Local government case studies

Sport and recreation programs have the potential to make our communities stronger, healthier, happier and safer.

This session was about real examples of sport and recreation programs that have made a positive difference to a community. All programs had been run at the local government level, either as stand alone local government initiatives or partnerships with other agencies.

The program ranged from a North Queensland program that has cut domestic violence by half, rollerblading in Katanning,  a program that integrates newly arrived Sudanese into the community,  to a successful youth diversion program in Midland.

A highlight of this stream was the 'speed sharing' session. The session delegates will be placed in groups. Each group had at least one person with an innovative programming idea. This person shared his or her idea with the group, who in turn will be able to ask questions or share their own thoughts. After 10 minutes or so the person with the great idea will move to another group. The result of this is that in the space of an hour and a half you will be exposed to at least nine or ten new ideas to take back to your organisation.

Domestic Violence – It’s Not Our Game

Anne Pleash (Carpenteria Shire Council)

For the last three years, players from the Normanton Stingers Rugby League Football Club have acted as role models for the community in Normanton and surrounding areas by refusing to participate in domestic and family violence. The Normanton Stingers promote the message: “Domestic Violence – it’s not our game”. In this period, breaches of domestic violence orders have dropped by more than 40 per cent and the community is experiencing a real cultural shift. The program won a National Award for Local Government Excellence in 2009 and a National Crime Prevention Award in 2008.

Anne Pleash, Manager of Community Services at Carpenteria Shire Council in Queensland, will share her experiences of sport as a vehicle for social change.

 

 

City of Stirling CaLD Youth, Sport, Recreation and Leisure Project

Melissa Rudez (Department of Sport and Recreation)

Implemented in 2006, the project is part of a proactive approach by the Department of Sport and Recreation in partnership with the City of Stirling and the Office of Multicultural Interests to engage culturally diverse young people, particularly those from African and Indigenous backgrounds, in organised sport and recreation. Having recently completed its third year, the project is using sport and active recreation as a vehicle to help decrease social tension and at-risk behaviours.

The program is based at Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Mirrabooka and focuses on suburbs in the City of Stirling, where there is a relatively high concentration of young people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) backgrounds who have low participation rates in organised sport and recreation. The program also promotes to community clubs the potential benefits of being inclusive, highlighting opportunities that exist to expand their services by encouraging people of diverse cultures to join.

The success of the City of Stirling CaLD Youth Sport, Recreation and Leisure Project was recently recognised at the 2009 Premier's Awards, where it won the ‘Strengthening Families and Communities' category award.

 

Belmont Villa Soccer Club

Melissa Rudez (Department of Sport and Recreation)

Belmont Villa Soccer Club has recently reaped the benefits of becoming a culturally inclusive sporting club by finishing undefeated in their league. This has been achieved through the support of the Communicare Active Together Program, a DSR and Office for Youth initiative that uses the medium of sport to link newly arrived migrants and refugees to the wider community through mainstream sporting clubs.

The club has recently recruited 18 young Somali youth and through general cultural awareness training they have made a smooth transition into being an inclusive club. The Belmont Villa Soccer Club DVD highlights this journey and allows you to hear first hand how much the club has benefited from being inclusive. This DVD will help other clubs realise that being inclusive is easy and rewarding.

 

Sport in the Neighbourhood

Matt Sawyer (NSW Sport and Recreation)

We all have fond childhood memories of playing casual sport at the local park. No rules, no cost, no structure – just long afternoons of exercise, enjoyment and fun with friends and neighbours. Changes in society have seen this type of play fade away over the years.

In the past five years, the residents of Bateau Bay on the New South Wales Central Coast have reignited this type of play, with many positive results for the community. Matt Sawyer, Development Officer at NSW Sport and Recreation, will present on the “Sport in the Neighbourhood” initiative.

 

 

The Katanning Experience

Carl Beck (Shire of Katanning)

Katanning has one of the most culturally diverse communities in the state with large populations of Malay, Afghan, Chinese and other migrants. Many of the migrants that have moved to Katanning speak little or no English and find it difficult to integrate into the community. The Shire of Katanning has been using a large variety of sport and recreation programs to engage these new Western Australians and help them to integrate into the local community.

Programs include rollerblading, a Muslim women’s swim program, hip hop dance classes and girls only soccer. Carl Beck, the Manager of Community Services for the Shire of Katanning, will present on the range of physical activity programs that have been trialled in Katanning over the last three years to attract more CaLD community members to the Katanning Leisure Centre.

 

 

Midnight Basketball

Leeanne King (Town of Kwinana)

Midnight Basketball is a social inclusion program to help youth identify and embrace positive opportunities. The Town of Kwinana piloted the Midnight Basketball program in February 2008, targeting the 12-18 year old age group which had been identified as an area lacking initiatives. Positive aspects of the program include: youths enjoying basketball and participating in life skills workshops; healthy dinner provided to participants; transportation home; and engaging volunteers from the local community. The Midnight Basketball motto is “No Workshop, No Jump Shot”. The Town of Kwinana is currently running their second tournament.  

 

 

Community Engagement Workshop

Allan Tranter (Creating Communities)

It is possible to engage people in ways that they enjoy and achieve outcomes of significance. There is no prescription but there are plenty of techniques. In the format of a Dialogue Café, an interactive session will be facilitated to demonstrate on successful technique while engaging participants in a lively debate.