The Greater Bendigo City Council has adopted a Fair Access Policy to support the City and local sporting and active recreation organisations and clubs to provide more participation opportunities and equitable access to community sports and active recreation infrastructure for everyone.
The policy aims to reduce barriers and address motivation and needs of existing and potential new participants especially women, girls and under-represented groups to get involved in sport and active recreation.
City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said sport and active recreation are core parts of our lives that contribute to health and fitness, culture, social connection and a sense of belonging.
“It can be difficult for some people to participate in sport and active recreation and fair, inclusive and safe opportunities can mean different things to different people,” Cr Metcalf said.
“Lots of things can affect participation and some people may experience things like discrimination or disadvantage. The new policy and plan considers factors that may affect a person participating, like gender, age, cultural background, ability, religion or sexual orientation.
“The policy along with an action plan were developed following consultation with local sport and active recreation organisations and the community.
“The consultation process helped to identify barriers and motivators to participation in sport and active recreation and the action plan sets out key actions for the City and local sport and active recreation organisations including clubs, associations, leagues and facility managers.
“A series of resources have also been developed to support local sport and active recreation organisations to fulfill their role under the new policy. The resources will help to address their actions and consider new ways to reach more people by making them feel welcome and safe to participate.
“The resources include a range of opportunities to address common participation problems, along with examples of actions that organisations can try to increase inclusion and equity. The examples are the ideas that sport and active recreation organisations and community members suggested during the consultation phase.
“They will help organisations identify what they’re doing well and how they can be more inclusive. Being more inclusive will help attract more players, volunteers and officials, create stronger, more connected organisations and gain increased funding opportunities.”
