We are developing our response to the Victorian Government’s Office for Women in Sport and Recreation’s Fair Access project.

Previous community consultation and research was undertaken in September and October 2023 to understand the current barriers to participation faced by users and non-users (including representatives from underrepresented groups) of community sport and recreation facilities, which informed the development of the draft policy and action plan. Feedback was provided by 205 people, including 126 Participate Melbourne surveys, four information sessions (19 participants), six focus group sessions (28 participants), 14 interviews and 15 conversations at the Youth Fest pop up and five written submissions.

This new round of engagement occurred from 21 February to 28 March 2024 and sought to inform and invite feedback on Fair Access in the City of Melbourne, and key sections of the draft policy (Eligibility criteria and Championing Fair Access Indicators) and focus areas of the draft action plan (Infrastructure and environment, Activities and Information, engagement and partnership).

Clubs and key agencies were able to access information about the project and provide feedback through several activities, including:

• online focus groups
• Participate Melbourne Survey
• phone and in person interview
• sending an email to the dedicated Fair Access inbox.

Information about the Fair Access project and a link to the survey were promoted at Neighbourhood Survey pop ups to raise awareness about the various fair access engagement activities. Additionally, the invitation to participate in the community engagement and become familiar with the project was promoted through a range of other mediums including:

• community agencies and Participate Melbourne e-Newsletter
• emails and phone calls to sport and recreation clubs and operators
• social media posts, including a paid targeted campaign promoting the Participate Melbourne Survey
• posters, postcards, e-newsletters and digital promotion in libraries, community centres, and sport and recreation facilities.

The consultation included targeted outreach to approximately 90 clubs (50 community sports, 30 recreation and 10 leased and licensed clubs) as well as 45 community agencies.

During the consultation, we heard from representatives and members from 18 sports and recreation clubs (20 per cent of clubs) and from six community agencies (including LGBTIQA+ and gender diverse communities, multicultural communities, people living with a disability, homelessness and mental health and alcohol and other drugs sectors).

A total of 74 pieces of feedback were received through this engagement process. Discriminatory and offensive language was used in 28 submissions that have been accepted, but not considered as part of this consultation summary.

The remaining 46 pieces of feedback were provided in several ways and included 16 survey responses, two focus group sessions (12 participants), 10 interviews and 8 written submissions. The Participate Melbourne page received 1,151 views and 625 unique visitors, and the Policy was downloaded 148 times, and Action Plan 116 times.

Draft Policy

Messaging and language

Clarity is required regarding the purpose of the policy to alleviate concerns around ‘changing what is already working well’. It is important to acknowledge that clubs are at different points of their inclusion journey, and some have been prioritising opportunities for women, girls and underrepresented groups for many years.

Challenges in capturing data

Concerns were raised regarding the lack of consistency around how clubs collect and report on data. Challenges around recording data about specific attributes e.g. gender identity, disability and cultural background were also raised.

Limited resources

Clubs are concerned about their limited resources to develop inclusion plans and undertake self-assessments, both in terms of time and knowledge in some instances. Limited resources were also cited as a key challenge to providing more opportunities for women and girls.

Suggestions for City of Melbourne

Draft Action Plan

Prioritising Facility Upgrades

Many commented on the need for facility upgrades to support access to sport and recreation opportunities for women and girls

City of Melbourne funding and resourcing

Concerns were raised regarding the level of funding and resourcing City of Melbourne will contribute to the roll out of the policy and action plan.

Focus on training and capacity building

Training and capacity building was named as a priority to address some of the culture issues present within clubs.

Suggestions for City of Melbourne

• Appoint more staff to support clubs.
• Partner with existing agencies who deliver inclusion self-assessments and training.
• Promote and celebrate clubs that are leading inclusive initiatives and sharing learnings.
• Provide more grants and share opportunities both within and outside of City of Melbourne.
• Refine action plan and include an implementation plan that sits underneath it to provide detailed steps.

The Policy and Action Plan have been amended to reflect the key findings from this consultation phase. Minor changes have been made to the Policy to communicate strategic alignment and implementation processes more clearly and acknowledge inclusion activities already undertaken by existing user groups. Minor updates have been to the focus areas and actions refined in the Action Plan to reflect engagement feedback. The final documents will be presented to the Future Melbourne Committee in June 2024 for approval.