Victorian health promotion organisation VicHealth has released a comprehensive three-year plan that engages sports in tackling major health issues.

Australian Sports Commission CEO Matt Miller launched Building Health through Sport: VicHealth action plan 2010–13 on 15 October. Miller praised the plan’s cooperative and complementary approach to working with sport to achieving improved public policy outcomes.

The Building Health through Sport plan details a framework for engaging with sports on six key issues:

• addressing health inequalities
• increasing social connection and participation in physical activity
• reducing race-based discrimination and promoting diversity
• preventing violence against women
• reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption and promoting healthy food choices
• reducing harmful UV exposure.

VicHealth’s plan engages directly with the challenges faced by sports — including limited infrastructure, inevitable conflicts with commercial interests and already stretched budgets — through a multi-pronged approach involving research and evaluation, communication, community development, organisational support, and participation and skill development.

Actions detailed in the plan include:

• supporting organisations, such as the Fitzroy Stars Football Club, to establish a community hub to develop health promotion activities
• developing an awards program with VicSport that fosters ethical and just conduct in sport
• supporting the development of an infrastructure within the Australian Football League Victoria that integrates and sustains violence prevention initiatives into the core functioning of the code
• providing small grants to assist sporting organisations to enable access to essential and injury prevention equipment.

Through Building Health through Sport, VicHealth is leading the way in engaging with sports as key players in working towards creating sporting environments that are healthy, safe and inclusive for everyone.

Tell us your story

Are you part of an Australian sporting organisation or a sports system partner? We are looking for stories like this one; about how organisations are increasing grassroots participation and strengthening sporting pathways, to run in future editions of the Australian Sport Online email newsletter. For more information, please read about the kind of stories we are looking for.