Position statement on indigenous participation

The Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) recognises the value of sport and recreation to the Indigenous community and is committed to increasing participation in physical activity and building community capacity.

Related topics: None

Indigenous Australians are identified as having a lower participation rate than the whole Australian population.

DSR has adopted a targeted approach to increasing their participation through the Indigenous Sport Program (ISP). The ISP is based on an MOU between the Australian Sports Commission and the Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts to provide cultural advice and guidance to Australia’s sports industry through the employment of a national network of Indigenous Sport Development Officers; eleven Indigenous Sport Development Officers are employed across Western Australia.

It is essential that Indigenous people, particularly those in rural and remote locations, are encouraged to develop and manage their own sport and recreation activities. By supporting and developing people in the community, sport and recreation will grow and become a stronger component of every day life.

Where would you like to go next?

• Alcohol and physical activity
• Child protection
• Coaching
• Companion card for people with a disability
• Drugs in sport
• Fare equalisation
• Funding national sport organisations for operations
• Governance
• Harassment-free sport
• Hosting national championships - national leagues
• Inclusivity (substantive equality)
• Integrity in sport
• Junior sport sponsorship from alcohol companies
• Mature-aged sport and recreation
• Mergers of like State Sporting Associations
• Officiating
• Photographing children
• Physical activity
• Sport/physical education in schools
• Sustainability
• Violence in sport
• Volunteers
• Water safety
• Working with Children Legislation