At a meeting of Central Goldfields Shire Council earlier this week (25/06), Councillors endorsed its first draft Fair Access Policy.
The Policy comes after the Victoria Government recently introduced the Fair Access Policy Roadmap - marking an Australia-first policy designed to improve access to community sports infrastructure for women and girls, men and boys, gender diverse people and people with disability.
Starting from 1 July 2024, all Victorian councils are required to develop and adopt a Fair Access Policy to be considered eligible to receive Victorian Government and recreational infrastructure funding.
This Policy aims to ensure that:
- Community sports infrastructure and environment are genuinely welcoming, safe and inclusive.
- Women and girls, men and boys, gender diverse people, and people with disability will have opportunities to participate in all aspects of community sport and active recreation.
- Women and girls, men and boys, gender diverse people, and people with disability will have equitable access to and use of community sport infrastructure.
- Women and girls, men and boys, gender diverse people, and people with disability should be equitably represented in leadership and governance roles.
- Encourage and support all user groups who access and use community sport infrastructure to understand, adopt and implement access, and use policies that support:
- Gender equity
- Participants with diverse needs
- Overcoming access issues
- Provide support and, where achievable, prioritise access to Council resources to all user groups who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to equitable access and use of allocated community sport infrastructure
Community feedback on the Draft Fair Access Policy and its action plan is invited until 3pm, Friday 19 July by visiting www.engage.cgoldshire.vic.gov.au/accessforall
As the new policy is implemented, Council's Recreation team will work with sporting and community groups to educate them on what fair access means, how the policy will affect them, and how to ensure their community groups and sports infrastructure are safe and accessible for everyone.
To further support this work, via the same website, we are also inviting women, girls and LGBTQI+ women to share their experiences, feelings, challenges and beliefs when it comes to participating in sport.
This feedback will help shape future engagement around the Fair Access Policy and the events and activities that form part of the Victorian Government's state-wide This Girl Can initiative to be delivered locally later this year.
Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Cr Liesbeth Long said the Draft Fair Access Policy was an important and positive step towards making sure sport is accessible to everyone.
"Physical activity and exercise are so important for our health and wellbeing and for that reason we want to see as many people as possible being active.
"To do this, we need to break down some of the barriers to participation that we know many in our community are experiencing – particularly women and girls, gender diverse people and people with disability.
"The Fair Access Policy will bring about positive change as it will give us the actions both Council and our local sporting clubs need to take to ensure local sport is accessible to everyone.
"We encourage our community to take the time to read the Draft Policy and provide feedback. At the same time, we'd also love to hear from women, girls and LGBTQI+ women about what their experiences are. Your experiences will not only help inform future actions of the Fair Access Policy but also a program of events and activities that will feature as part of This Girl Can week later in the year".
