People with a disability receive the same physical, mental, and social benefits from participating in sport and physical activity as those without a diagnosed disability. Legally, Australians of all abilities should have access to sport and physical activity opportunities.

A person’s disability could be physical, intellectual, medical or psychiatric.

Sporting and recreational organisations must work harder to include people with a disability. Here are some ways organisations can get started:

• Update policies to include advocacy and adjust program delivery to meet the needs of people with a disability.  

• Apply Person-Centred approaches and inclusive strategies to welcome people with a disability into their main stream community.

• Provide opportunities for people with a disability to access a high performance sport pathway by providing qualified coaches, well-structured programs and progressive coaching methodologies for anyone aspiring to improve.

   

  “The only disability in life is a bad attitude” – Scott Hamilton

  
  
  

Human Rights and Legislation:

Two key pieces of Human Rights legislation provide an underpinning for government policies affecting people with a disability:

The Disability Services Act 1986 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 provide a legal framework. There is also the recently adopted National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Act 2013 –

The NDIS legislation was passed by the Australian Parliament to enact the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). From July 2013 the NDIS has been rolled out across Australia through the National Disability Insurance Agency.

“National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The Act supports the independence and social and economic participation of people with disability; and provides reasonable and necessary supports to enable people with disability to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports and to facilitate the development of a nationally consistent approach to the access to, and the planning and funding of, support for people with disability.”   

“Let’s stop ‘tolerating’ or ‘accepting’ difference, as if we’re so much better for not being different in the first place. Instead, let’s celebrate difference, because in this world it takes a lot of guts to be different.” – Kate Bornstein

Participation Statistics:

A comparison of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) surveys conducted in 2003 and 2009 does not show much change in the participation rate for persons with a disability. The overall participation rate in sport among adults (i.e. persons age 15 years and older) with a disability was 25% in 2003 and 24% in 2009. This compares to an overall participation rate among able bodied adults of 64%. Within the able bodied population the participation rate in sport is greatest at ages 15-17 years (74%) and declines with age to 48% for people over the age of 65 years. Although specific statistics are not available across all age groups for persons with disability, a similar trend of declining participation with age exists.

Check out Sydney Olympic and NPL1 2018 Championship winning striker, Aleks Sanchez, in this SBS interview. What an inspiration to us all!

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-sydney-striker-inspiring-kids-with-disabilities

We’ll finish with a thought provoking quote below. It presents a challenge to all of us to take the plunge and lead by example.

“Everyone should remember, that the people we support are more likely to follow our example – rather than our advice” – Sasha

We will find a way to welcome you with first class coaching, loads of fun and a chance to become a valued member of our sporting community.