There are months where a number of things seem to come together. September felt like one of those.
It also reinforced just how challenging some of the work in front of us is.
There is a lot changing in how we think about access and participation for people with disability in Australia, with greater emphasis on participating through local communities and having choice in how people take part.
Only 14% of adults with disability participate in sport-related activities weekly. That is not acceptable.
I had the opportunity to write about that challenge this month in an op-ed for The Point. For most people with disability, the ambition is much simpler: to take part in sport in their community, in the way they choose.
Since late July, more than 1,100 people with disability have taken part across 16 Abilities Unleashed events, while Every Body Moves, presented by Bupa, has begun its national rollout. We also welcomed Senator David Pocock in Canberra and Queensland Deputy Premier Tim Mander in Brisbane to see that work firsthand.
We also joined Minister Jenny McAllister and key stakeholders for the Australian Government’s Ministerial Roundtable on the $200 million Inclusive Communities Fund.
I have also been hearing, and experiencing, more questions about diversity and inclusion in sport. That concerns me, particularly when the people most likely to be affected are often those who already have the least access.
We often say this work is everyone’s responsibility. It should be. But without capability, resources and accountability, there is a risk that everyone’s responsibility becomes no one’s responsibility.
That is also part of why Changing Lives Through Sport has returned. This year, we are opening our Wall to stories from people with disability, and from others whose lives have been changed through disability sport.
We want people to tell those stories in their own words. Because as we talk about systems, investment and what needs to change, we cannot lose sight of the people experiencing sport and the role it can play in confidence, connection and community.
We deliver programs directly, but much of our work happens through the conversations, relationships and work behind the scenes that help create the conditions for participation and enable others to provide better opportunities.
That work is harder to count and often harder to fund.
At the Roundtable, our focus was on investing not only in local activity, but in organisations that build capability across whole sectors.
We are already seeing why this matters.
Every Body Moves is free and open to people with and without disability. Yet we are hearing from people with disability who want to take part in a free community event but cannot access the individual support they need to attend.
That is not good enough.
Building community capability is critical, but it cannot replace the individual and specialist supports some people need.
We need both.
Similar conversations are happening through Horizon 2 of Play Well, development of Australia’s first National Disability Sport Action Plan and the EMPOWER Project Symposium.
At the same time, our annual Play Well investment from the Australian Sports Commission has reduced from $217,000 to $135,000. Importantly, the ASC has confirmed this outcome was based on the Play Well Investment Framework criteria only and does not reflect its view of our broader organisational capability.
Last financial year, more than 4,100 people with disability participated directly in our programs, alongside significant work to build capability across sport. Yet it resulted in a $29,286 deficit.
We have maintained a very lean workforce and, in many areas, the minimum staffing required to do the work. I would like that to change. Not to build a larger organisation for the sake of it, but to have the capacity to respond properly to the opportunities in front of us.
Australia is also investing an additional $54.9 million through the Para Uplift. That investment is critical, but high-performance Para sport is only one part of the picture.
Government investment remains critical, but we cannot expect government to solve this alone.
Corporate Australia and philanthropy and our communities have a much bigger role to play in backing participation.
We saw the power of that this month when Newcastle University Football Club raised $9,751 through its inaugural Callaghan Cup, equivalent to more than 40% of our entire donation income from the previous financial year.
That came from one club choosing to get behind our work. The value went well beyond the money, and it was a joy to be there and see what that support looked like firsthand.
Next month, at the Toyota AFL Open, we will celebrate ten years since the inaugural national Wheelchair Aussie Rules championship, which we helped establish alongside the Australian Defence Force. Today, the AFL and its clubs hold far greater ownership themselves.
That is what success can look like for us.
September also marked six years until Brisbane 2032.
For 65 years, we have helped build what was missing and supported others to become more capable. This conversation is not new for us, even if it may be new for others.
There is a huge opportunity over the next six years to make something quite simple easier for many more people: taking part in sport in their community, in the way they choose.
What gives me confidence is what happens when people understand that.
As always, I am incredibly grateful to the Australian Sports Commission, Variety the Children’s Charity Victoria and Bupa for continuing to back our work, and to our staff and Board, who continue to do an enormous amount with the resources we have.
