AboutContact UsRegister
Clearinghouse for Sport
The information and knowledge sharing platform for Australian sport

Coaching and officiating

For many First Nations individuals the desire to be a role model for their community is a key motivator for the decision to become, and remain, a coach.

The importance of coaches, officials, and leaders in sport, especially as role models and mentors is often highlighted. 4, 16, 17, 18 First Nations role models provide significant value, including improving engagement with the community and individuals. 18, 19, 20, 21 For many First Nations individuals the desire to be a role model for their community is often a key motivator for the decision to become, and remain, a coach. 4, 18, 22

AusPlay survey data shows that in 2022, around 7.5% of First Nations people aged 18 years and over reported participating as a coach (including instructors, trainers, and teachers), and 5.2% were officials. 8 However, these coaches and officials are not transitioning to a similar proportion of pathway and elite positions.

Information relating to First Nations peoples’ participation in pathway and elite sport coaching and officiating, including data on the number of First Nations people in different sports and/or at different levels (e.g., community or elite) is currently limited. However, available reports show that First Nations people are underrepresented in high-performance coaching and officiating roles and pathways. 3, 4, 16, 20, 23, 24, 25

While there has been a growing recognition of the lack of First Nations coaches and officials in pathway and elite positions, and even a growing number of programs targeted at First Nations participants, there remain several barriers to greater participation. 26, 27, 28, 29

  • Accreditation courses and other opportunities—particularly at more advanced levels—are often in metropolitan areas, making it expensive and/or time consuming for rural, regional, and remote coaches and officials to attend. 3, 22
  • The need for a clear pathway, including mentoring by current and next generation First Nations coaches and officials, from introductory programs to support long-term coaching and officiating careers at both community and elite levels. 4, 16, 22, 30
  • Cultural considerations, including community and family commitments, can significantly impact time available for sport coaching and officiating. 22
  • First Nations coaches often feel they are not seen to have the same potential as other coaches for more senior coaching and leadership roles, sometimes called the 'cultural ceiling'. 4, 7, 16, 22, 29

Coaching, officiating, and leadership programs should work in and with First Nations communities. 31, 32 They should also promote First Nations role models, and ensure that emerging coaches and officials feel safe, supported, and comfortable as they develop. 4, 31, 33

