2024
The conversation
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.
Gathering insights
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.
Who we reached
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).
What we heard
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
- Communicate clearly about the purpose of the policy and acknowledge that clubs are at different points of the inclusion journey.
- Be clear regarding data collection expectations.
- Ensure self-assessments acknowledge or reward clubs making an effort to be inclusive, regardless of whether women and girls are taking up these opportunities.
- Provide simple checklists and templates to reduce administrative burden on clubs.
- Partner with existing programs who work with clubs to develop inclusion plans and assessments.
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.
Impact
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.
2023
The conversation
The City of Melbourne is embarking on the Fair Access project. This project is in response to the Victorian Government Office of Women and Girls - 2022, Fair Access Policy Roadmap.
The City of Melbourne’s Fair Access project seeks to identify ways to reduce barriers and increase the participation rates of women, girls and other underrepresented groups.
This project will result in a new council policy and action plan that aims to eliminate systemic causes of gender inequality, ableism and cultural bias in infrastructure allocation, programs, communications and delivery of services.
Gathering insights
In September 2023, we undertook consultation with users and non-users of community sport and recreation facilities, to identify barriers to participation and understand what actions council could take to overcome these.
We facilitated a range of activities, including information sessions, focus group sessions, pop ups, and interviews to inform and seek feedback about Fair Access. These activities sought to engage sports and recreation clubs, as well as community members, in particular people living with a disability, multicultural communities, Aboriginal peoples, LGBTIQA+ and gender diverse community members, and international students.
Who we reached
126
survey respondents
19
information session attendees
28
focus group participants
14
in-depth interviews
5
written submissions
What we heard
Participation in activities
The activities participants were most interested in included swimming (particularly women only sessions), gym or group fitness, martial arts, and tennis, with some respondents expressing interest to try a variety of field sports. The activities with the least amount of interest included baseball, rugby, and cricket.
The barriers for user groups were largely about facilities and safety, including:
- the need for lighting, facility condition and design improvements, cleanliness, and equitable allocation and scheduling of facilities,
- limited resources, including low awareness of gender equity and inclusion issues,
- low recruitment and retention of volunteers and committee members are barriers to facilitating more gender equitable activities and initiatives.
The key barriers that emerged for non users included time, scheduling or competing demands, cost and fees, and lack of confidence. Additionally, many respondents across underrepresented groups expressed issues related to inclusion, including:
- inadequate facilities,
- experiencing incidences of discrimination (indirect and direct),
- staff and coaches not having appropriate training,
- no opportunities to participate in ways that are modified,
- lack of inclusive indicators (flags, signage) and not seeing people like them participating as a player or leader, including in promotional materials.
Suggested actions
- Ensure safety getting to and from, and participating at community sport and recreation facilities at night.
- Provide well designed and maintained sport and recreation facilities to meet their needs.
- Ensure community members feel welcome and included at community sport and recreation facilities.
- Provide access to sport and recreation facilities and activities at convenient times and locations.
- Provide nearby facilities that enable participation in the sport and recreation activities that are of interest.
- Provide opportunities to participate in sport and recreation in different ways, including activities that are more social, fun, non-competitive/routine, modified, culturally appropriate and family friendly.
- Provide easier introductions to sport and recreation activities that are non-threatening, build skills and confidence, and provide a range of pathways.
- Provide suitable pricing for those experiencing financial barriers to participating in sport and recreation.
- Greater diversity in leadership and facilitation roles.
- Ensure sport and recreation staff, facilitators and players are respectful and welcoming to all people.
- Provide equitable access to sport and recreation facilities.
- Provide easily accessible information on community sport and recreation participation opportunities.
- Promote the opportunities and advantages of participating in community sport and recreation.
Impact
These findings have informed the development of a Draft Fair Access Sport and Recreation Use and Allocation Policy 2024-2027 (PDF 4.3 MB), and a Draft Fair Access Sport and Recreation Action Plan 2024-2027 (PDF 6.4 MB).
Next steps
There will be a second round of engagement seeking feedback on the draft policy and draft action plan.
Engagement summary report
