Upon the completion of a three year research project, conducted in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has released a new report titled The Impact of Indigenous Community Sports Programs: The Case of Surfing.

ASC Chief Executive Officer Simon Hollingsworth said the report highlighted the potential of sport to help Indigenous youth reconnect with their communities.

“Some of the findings of the report include that surfing, while increasing water skills, could also provide opportunities to develop psycho-social skills related to confidence, self-esteem, empathy, maturity and independence,” Mr Hollingsworth said.

The research, which considered the social impact of sport and physical activity on the lives of Indigenous Australians and their communities, aimed to provide data and other information to inform the development of future community-focused programs and initiatives by the ASC and any other organisations interested in engaging Indigenous participants in community sport.

Developed by the ASC, University of Queensland and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, the initiative also received the strong support of Surfing Australia.

The principal investigator, Dr Steven Rynne of the University of Queensland, referred to some of the report’s key insights at the informal launch in Burleigh Heads, Queensland.

‘Over three years we found that a lot of these programs were highly successful, due to the fact that sport in general has the capacity to bring people together – which helps reinforce connections to land, culture, community and peers.

‘This aspect of Indigenous community sport programs was crucial to Indigenous youth who felt quite isolated and disconnected from others’, Dr Rynne said.

While the report states that sport is not a ‘cure all’ solution to the problems faced by some Indigenous communities, the surfing programs undertaken by 98 participants revealed that culturally sensitive sport activities could lead to positive community outcomes.

The key factors identified as important to the successful delivery of sports programs that engage Indigenous Australians were:

• Community – develop connections with communities, seek appropriate guidance on how communities operate, invest time in building open and honest relationships before developing a program, identify existing networks and key influencers (e.g. elders), acknowledge the importance of being ‘connected’ (to the land, program providers, Indigenous peers and community members).

• Culture – enhance cultural sensitivity and awareness (by recognising the diverse range of languages, beliefs and cultures between and within Indigenous communities), acknowledge common courtesies to reinforce respect (e.g. ‘welcome to country’ and consultation with community elders), incorporate aspects of Indigenous culture into the program (eg traditional games, food and art).

• Organisation – include communities in the development of programs, consult individuals on what they require, create opportunities for the community to become involved, determine the objective of the program early and utilise strategic partnerships to support specific goals, plan carefully, encourage and support program providers to develop participants (as coaches, officials and volunteers), endeavour to have small working groups with stable membership, consider transport options.

• Delivery – facilitate self-determined forms of motivation, maintain a flexible approach to program delivery and assessment, try to ensure program continuity rather than one-off programs, seek long term funding to provide greater program impact, evaluate the program and its outcomes, manage expectations in terms of start times and dates, promote transport options best suited to program location.

The project resulted in a range of reference materials – the full academic report, executive summary, abridged report (condensed version), two promotional videos and an information sheet of key findings and recommendations – are all publicly available.