Resources and reading

  • Rookie coach floors Boxing Victoria in Aboriginal First, opens in a new tab, Andrew Mathieson, National Indigenous Times, (20 July 2023). In line with his fighting mantra inside the ring, pint-sized Shaun Thomas continues to pull no punches outside either since Boxing Victoria named its first Aboriginal coach. The 41-year-old, who has leisurely slipped into semi-retirement earlier this year, took on one of the state assistant's jobs with gusto, only two weeks before the opening bell sounded on the Australian Schools Boxing Championships.
  • How rugby league can open the door for the next generation of Indigenous NRL stars and coaches, opens in a new tab, Nick Campton, ABC, (9 February 2023). Around 13 per cent of NRL players identify as Indigenous. Half of the coaches in this year's NRLW season will be Indigenous, including Newcastle's Ron Griffiths, Dragons mentor Jamie Soward, new Broncos coach Scott Prince and Widders himself, who coaches Parramatta. However, Indigenous coaching at the elite levels of the men's game has lagged behind. No club has had a full-time Indigenous head coach since Arthur Beetson led the Sharks in 1993. "Less than 1 per cent of the coaches at the elite level of the men's game are Indigenous," said Widders.
  • Why the NRLW is a pathway for Indigenous coaches, Brad Walter, opens in a new tab, NRL.com, (11 February 2022). Every NRLW team will have an Indigenous staff member in a senior leadership position for the upcoming season in a development that highlights the success of a pathways strategy that is being hailed as a blueprint for other areas of the game. After recognising the need to develop more Indigenous coaches, Brad Donald said he had adopted a similar approach to that which had seen an explosion in female playing numbers. “You can’t be what you can’t see,” Donald said. “We are trying to develop everybody, but this is something that hasn’t had enough focus on it. Since we have focused on it there are now Indigenous coaching staff with every NRLW team. “We have just made sure that we have treated that like the growth for NRLW. We are developing an Indigenous Pathways Strategy. “We will run performance conferences, we will run coaching workshops and stuff in the medical field so that we can ensure that we have got access to the best information for people to come through. We do this in the female space, and we will do it in the Indigenous space too.”
  • 'Creating a pathway': Indigenous coach breaking new ground in VFLW, opens in a new tab, Brendan Rhodes, AFL.com.au, (10 February 2022). Kirby Bentley will become the first Indigenous coach in the competition in the opening round on Saturday. She will become the first Indigenous coach in the VFLW's short history, joining Xavier Clarke, who led Richmond's VFL team last year before being promoted up the AFL club's coaching staff, as Indigenous mentors at state league level – and it is a feat she is extremely proud of as she aims to blaze a trail for her people.
  • Wests Tigers assistant Ronnie Griffiths, the NRL’s only Aboriginal coach, opens in a new tab[paywall], Nick Walshaw, The Advertiser, (18 June 2021). The NRL’s only Aboriginal coach has earned his position the hard way, initially working for free and driving 350km a day, but it beats being overlooked because of the colour of his skin. The problem is not limited to rugby league, with the AFL also boasting just two coaches of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background — Richmond VFL coach Xavier Clarke and Western Bulldogs development coach Travis Varcoe. Elsewhere, a 2017 Western Sydney University study revealed across all sports, Indigenous Australians make up just 0.8 per cent of the coaching ranks.
  • The numbers highlighting Indigenous players' immense impact on Australian rules football, opens in a new tab, Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson, ABC, (20 August 2020). On the eve of this year's Indigenous Round, let's delve into some of the numbers that illustrate their contributions.
    • 87 Indigenous Australians are currently on AFL lists — which is about 11 per cent of the entire playing cohort. 22 Indigenous players during this year's AFLW season, or 5 per cent of the competition.
    • There's only been one Indigenous umpire in VFL or AFL football: Glenn James. James umpired the 1982 and 1984 VFL Grand Finals.
    • 2 per cent - the number of Indigenous coaches in the AFL system badly trails the participation rate of players. There have only been two Indigenous senior coaches in the VFL/AFL, and none since 1984 — when Barry Cable left North Melbourne.
  • Reconciliation and the Anglo-Australian Football League, opens in a new tab, Professor Barry Judd, University of Melbourne, (27 August 2020). Each year, the Australian Football League (AFL) holds the Sir Douglas Nicholls Round to highlight the contribution Indigenous people have made to the sport of Australian Rules Football. In my view, structural changes similar to those that have already commenced in higher education need to occur. The Australian Rules Football industry remains a bastion of white middle-class male power. The AFL lacks Indigenous voices at the most senior levels of its operations. AFL clubs continue to be similarly bereft of Indigenous administrators and support staff. The AFL also has an abysmal record of recruiting and retaining Indigenous coaches – whether they be senior or assistant coaches. As long as Indigenous people remain locked out of off-field leadership roles – the extent to which the AFL claims to support reconciliation and anti-racism must remain a question mark.
  • Racial stereotypes stymie Aboriginal leadership in sport, research finds, opens in a new tab, University of NSW, (28 September 2016). Patronising racial stereotypes that laud Aboriginal peoples' natural sporting prowess are impeding the development of Aboriginal leadership in sport and its many flow-on benefits, a UNSW researcher has found. Although Aboriginal athletes are commonly portrayed as innately physically gifted, and are often actively sought after to play sport, such positive assessments do not extend to leadership, intellectual or management skills. Aboriginal candidates are consequently often frustrated if they seek to build coaching careers, regardless of their own sporting achievements.
  • Here’s to coaches, unsung heroes and role models for social change, opens in a new tab, Andrew Bennie, Nicholas Apoifis, The Conversation, (22 August 2016). Our research with Aboriginal coaches in Australia shows that coaching has the potential to play a significant role in shaping an individual and community’s identity, culture, and knowledge. Many of the coaches we spoke to embraced their leadership role and used it to engage in broader forms of social and community development. Off the field, they were involved in the lives of players, alongside actively promoting positive messages about healthy living, social responsibility and education. It’s disappointing, then, that coaches have largely been excluded from the narrative about sport and social development.
  • Why are so few professional sport coaches from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities?, opens in a new tab Andrew Bennie, Demelza Marlin, Nicholas Apoifis, The Conversation, (13 June 2016). there has been little research into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coaches – what they do, why, and the kinds of barriers they face in progressing their careers. For this reason, in 2015 we listened to the stories of 26 Aboriginal coaches from various team and individual sports. They worked in remote, rural, and metropolitan settings, from the community level to high-performance athletics.
  • Study reveals severe lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coaches, opens in a new tab, Western Sydney University, (19 May 2016). A new study conducted by Western Sydney University is the first of its kind to explore why there are so few Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coaches in full-time professional roles. Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that around 173 full-time sport coaches are from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds ­ – less than one per cent across all sports ­– compared to 21,133 coaches from other backgrounds.

