Participating in sport should be an enjoyable and empowering experience no matter your age, ability, cultural background or gender. Everyone is welcome in triathlon and our community clubs should be a welcoming and supportive space for all who participate.
Research conducted by the he Victorian Population Health Survey (2017) estimated that 5.7% of Victorian adults are LGBTIQ+. Of this number, 34.2% had experienced discrimination or were treated unfairly by others in a 12-months period.
Recently, there has been two exciting developments around the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in sport. Proud 2 Play have launched a Resources Hub and Sport Australia recently has partnered with the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports.
The Proud 2 Play Resources Hub is a series of brand-new resources for the sports community to better support LGBTI+ inclusion. Resources include a course to provide foundation knowledge on LGBTI+ inclusion for Australian sports clubs, a checklist to asses your club environment to identify areas that required to be more of inclusive of LGBTI+ people, plus, templates and marketing material.
Sport Australia recently has partnered with the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports to develop guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport. These guidelines provide practical advice on how sporting organisations can create and promote an inclusive environment for transgender and gender diverse people.
Nine peak Australian sporting bodies have developed guidelines to include transgender people in their sport, these include the AFL, Cricket Australia, Hockey Australia, Netball Australia, Rugby Australia, Tennis Australia, Touch Football Australia, UniSport Australia and Water Polo Australia. A further 13 peak bodies have confirmed commitment to develop gender diverse and inclusive frameworks, which includes Triathlon Australia.
We encourage clubs to please review this information and help to foster an inclusive and equitable culture for triathlon.
Australian Human Rights Commission
Related News
Sporting bodies unveil policies for greater inclusion of trans and gender diverse people, ABC News, Thursday 1 October 2020.
