Policies and Practice

Sporting organisations that take the time to carefully develop policies that outline a commitment to inclusivity have a better chance of becoming more welcoming and inclusive.

The reason you need to develop these documents is to set a positive culture that supports everyone to participate and to promote positive, respectful behaviors towards all members including those groups of people that are underrepresented in sport. This includes women and girls, people within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ+) community, older adults, people with a disability, Aboriginal Victorians, and people with a culturally or linguistically diverse background.

So, it’s important that your vision statement, policies, codes of conduct and procedures outline your commitment to creating a setting that encourages everyone to join in and respect each other.

When developing your policies, talk to your members, the community and people from wide range of backgrounds. Their feedback will help you create relevant policies that resonate with them.

The VicHealth evaluation indicated that organisations which invested time in making changes to policies were able create more inclusive environments.