  • Aboriginal Sports Coaches, Community, and Culture, opens in a new tab, Marlin, Demelza, Apoifis, Nicholas, Bennie, Andrew, Springer, (2020). This book is the first to celebrate the stories of this group of Aboriginal mentors and leaders and present them in a form that is accessible to both academic and general audiences. In this book, Aboriginal sport coaches from all over Australia share stories about their involvement in sport and community, offering insight into the diverse experiences of Aboriginal people in settler colonial Australia.
  • 'Race', Ethnicity and Racism in Sports Coaching, opens in a new tab, Steven Bradbury, Jim Lusted, Jacco van Sterkenburg (eds.), Routledge, (2020). In recent years there has been a steady increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of the playing workforce in many sports around the world. However, there has been a minimal throughput of racial and ethnic minorities into coaching and leadership positions. This book brings together leading researchers from around the world to examine key questions around ‘race’, ethnicity, and racism in sports coaching. Case studies from Australia include:

  • Coaching Unlimited, opens in a new tab. A national coaching education program that provides sport-specific coaching accreditation, and research-based health promotion workshops, to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples become sport coaches and community leaders.
    • Coaching Unlimited: Empowering generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, opens in a new tab, A research report commissioned by Netball Australia and Netball New South Wales, (2017). This report discusses the delivery and evaluation of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ netball coaching workshop delivered in August 2017. Based on the survey and interview results, the workshop was enjoyable and well delivered; included useful information, skills, and resources; and provided coaches with practical ideas for future coaching and leadership roles within their communities. All coaches either agreed or strongly agreed that the Coaching Unlimited workshop included useful resources; increased their interest in, and understanding of, the workshop topics; and, enhanced their ability to implement strategies relating to the workshop.
  • Garnduwa Amboorny Wirnan Aboriginal Corporation, opens in a new tab. We believe that Aboriginal led programs play an important role in meeting community defined targets through decision making, and empowering Aboriginal peoples to tackle our own social issues. Programs tend to be more successful where there is community leadership. Garnduwa delivers leadership programs throughout the Kimberley to encourage students to further enhance their qualities and potential as strong community organizers and persons of influence. The programs are crucial to the development of Kimberley Youth as our future leaders and foster and empower Kimberley people and their communities.
  • AOC, Indigenous Basketball Australia and Toyota Announce Indigenous Coaching Scholarships, opens in a new tab, Australian Olympic Committee, (April 2022). The AOC has today announced a partnership with Olympian Patty Mills' Indigenous Basketball Australia (IBA) and Toyota Australia to create scholarships for Indigenous coaches, using Olympic sport to power positive change in communities. The program will guide two female and two male coaches through developmental and experiential learning. The holistic schedule, which includes an Indigenous Leadership workshop, will cover key themes including The Science Behind Resilience and Keeping Girls in Sport, delivered in collaboration with Basketball Australia, The Centre for Healing and Justice through Sport and The University of Canberra. Upon completion of the comprehensive program, the coaches will be accredited to deliver ongoing coach development courses in targeted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country.

  • Black Diamonds Report, opens in a new tab, Glass Jar, (April 2022). The Black Diamonds Project reviewed Western Australian netball service delivery to ensure that the policies and systems are transformed to better facilitate the engagement and retention of Aboriginal people in netball. The dominant method of data collection was Yarning Circles, a uniquely Aboriginal methodology, with four stakeholder groups, across two phases. Report highlights that many participants enjoyed coaching, mentoring, or being a role model (fifth most common motivator for participation), and that they were inspired by role models in netball (sixth most common motivator). The majority of participants who spoke about role models talked about Indigenous or familial role models, whether that was in reference to growing up on the side of the court watching their mum or aunties play, being exposed to other Indigenous players or coaches, or watching/interacting with elite level Indigenous athletes. Several participants talked about the part that role models play in terms of advocacy, and the importance of representation in terms of achievability or courage (she can do it, so can I), and safety. A lack of role models, especially at the elite level of netball, was also referenced as a barrier. The lack of Indigenous representation at the elite level of netball was compared with footy, which was described as having a more welcoming culture that respected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes. The lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coaches and umpires was discussed not just at the elite level but across the board.
  • Reconciliation Action Plan 2018-2022, opens in a new tab [Elevate], Australian Rugby League Commission, (2018). 2018 marks the start of our fourth Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP_ - the hightest level of RAP, with our game becoming the first National Sporting Organisation to develop an Elevate RAP. Some highlights include:
    • NRL has grown our First Nations workforce from employing our first Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander staff member in 2011 to now making up over 5% of our total workforce (2018).
    • Aim to assist 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to participate in targeted programs aimed at officiating and coaching at the elite level.

