Indigenous Australian women and sport: findings and recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry

Abstract

Researchers have consistently pointed to positive links between sport, physical activity, health and wellbeing amongst marginalized population groups. This paper concentrates on a group about which little is presently known in terms of these links – Indigenous women in Australia. The catalyst for this focus is twofold: demographic data that, while sparse, suggests that this group has very low levels of participation in sport and associated physical activity; and second, a recent parliamentary inquiry into Indigenous sport in which the participation of women featured in several submissions. Both data sets confirm that Indigenous women are significantly underrepresented in the Australian sporting landscape. There is no systematic knowledge about why this is so. The present study contributes to that small body of literature by considering (a) evidence about participation rates of Indigenous women in sport; and (b) the aspirations of sport organizations to attract Indigenous women into their programs.

Notes

1. Closing the gap is a strategy that aims to reduce Indigenous Australian disadvantage with respect to life expectancy, child mortality, access to early childhood education, educational achievement, and employment outcomes. Endorsed by the Australian Government in March 2008, Closing the gap is a formal commitment developed in response to the call of the Social Justice Report 2005 to achieve Indigenous health equality within 25 years.

2. The Deadly Sista Girlz program was developed by the David Wirrpanda Foundation in 2007 and aims to empower aboriginal girls by offering a safe, stable and trusting environment in which they can discuss current and personal issues and receive guidance from positive aboriginal female role models.

3. The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, life skills, and self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal men and by doing so equips them to participate meaningfully in society. The vehicle for achieving this outcome is Australian Rules and/or Rugby League. The Foundation uses the existing passion that Aboriginal boys have for football to attract them into school and keep them there. The programmes are delivered through a network of football academies established in partnership with local schools. Any Aboriginal male enrolled at the school is eligible to participate in the Clontarf Academy (Clontarf Foundation [2014] 2015).

4. The terms codes is routinely applied to four types of football in Australia. They are Australian Rules football, rugby league, rugby union and Association Football (often known as soccer).

5. A corroboree is an Australian Aboriginal dance ceremony which may take the form of a sacred ritual or an informal gathering.

6. The NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival, commonly referred to as the Koori Knockout, is known to be the largest gathering of Indigenous peoples in Australia. The inaugural knockout was held in 1971. It was created specifically for Aboriginal players as opposed to the state rugby league.

7. RIHP Rubies is a team of talented Indigenous young women selected through Hockey Queensland Talent Identification Programs.

8. The Rumbalara Football and Netball Club was founded in the early 1970s and represents aboriginal peoples’ rights to play sport and represent their people. After years of rejection, the Club finally made its way into a mainstream sporting league in 1997.

9. The Kaiela Institute supports collaboration between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders to envision, design and implement an inclusive future for all people in the Goulburn Murray region.

10. In 2006, the AFL established the Flying Boomerangs program.