Rugby Union
Inclusion Strategy 2025-2029, opens in a new tab, Rugby Australia, (2025). Rugby Australia's Inclusion Strategy 2025 - 2029, enabling equal and fair opportunities for everyone in the community to be involved and respected in rugby. Key areas of focus are All abilities, First Nations, LGBTQ+, Pasifika, and Women and girls.
All Abilities, opens in a new tab, Rugby Australia, (accessed 30 July 2025). Provides information and links to rugby programs supporting the inclusion of people with different abilities.
What Ability, opens in a new tab, Rugby Australia, (accessed 30 July 2025). What Ability is an NDIS registered support service utilising professional and semi professional athletes as support workers. The Rugby Australia and What Ability partnership is about providing opportunities for everyone in the community to be involved in Rugby. It will play a key role in promoting the Modified Rugby Program, which is a world class program established for neurodiverse young people.
Modified Rugby Program (MRP), opens in a new tab was set up through the GingerCloud Foundation in 2014 with support from Queensland Rugby Union. Their goal is to encourage more children and young adults with learning and perceptual disabilities to play Rugby through their touch-only format. Each boy and girl with a learning and perceptual disability has their own club PlayerMentor on the field supporting them. The program provides weekly training sessions and seasonal MRP Competitions within an existing Club environment, where teenage PlayerMentors are supporting MRP Players on the field every week. From 1 team of 16 participants at Brothers in 2014, the MRP community in 2019 comprises 281 participants across 23 teams, and operates in 17 clubs across Queensland and the ACT. In 2017, Rugby Australia (RA) endorsed the MRP as a new division of rugby in Australia.
Australian Deaf Rugby, opens in a new tab. Rugby Australia is a proud supporter of the team whose motto is ‘’inclusiveness’’ and prove that no matter what your level of hearing is you can pick up a Rugby ball and have some fun. In April 2018 Australia hosted the World Deaf Rugby 7s tournament which attracted more than 180 athletes from all corners of the world including England, Ghana, Japan and Wales. It was also the first International Deaf Women’s tournament ever staged with three female teams battling it out in Sydney. The Australian Deaf Rugby team participates in annual tournaments across the world.