  • ‘We were made to feel comfortable and … safe’: co-creating, delivering, and evaluating coach education and health promotion workshops with Aboriginal Australian peoples, opens in a new tab, Andrew Bennie, Demelza Marlin, Nick Apoifis, et al., Annals of Leisure Research, Volume 24(1), pp.168-188, (2021). This paper outlines the processes for co-creating and delivering Coaching Unlimited, a coach education and health promotion workshops series providing specific opportunities for Aboriginal Australian coaches to develop their capacity as future leaders in leisure settings. We used the Ngaa-bi-nya framework – an Aboriginal health and social programme evaluation framework. Using the four domains of Ngaa-bi-nya, we were able to confirm the importance of co-creating and delivering the workshops in a culturally safe and inclusive environment. Reflecting on our own processes of doing research and working with Aboriginal communities, we learnt that hosting workshops in and with community, is central to the programme’s accessibility and success. The paper concludes by considering the utility of the framework and what researchers can learn about their own practice in the space of Aboriginal sport and health programmes.
  • Cultural connections and cultural ceilings: exploring the experiences of Aboriginal Australian sport coaches, opens in a new tab, Andrew Bennie, Nicholas Apoifis, Demelza Marlin, et al., Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, Volume 11(3), pp.299-315, (2017). This is one of the first studies to specifically explore Aboriginal Australian peoples’ experiences in sport coaching roles. We share the insights of 28 Aboriginal Australian sport coaches from a variety of team and individual sports as they describe an array of factors that facilitated and impeded their sport coaching journeys. By shedding light on these narratives this paper performs two main tasks. First, taking a qualitative approach, it gives agency and voice to Aboriginal people, long-neglected in academic sports scholarship. Second, it provides insights for coaches, athletes, academics, policy-makers, and sporting organisations interested in enhancing opportunities and developing pathways for Aboriginal people in sport coaching roles. The article also provides some insights that could inform conversations between Aboriginal communities and organisational stakeholders to enhance opportunities for Aboriginal sport coaches. Some of the examples may include Aboriginal-specific coaching clinics that feed into mainstream opportunities, formal mentoring programmes, and promoting the achievements of current coaches.
  • Noble athlete, savage coach: how racialised representations of Aboriginal athletes impede professional sport coaching opportunities for Aboriginal Australians, opens in a new tab, Nicholas Apoifis, Demelza Marlin, Andrew Bennie, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 53(7), pp.854-868, (2017). In this paper we examine how racialised representations of Aboriginal athletic ability affect Aboriginal coaches. Premised on interviews with 26 Aboriginal Australian coaches, we argue that representations of Aboriginal athletes as naturally suited to speed and flair, rather than leadership and sporting-intellect, help maintain an environment that limits opportunities for Aboriginal Australians seeking to move into sporting leadership roles, such as coaching. This paper sheds light on the ways in which racialised representations of Aboriginal athletes feed into a settler colonialist narrative that stymies opportunities for aspiring Aboriginal professional coaches, and speculates on the limitations of this approach, in challenging the political hegemony of settler colonialism.
  • Sistas’ and Aunties: sport, physical activity, and Indigenous Australian women, opens in a new tab. Stronach, Megan, Maxwell, Hazel, Taylor, Tracy, Annals of Leisure Research, Volume 19(1), pp.7-26, (2016). Indigenous women have alarmingly low rates of participation in organized sport and physical activity (PA) in contemporary Australian society. To gain a better contextual and cultural understanding of the issues involved, we discussed the life experiences and the place of sport and PA with 22 Indigenous women. A complex amalgamation of cultural beliefs and traditions, history, gendered factors, and geography are presented in the women's stories. Sport and PA were highly regarded, providing the women with opportunities to maintain strong communities, preserve culture, and develop distinct identities as ‘enablers’. The women called for culturally safe spaces in which to engage in PA and noted the need for Indigenous females to act as role models.
  • Māori Culture Counts: A Case Study of the Waikato Chiefs, opens in a new tab, Jeremy Hapeta, Farah Palmer, in 'Enhancing Mātauranga Māori and Global Indigenous Knowledge', New Zealand Qualifications Authority, (March 2014). This chapter examines how mātauranga ā-iwi and mātauranga Māori were integrated into the Chiefs’ team culture and values, and provides examples of how this was perceived to contribute toward a winning team culture and effective leader-follower relations. From an outsider’s perspective, obvious changes that have occurred since 2012 have been a change of coaching staff and a subsequent change in team culture that appears to embrace things Māori in the way the team prepares for games, strategises prior to and during games, and celebrates after games. Situating their Chiefs’ team culture within the local landscape and tūrangawaewae (place of standing/belonging), and priding themselves on Chiefs’ mana (respect for their franchise and brand) is symbolic of the approach taken in 2012 and 2013.
  • Recommendations for the development and transition of Indigenous athletes into high performance programs - 2011, Australian Sports Commission, (2011). The review presented in this document was conducted to detail and critique the Indigenous sport programs supported and delivered through the NTID program. Aims included to evaluate the effectiveness of these Indigenous-centric programs in identifying and supporting the development of Indigenous athletes, as well as to provide recommendations to improve high performance Indigenous programs. Key recommendations relating to coaching included: All coach/support staff and any personnel involved with an Indigenous sport program should have a willingness to understand and respect Indigenous culture (that is, awareness and respect of Indigenous custom, partake in cultural awareness training and continuing education, etc.). Similarly, an increase in identification, support and development opportunities for Indigenous coaches should also be considered; and to incorporate Indigenous mentors within the program.

