Unfortunately, many of these multicultural community members still face considerable barriers to participation in community sport - including language barriers, financial barriers, unfamiliarity with local systems and sport options, past trauma, and exclusion.
With the right understanding and support, sporting clubs can play a vital role in helping individuals and families settle, belong, and thrive. For refugee community members, the benefits of their participation in community sport extend to physical and mental health benefits, social integration, community connection, reduced isolation, and cultural understanding.
The Inclusion Partnership
To address these challenges, Sports Focus has partnered with Bendigo Community Health Services (BCHS) to increase the multicultural, refugee and migrant communities' inclusion within community sport.
The collaboration combines Sports Focus’s expertise in community sport with BCHS’s knowledge of refugee experiences and the barriers they face to participation in community sport.
Together, they developed the Understanding Refugee Journey Session, delivered by bi-lingual BCHS staff of lived experience as former refugees. The session helps local sporting clubs build cultural awareness, develop inclusive strategies, and gain confidence in engaging respectfully with players, families and volunteers from refugee backgrounds.
The partnership also facilitated a series of inclusive sporting events, including:
- Karen lawn bowls and rowing come & try sessions
- Hazara tennis come & try sessions
- Cultural education workshops for club volunteers
The Results
Over the last 12-months alone the project has directly engaged 339 participants through a range of inclusive sport and cultural education activities. This includes:
- Lawn bowls come & try sessions in February 2024 with 136 participants
- Learn to row sessions across February and March with 24 participants
- Tennis sessions in April with 25 participants, and
- Golf sessions in March with 82 participants.
Clubs received cultural education sessions including an "Understanding Karen Culture" session attended by 15 club volunteers, and an "Understanding the Afghan (Hazara) Community" session with 7 club volunteers. In addition, a tailored session was held for former refugee families, focused on helping them better understand sport in Australia.
"As Greater Bendigo becomes more culturally diverse, it is so important that sporting clubs understand the journey of refugees, to be able to better engage and support them to participate in their club” – Laura Bradley, Sports Focus
Beyond direct engagement, the project also had a significant impact on broader multicultural, migrant, and refugee communities, who continue to benefit from increased opportunities, cultural safety, and inclusive practices now embedded in local clubs.
