia’s Winter Paralympians. DWA is an organisation with a national perspective taking responsibility for development of disability winter sport in Australia. Through building the capability and capacity of a National Sport System, including accountability at the national level, we provide members with technically sound sports programs, policies and service.
Contact details: Disability Sports Victoria
Disability Sports Victoria (DSV) is a collective of organisations that work with groups and individuals with a physical, mental of emotional disability. It services people in the state of Victoria, Australia and aims to promote the development of sport and recreational opportunities for athletes with disabilities.
Contact details: Riding for the Disabled
To enable people with disabilities throughout Victoria to experience enjoyment, challenge and a sense of achievement through participation in equestrian activities to improve their quality of life, attain personal goals and develop life skills. RDAV is a grass roots volunteer based organisation which has 36 centres, 1200 riders, 1100 volunteers and 200 coaches across Victoria. We are proud to have offered our services for 40 years in Victoria.
Contact details:
Phone: (03) 9473 0133
Email: info@dsr.org.au
Website: dsr.org.au/
Phone: 1800 222 842
Mobile: 0434 693 902
Email: request@aaavic.org.au
Website: aaavic.org.au/
Phone: 0427 469 424
Email: info@specialolympics.com
Website: specialolympics.com.au/vic/
Phone: 1300 4 72673
Website: scopeaust.org.au/
Phone: 03 5762 7494
Email: mail@sportinclusionaustralia.org.au
Website: sportinclusionaustralia.org.au/
Email: info@dsrv.com.au
Website: dsrv.com.au
Phone: 03 9822 8876
Email: info@blindsports.org.au
Website: blindsports.org.au/
Phone: 1300 265 730
Email: info@disabledwintersport.com.au
Website: disabledwintersport.com.au/home/
Phone: (03) 9894 1884
Email: disabilitysports@gmail.com
Website: dsvic.org.au/
Phone: +61 3 9258 4730
Email: admin@rdav.asn.au
Website: rdav.asn.au/
There are many examples of great partnerships that have enabled more participation in sport by people with disability. Here are some great videos which demonstrate the impact of partnerships:
Australian Deaf Games
Deaf Sports Australia partnered with multiple National Sport Organisations to conduct the 2018 Australian Deaf Games. To view the videos, click here.
Videos below are examples of how organisations are catering for people with disabilities.Blind Sports Victoria & Gymnastics Victoria - Blind Sports Gymnastics Disability Sport & Recreation and Rugby Victoria – Wheelchair Rugby Cricket Australia and Sport Inclusion Australia – Lord’s Taverner’s Shield