  • First Nations Rugby - Camp Coaching Clinic, opens in a new tab, Rugby Australia, (2020). Rugby Australia held its largest ever First Nations Level 1 Coaching Accreditation Course this week, delivered by a qualified First Nations Coach, Jarred Hodges.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Coaching Forum, opens in a new tab, Western Sydney University/Vimeo, (10 May 2016). Expanding on conversations with researchers from Western Sydney University's School of Science and Health in 2015, this forum brought to the fore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives about facilitators and barriers to coaching pathways. The forum aimed to collaboratively produce initial recommendations that may enhance opportunities in sport coaching roles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Hosted by Dr Andrew Bennie, panel members included: Marcia Ella-Duncan, Jarred Hodges, Phil Duncan, Bou Ovington, and Darren Allie. [note: session actually starts at the 46-minute mark].

Access to resources Where possible, direct links to full-text and online resources are provided. However, where links are not available, you may be able to access documents directly by searching our licenced full-text databases (note: user access restrictions apply). Alternatively, you can ask your institutional, university, or local library for assistance—or purchase documents directly from the publisher. You may also find the information you’re seeking by searching Google Scholar, opens in a new tab.

Back to top

Working together for Australian sport

C4S-Footer-Sport Integrity Australia logo
C4S-Footer-Sport Integrity Australia logo
C4S-Footer-Australian Sports Foundation logo
C4S-Footer-Australian Sports Foundation logo
C4S-Footer-Australian Olympic Committee
C4S-Footer-Australian Olympic Committee
C4S-Footer-Paralympics Australia logo
C4S-Footer-Paralympics Australia logo
C4S-Footer-Commonwealth Games Australia logo
C4S-Footer-Commonwealth Games Australia logo
C4S-Footer-SAHOF
C4S-Footer-SAHOF
C4S-Footer-Invictus Australia logo
C4S-Footer-Invictus Australia logo
C4S-Footer-PLA
C4S-Footer-PLA
C4S-Footer-ACT Gov
C4S-Footer-ACT Gov
C4S-Footer-NSW Gov
C4S-Footer-NSW Gov
C4S-Footer-NT Gov
C4S-Footer-NT Gov
C4S-Footer-QLD Gov
C4S-Footer-QLD Gov
C4S-Footer-SA Gov
C4S-Footer-SA Gov
C4S-Footer-Tas Gov
C4S-Footer-Tas Gov
C4S-Footer-Vic Gov
C4S-Footer-Vic Gov
C4S-Footer-WA Gov
C4S-Footer-WA Gov
C4S-Footer-ACTAS
C4S-Footer-ACTAS
C4S-Footer-NSWIS
C4S-Footer-NSWIS
C4S-Footer-NT
C4S-Footer-NT
C4S-Footer-QAS
C4S-Footer-QAS
C4S-Footer-SASI
C4S-Footer-SASI
C4S-Footer-TIS
C4S-Footer-TIS
C4S-Footer-VIS
C4S-Footer-VIS
C4S-Footer-WAIS
C4S-Footer-WAIS
ASC’s First Nations artwork titled KINSHIP. An indigenous painting by Brad Hore OLY encompassing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural elements to represent the ASC.
The Clearinghouse for Sport pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and acknowledge the valuable contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make to Australian society and sport.